NGOs point to conflicts of interest in examination of cases of judges who committed abuses in April 2009

The association Promo-Lex and the Institute for Human Rights suspect that their claims about the deviations committed by judges in April 2009 have been examined by the Supreme Council of Magistrates, not the Disciplinary Board of the Council, Info-Prim Neo reports. In a news conference, Doina Ioana Straisteanu, human rights expert at Promo-Lex, said the Supreme Council of Magistrates is the body that dismisses and names judges. Therefore, there is a conflict of interest if it examines these cases. After analyzing cases at the courts of Ciocana, Buiucani, Rascani and Centru districts, the two NGOs identified a number of deviations and submitted a complaint to the Supreme Council of Magistrates. “Unfortunately, the Council ruled absolving a number of judges who ordered arresting participants in the April 7 events and imposed no punishments on other judges as the term during which they could be penalized expired,” said Ion Guzun, project coordinator at the Moldova Institute for Human Rights. Promo-Lex and the Institute for Human Rights appealed the Council's decision to the Chisinau Court of Appeals, over eight separate cases of abuse. Four of the eight cases were rejected, while the other four are being examined.