Head of Higher Magistrates Council says accountability of judges for cases lost at ECHR restrains their independence

Lately, the tendency of limiting the independence of the judicial authorities becomes more and more obvious. This is first of all related to the provision on the civil liability of judges for cases lost at the European Court of Human Rights, stated the Chairman of the Higher Magistrates Council (HMC) Nicolae Clima at the annual meeting of judges. This provision contravenes the Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary, adopted by the UN, said Clima. The fact that the country is found guilty by the ECHR is sometimes due to the misconduct of the courts, but at the same time in some cases the cause is the non-enforcement of court decision and the application of inhumane or degrading treatment by the representatives of other state bodies. Besides eliminating the gaps in legislation and reforming the judiciary, the state should reform the entire society, HMC chairman stated. According to him, the unjustified criticism, generalised by the media and amplified by the tendencies to limit the independence of justice, are counterproductive. “It undermines the judges’ self-esteem and morale”. Speaker Marian Lupu stated that the huge number of cases lost at ECHR suggests the existence of deficiencies of the country’s judiciary system. These shortcomings are not only due to objective reasons but also to the subjective ones, Lupu added. Speaking about the cases lost at the ECHR, Deputy Minister of Justice Elena Mocanu stated that some of them represent, more or less, failures of the national justice. When the laws are not good, the judges should apply the system of the European Convention on Human Rights, she mentioned. Mocanu announced that soon, ECHR is to pronounce its judgements in several cases involving considerable sums, which are the results of judiciary failures. Until present, ECHR found Moldova guilty in more than 100 cases, obliging it to pay about 2 million euros for damages.