The Constitutional Court (CC) partially accepted the requests to check the constitutionality of provisions of the law on the state of emergency, siege or war and of the Parliament Decision to declare the state of emergency made by MPs of Pro Moldova and PPPDA MP Kiril Moţpan. The Court declared unconstitutional the provisions by which the court’s power to check the proportionality of the measures ordered by the public authority was limited, IPN reports.

The CC noted that until Parliament amends the Administrative Code, if the measures adopted by the authorities responsible for managing the state of emergency are challenged, the courts of law will have to establish if the measure ordered by the public authority is proportional to the situation that determined it. The Court issued a relevant recommendation to Parliament.

The authors of the requisitions consider the legislative amendments made in connection with the declaring of the state of emergency offered unlimited powers to the Commission for Exceptional Stations and this allowed for abuses. The CC held that these provisions are constitutional as the authorities responsible for managing the state of emergency take measures and other actions needed to achieve the goals that laid at the basis of the decision to declare the state of emergency. Parliament can exercise effective control over the given measures.

In a press briefing held after the CC’s hearing, the Court’s president Domnica Manole said they determined that the use by the lawmakers of such phrases as “and other necessary measures or actions” is something indispensable in this field as the authorities responsible for managing the state of emergency need flexibility to react promptly to different emergencies that can endanger the country.

According to Domnica Manole, even if the lawmakers used more flexible formulations to describe the provisions, this does not offer the executive an absolute margin of discretion. The executive remains limited in the choice of emergency measures as the lawmakers used the word “necessary”  that does not imply something else than the adoption of proportional measures.

As regards the allegedly excessive powers given to the executive during a state of emergency, the CC held that the Constitution does not ban Parliament from offering additional powers to the executive for coping with an emergency. To avoid the abuse, guarantees are needed to maintain the balance of powers in the state and the necessity of ensuring state security.

The Court’s judgment is definitive, cannot be appealed, takes effect when it is adopted and is published in the Official Gazette.