Expert Igor Boțan said the subjects that can go to the Constitutional Court to file requisitions and challenges should not be prevented from doing this. Also, the politicians should no way resort to exerting pressure on the CC. If pressure is exerted on them, the CC judges should denounce such acts, while the rulings they give should be based on impeccable arguments, the expert stated in a public debate entitled “Constitutional Court swaying in the political wind: norm or deviation?”, which was organized by IPN News Agency.
The IPN project’s standing expert Igor Boțan said the expression “why is power needed if one does not abuse it?” is common to all the politicians. Those who hold power want to control all the state institutions. In the case of the Constitutional Court, everything starts from the method of appointing constitutional judges, who are named by Parliament, the Government, the Superior Council of Magistracy, which, as institutions, are managed by persons with political interests. All the problems derive from here.
The expert is convinced that a lot of things depend on the political culture in the country, including the way in which the citizens react to the CC’s decisions. But the pressure exerted on the Court by political parties, in particular the parliamentary ones, is an essential factor. In the current situation, amid a pandemic that creates preconditions for an economic crisis, this important institution, the Constitutional Court, is notified by subjects that can do this.
Igor Boțan reminded of the recent example when the CC during a week was asked by MPs to pronounce for six times. This underlines that it is normal for the Court to become possibly the most important institution in the country in crisis situations. In such conditions, it was expected that the CC will be subject to particular pressure. “My fear is that this pressure will be excessive and the judges of the Court will be unable to fulfill their duty, as they know best,” he stated.
According to him, a conflict related to the CC appears only because these subjects dare to go to the CC and those from government would like those applications to be rejected from the start: “It seems that the ruling party was irritated only because the opposition MPs dared to go to the Court and the Court accepted to examine their requisitions.”
The expert noted that particular subjects have the right to notify the CC and this right cannot be limited somehow. “It also goes to the acceptance or rejection of these applications, the Court’s arguments, including how the unity of the constitutional content is ensured, the subsequent implications and consequences. The question is, why do the political parties attack the Court so vehemently and the judges are put in the situation to declare publicly that they are threatened. The crisis starts from here, another one than that related to the pandemic or the economic crisis. It is a system crisis as, when a part of the judges say they are followed, a crisis persists in this system,” stated Igor Boțan.
The debate “Constitutional Court swaying in the political wind: norm or deviation?” was the 131st installment of the series of debates “Developing political culture through public debates” that are supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation.