Liberal lawmakers will not vote for Muruianu, Mihai Ghimpu

The MPs of the Liberal Party (PL) will not vote for Ion Muruianu as president of the Supreme Court of Justice if the Supreme Council of Magistrates puts him forward for this post. Related statements were made by the party’s leader Mihai Ghimpu in a meeting of the Chisinau press club last weekend, Info-Prim Neo reports. Mihai Ghimpu spoke about the necessity of identifying solutions so as to promote reforms in the legal system. “The judges and presidents of the upper courts are proposed by the Supreme Council of Magistrates to the head of state for approval. Under the Constitution, the head of state can reject the candidates that he considers unsuitable. If the Council fields the same candidates the second time, the President is obliged to confirm them in posts. The Parliament is not obliged. Nobody can oblige the MPs to vote. The PL wants the law in Moldova to start work and this depends on the judges because they supervise the implementation of the law,” said Mihai Ghimpu. The current president of the Supreme Court of Justice Ion Muruianu, whose term in office expires in March, applied again for this post alongside other four judges. The Supreme Council of Magistrates assesses the candidates and chooses one of them, who is to be confirmed by Parliament. The president of the Supreme Court of Justice is named by Parliament within 30 days of the day the Supreme Council of Magistrates proposes the candidate. The legislative body can extend this term by 15 days if need be. The legislature can also reject the fielded candidate if there are incontestable proofs of the applicant’s incompatibility with the given post, that he had broken the law or that the legal procedures for selecting him were violated. In such a case, the Supreme Council of Magistrates is notified within 30 days. But if the Council puts forward the same candidate the second time, the MPs are obliged to accept him. Ion Muruianu is mainly associated with the scandal that arose at the Annual Assembly of Judges of February 13, 2010, when he named the journalists “rabid dogs that are dangerous for society”. On March 4, Ion Muruianu was dismissed by the vote of 52 MPs of the Alliance for European Integration for the conviction of Moldova by the ECHR in a large number of cases and for naming the journalists "rabid dogs". On April 27, the Constitutional Court reinstated Muruianu in his post, ruling that the Parliament Decision was unconstitutional.