President Nicolae Timofti put forward a legislative initiative with amendments to the Law on the Constitutional Court (CC), which are aimed at removing the institutional blockage. It was submitted to Parliament for examination as a matter of urgency, IPN reports, quoting the presidential press service.

The head of state suggests abrogating a paragraph from the Law on the Constitutional Court, which says that the Court has the right to convene only after at least four judges representing the three competent authorities – Parliament, the Government, and the Supreme Council of Magistrates – are named.

According to Nicolae Timofti, though the judges are named by the legislative, executive and judicial authorities, they do not represent them in the Court’s composition. The law says that the Court’s meetings are legal if at least four judges ‘representing all the competent authorities’ are present. But this provision makes the functioning of the CC impossible as the Court now includes four judges appointed by only two competent authorities.

The legislative initiative aims to exclude situations of institutional blockage when the Constitutional Court is unable to work even if the quorum of four judges is present.

The terms of two constitutional judges designated by the legislative body expired on February 23. The legislation does not stipulate a time limit by which Parliament must name two new judges.