The examination by judges of cases that directly or indirectly refer to the illegal construction from near apartment buildings situated at 13/1 and 13/2 Mircea cel Bătrân Blvd  does not take place as it should. The delay in taking a decision on this case generates suspicions as to the impartiality of judges, said lawyer Gheorghe Macovei, who represents the interests of dwellers of the mentioned blocks.

In a news conference at IPN, the lawyer explained that an entrepreneur is erecting three 25-story apartment buildings on an area of 0.5 ha. Under the General Urban Development Plan, the lot has limitations as to the height of buildings and their purpose. The building company violated these limitations. The construction is situated close to a filling station and the minimum distance of 60 meters is not respected.

The lawyer said that several civil lawsuits related to the given construction directly or indirectly were filed in 2019. Initially, a suit was filed by Braus Company that erects the apartment buildings on this lot. The company asked to annul the decision taken by former mayor Ruslan Codreanu, who suspended all the authorized construction permits. A civil lawsuit was then filed by dwellers of the buildings located at 13/1 and 13/2 Mircea cel Bătrân Blvd by which they asked to annul all the construction authorizations and the urbanism certificate. These were annulled in March 2020. In parallel, a lawsuit was filed after current mayor Ion Ceban withdrew the construction authorization. The courts of law generally close the eyes in these cases and allow the construction works to go on.

“It seems that the court of law, with all my esteem and respect, assumes the responsibilities of a designing bureau or an architectural expertise and urban design bureau and during 10-30 minutes of deliberations decides major problems that are actually clearly explained  in judicial documents,” stated Gheorghe Macovei.

He related that last week, Braus, which challenged the decision by which the permissive documents for the construction were annulled, without waiting for a final decision of the Appeals Court, filed a suit, asking to annul the actions to suspend the construction permits. The hearing took place on August 3 without the participation of the parties and the application was examined during two days.

Gheorghe Macovei said the delay in adopting a decision in this case by the Appeals Court generates doubts as to the impartiality of judges. “I have a simple call – let’s apply the law. The law is above everything. It is above the construction companies and above each judge apart,” said the lawyer.

He also said that the construction of multistory buildings on the area where the three 25-story apartment billings are being erected is not allowed. Two of the blocks are situated in the immediate vicinity of a filling station on whose territory there are gas cylinders.