Superior Council of Magistrates says amendment of law on judge status will seriously affect principle of judicial authority’s independence

The introduction of amendments to the law on the status of judge and to other legislative documents with the aim of modifying the method of starting criminal proceedings against judges will seriously affect the principle of independence of the judicial authority, says the president of the Superior Council of Magistrates Nicoale Clima, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. Clima cites a European expert who said that in the societies in which the respect for the judges and their independence is not yet deep-rooted, the judges should be protected, including in the ways stipulated in the present version of article 19 of the law. According to Clima, most of the Eastern European states employ such protection measures. The parliamentary commission for appointments and immunities started to examine a bill that says that the General Prosecutor can take legal action against the judges without the consent of the Superior Council of Magistrates and, depending on the case, of the chief of state or of the Parliament. The MPs Oleg Serebrian and Igor Klipii said that the bill is a ticking bomb with unexpected effects. “We all know who is giving orders to the Prosecutor General. The judges who will disobey the commands given by phone will obviously be at a higher risk”, Oleg Serebrian said, stressing that the role of the prosecution office in the judicial system of Moldova has been an issue for the Council of Europe for a long time. Under the present law, the Prosecutor General is entitled to start criminal proceedings against judges only with the consent of the Superior Council of Magistrates and of the President or, depending on the case, of the Parliament, in the conditions stipulated by the Penal Code. The Ministry of Justice, who drafted the bill, argued that the bill will help exclude the misinterpretation of the legislation regarding the inviolability of judges, under which the judges enjoy a special status and many times this makes the immediate investigation of judges, even in cases of flagrant offences, practically impossible.