Five members of the High Council of the Judiciary (CSM) are challenging Friday’s decision of the General Assembly of Judges that removed them and two other members.
Chairman Dorel Musteață and members Nina Cernat, Anatolie Galben, Luiza Gafton, and Petru Moraru wrote to the judge who presided over the Assembly, complaining that the CSM didn’t even receive the minutes and the decision itself, and had to rely on information that transpired in the media to draw up the challenge.
The CSM members assert that the Assembly’s decision is null and void due to multiple violations. In particular, they complain that the Assembly was convoked without a formal reason, it lacked quorum, and it violated the provision that requires at least the same number of votes for removing a CSM member as the number of votes received when he or she was elected.
Moreover, the complaint argues that the Assembly was held despite an unresolved appeal pending before the Supreme Court of Justice challenging its convocation.
On the quorum issue, the complaint notes that the Assembly needed the presence of at least 198 judges out of the total 395 for it to be valid. However, by 11:20 AM (the Assembly was called for 10:00 AM) the presiding judge announced that only 187 judges showed up. Despite this, the Assembly wasn’t interrupted, and more than four hours later the number was declared to be 200. “This ignores the fact that many left the hall in the meantime,” says the complaint, adding: “The fact that the Assembly carried on its business without quorum is confirmed by the fact only 184 ballots were filled in.”
Critics say the attempt to remove the sitting CSM members could be a move by a part of the judiciary to oppose the ongoing reform and avoid potential impeachment for past decisions.
