Prime Minister Ion Chicu said that he shares experts’ concerns that the reduction of the budget intended for the justice sector by 70 million lei (so as to pay damages under an ECHR judgment) will affect the quality of justice. He called on the experts to cooperate with the Ministry of Justice so as to identify an efficient mechanism by which the state would make sure that the children, teachers, pensioners are not affected because of the illegal sentences of judges, IPN reports.
“I expect the experts to provide assistance, not only to express concerns. I’m also concerned. But where from can we take this money, 70 million lei, if not from the sector where these illegalities were committed,” Premier Chicu told the press after meeting with the President and Parliament Speaker.
The Premier noted he regrets that he didn’t see the Superior Council of Magistracy taking attitude and didn’t hear proposals how to prevent such situations. “I do not intend to accept the situation when the country pays for the illegal verdicts of some of the judges and the SCM does nothing and says that it should be independent. I’m for independence, but no one annulled the responsibility,” stated Ion Chicu.
Last week, Premier Chicu requested the Ministry of Finance to draft a bill to modify the state budget spending intended for the justice sector so that the state could pay almost €3.5 million (70 million lei) damages in the case of Ojog and others versus the Republic of Moldova (C.C. Gemeni S.A.). As regards other cases in which Moldova was found guilty, the Ministry of Justice is to propose a mechanism for punishing the judges to blame for Moldova’s’ conviction at the ECHR.
The Ministry requested the Prosecutor General’s Office to examine the steps taken by the then governmental agent in the case of Ojog and others versus the Republic of Moldova, in which judgment was passed at the end of 2011. It is presumed that the governmental agent didn’t ask to review the court documents that violated the basic rights of the plaintiffs.
According to a report presented by civil society organizations at the end of January, Moldova in 2019 ranked fifth among the countries against which the ECHR passed the largest number of judgments. As a result of these, the state was obliged to pay over half a million euros damages. The largest damages were paid in the case of the expelled Turkish teachers, by €25,000 for each of the plaintiffs, which is a total of €125,000.
