Oleg Efrim: Constitutional Court has no right to hamper judicial reform

The Constitutional Court has no right to hamper the reform in the justice system, stated Justice Minister Oleg Efrim in response to the Court's ruling that the liquidation of economic courts was not compliant with the Constitution. Efrim told reporters on Friday that the executive and the legislature would take “every necessary step” not to allow any delay in the transition of cases from economic courts to those of general jurisdiction. “We will try to overcome this situation through legal solutions, which we'll announce shortly. Yesterday I have stated very clearly that this is a project in which a lot of efforts and emotions were invested, and those who invested money (against it) won't obtain any dividends”, declared Oleg Efrim. He further stated that while the Government and Parliament would comply with the Court's decision, a new bill would be prepared that excludes the objections raised by the Constitutional Court. Efrim assured that the reform would be eventually carried out, despite resistance from “certain judges with obscure interests”. “We are determined to come through with this, even in spite of resistance and impediments, whether these may be some obscure interests from certain economic groups, which have been able to vitiate the functionality of the judicial system, or these may be certain members of the system who are catering to these interests. We will always return to our projects every time they are rendered invalid under some pretext or another”, stated Oleg Efrim. On February 9, the Constitutional Court ruled that the proposed liquidation of economic courts was unconstitutional. The ruling came after the Communist Party argued in a petition to the Court that the existence of courts with specific jurisdiction was provided for by the Constitution and that an organic law could not annul such a provision.