Domnica Manole, the judge who is investigated for ruling in favor of the Platform “Dignity and Truth” in the dispute with the Central Election Commission over the referendum, challenged the decision of the Supreme Council of Magistracy to annul her immunity in the Supreme Court of Justice. Domnica Manole informed about this in the talk show “Interpol” on TV7 channel, IPN reports.
“Today I filed the legal challenge, which is well-founded. I hope the colleagues from the Supreme Court of Justice will take a correct decision. The Supreme Council of Magistracy’s decision was politically influenced and represents a warning for the whole judiciary. The Council does not protect the judges. The judges do not speak because they are afraid of being persecuted. The people thus suffer the consequences,” she stated.
Domnica Manole reiterated her position that she took a correct decision when she ruled in favor of the Platform “Dignity and Truth”. “For me, it was a difficult case. The article from the Constitution about the referendum is a confused one. But the judge has the right to challenge the constitutionality of a law when there are suspicions that the norm runs counter to the Constitution. The judges cannot refuse to examine a case. They are obliged to interpret the law and to provide explanations. It is not the blame of the people that a law is imperfect. I also followed the recommendations of the Venice Commission, which said that when a law is imperfect, priority in the dispute between the people and the state is given to the people,” she stated.
The judge considers she was put on the ‘blacklist of judges’ after she leveled criticism at particular judges, while the decision taken in the case of the referendum was a pretext for taking revenge on her. “I dared to criticize the system at the general assembly of judges of this March. I stated my position that the justice sector reform must start from up, not from down. I thus became inconvenient to the system. I received a number of warnings in this regard,” she said.
On May 31, the Supreme Council of Magistracy accepted the request of acting prosecutor general Eduard Harujen to annul the immunity of judge Domnica Manole so that she could be investigated for passing an illegal judgment and for abusing her authority by interpreting the Constitution.
The Council’s decision was criticized by representatives of civil society and jurists as well as by foreign officials.
The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, through her spokesperson, commented on the developments in the area of justice in Moldova, saying that recent developments do nothing to dispel the concern expressed by the Foreign Affairs Council in its February Council conclusions on the lack of independence of the judiciary and law enforcement agencies in the country.
