The decision by the Commission for Exceptional Situations (CES) to suspend the resignations tendered by judges of the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) is mandatory, said Minister of Justice Veronica Mihailov-Moraru. According to her, by such a decision the state wants to ensure the Supreme Court of Justice is functional so as to continue the system reform. The official said that she discussed with outgoing judges of the SCJ and some of them complied with the decision to suspend the resignations, IPN reports.
Under the CES decision, the resignations tendered by judges of the SCJ were suspended for 30 days. The minister said the decision is atypical and is designed to make sure that the institution works and examines the challenges filed by judges who didn’t pass the assessment of the pre-vetting commission. If the SCJ is short of judges, the General Assembly of Judges on April 28 may fail again to name the judge members of the Superior Council of Magistracy.
“This decision was adopted in the context of the state of emergency, following the stalemate reached in the justice system. We primarily thought about the public interest, the functioning of the Supreme Court of Justice, which is the only supreme court whose duty is to examine many cases of great importance, including the challenges against the decisions taken by the pre-vetting commission. If the SCJ does not have a sufficient number of judges, the examination of challenges until the General Assembly of Judges set for April 28 can fail,” Veronica Mihailov-Moranu stated in the program “Shadow Cabinet” on JurnalTV channel.
The minister said that even if the CES decisions are compulsory, some of the outgoing judges complied with these, while others refuse to examine cases.
“The CES took the decision last Friday and this Monday I had a discussion with judges of the Supreme Court of Justice and considered the method of implementing the decision. The judges had differing opinions on the legality of this decision. I told them that the CES decisions are mandatory. Particular panels of judges were formed the next day. They come to work, but are reluctant to examine cases. We want to use up all the legal ways for ensuring the institution is functional. The fact that some do not comply with the CES decision is regrettable. But this tells us about their responsibility,” said Minister Veronica Mihailov-Moraru.
The General Assembly of Judges convened for March 17 failed to elect the judge members of the Superior Council of Magistracy and the meeting was suspended until April 28 so that the challenges of the judges who didn’t pass the assessment of the pre-vetting commission could be examined until then. At the same time, most of the SCJ judges, including those who were to examine the challenges, resigned. The Commission for Exceptional Situations obliged them by a decision to work for one more month.
