Civil society organizations expressed their concern about the way in which some of the judges were named to posts and promoted. A number of NGOs signed an appeal saying the decisions of the Supreme Council of Magistracy concerning the appointment and promotion of particular judges, which were adopted in its January 26 meeting, give reasons for challenging the observance of the principles of meritocracy and integrity, IPN reports.

The appeal says the signatories are bewildered at the way in which three contests were held and concerned that the Supreme Council of Magistracy did not propose the best candidates to Parliament and the head of state for confirmation. The NGOs refer to the Council’s decision not to promote Tatiana Raducanu to the post of vice president of the Supreme Court of Justice, especially after two previous contests to fill this post failed because there were no applicants.

Within the January 26 meeting, the Council also held a contest to fill the vacancy of Supreme Court of Justice judge. This involved six candidates. The Council decided to nominate Mariana Pitic for this post. This candidate worked as a judge for three years and at the National Institute of Justice for over four years. She had a score of 82 points. Other candidates had a much longer length of service and experience and also a greater score.

The Council also chose Lucia Bagrin for being nominated for judge of the Centru Court and Sergei Gubenco - for president of the Comrat Appeals Court for a four-year period. Earlier, the head of state refused to name the two candidates to posts. In the two cases, it was invoked the existence of elements of risk factors and non-meeting of mandatory criteria for holding the post of judges. The Council is thus to explain its decisions, said the NGOs.

The signatories call on the Supreme Council of Magistracy to return to the issue of nomination of the vice president of the Supreme Court of Justice and to indicate the criteria based on which it decided to promote particular judges. Parliament is asked to check if the candidate proposed by the Council for the post of Supreme Court of Justice judge meets the integrity criteria. The head of state is asked to verify the information about the candidates for judge or administrative posts at courts or law and to name to posts only those with irreproachable reputation.

Among the signatories are the Legal Resources Center of Moldova, the Journalistic Investigations Center, “Promo-LEX” Association, Transparency International Moldova, the Association for Participatory Democracy, the Association of Independent Press and the Institute for Public Policy.