Sixteen NGOs issued a statement, expressing their profound concern about the fully non-transparent way in which the last three Constitutional Court (CC) judges were appointed after being proposed by the Superior Council of Magistracy, the Government and Parliament. The signatories call on the given institutions to work out transparent procedures for appointing CC judges so as to ensure the judges are named based on merits, IPN reports.
The NGOs noted two CC judges of the six, Igor Dolea and Victor Popa, during three days tendered their resignations suddenly and in secret even if their terms in office didn’t expire. In parallel, during four days, between December 11 and 14, three new judges were named at the Constitutional Court.
Corneliu Gurin, Artur Reshetnikcov and Raisa Apolski were appointed CC judges for a six-year term in an unprecedented hurry and without respecting any appointment procedure. No explanation was provided as to a vacancy of CC judge that remained unoccupied for almost nine months. Artur Reshetnikov was nominated by the Government without any contest. Neither the Superior Council of Magistracy nor the Government explained why they deviated from the practice of choosing CC judges at a public contest that was agreed in 2013.
The three candidates appointed as judges of the Constitutional Court are suspected of being politically affiliated. Corneliu Gurin served as prosecutor general in 2013-2016. According to the secrete annexes of the Alliance for European Integration 2 of 2010, the Prosecutor General’s Office in that period was distributed to the Democratic Party. This shows Corneliu Gurin is affiliated with the Democratic Party.
Artur Reshetnikov managed the Security and Intelligence Service in April 2009, when young people were ill-treated and killed and those events haven’t been yet elucidated. He was a member of the Party of Communists and leveled harsh criticism at the Democratic Party, but then suddenly became a member of the Democratic Party. As Artur Reshetnikov, Raisa Apolskii is a member of the Democratic Party.
The signatories consider the consecutive and sudden resignations and the hasty appointment in secret and based on political criteria show the importance of his institution is ignored and the public confidence in the independence of the CC is thus further undermined.
The statement was signed by: Legal Resources Center of Moldova, Institute for European Policies and Reforms, East Europe Foundation, Institute for Public Policy, Center for Policies and Reforms, Association for Efficient and Responsible Governance, Transparency-International Moldova, Promo-LEX Association, WatchDog.md Community, Independent Journalism Center, Partnership for Development Center, Institute for Strategic Initiatives, Association of Independent Press, Journalistic Investigations Center, Amnesty International Moldova, and Institute for Development and Social Initiative “Viitorul”.
