While some judges are in favour of organizing the General Assembly of Judges in order for the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM) to "answer questions", but also to terminate from their positions the current CSM members, others say that behind this initiative could be hidden interests and groups of people with different intentions. The opinions were expressed on TV, IPN reports.
Ion Chirtoaca, judge at the Chisinau Court, Buiucani headquarters, argues that the organization of the General Assembly of Judges is a right of magistrates, when 50 signatures are submitted. According to him, first the Superior Council of Magistracy made some appointments to different courts that were condemned by the society, and now the same CSM is playing the victim and does not want the Assembly to be summoned. "The vast majority of judges insist on the organization of the General Assembly of Judges so that the CSM could give certain explanations. Or, the CSM does not belong to the members, it is not their private property, they are subordinated to the requirements of the General Assembly, those who have delegated this power to them,” says the magistrate. Ion Chirtoaca says that the General Assembly of Judges should be convened in order to dismiss the current composition of the CSM, but first the Council members must give some explanations to the judges.
Aureliu Postică, a judge at Chisinau Court, Buiucani headquarters, argues that the judiciary has been criticized for lack of communication, and the communication platform of the magistrates should be within the SCM. "Today, we face an acute lack of communication. We have encountered communication problems with CSM members more than once. We are blamed for the fact that behind us would be interest groups, shadow groups. We have been also accused by the Minister (Minister of Justice Olesea Stamate). We want it to be clear, we do not intend to get rid of all CSM members”, said Aureliu Postică. The magistrate says that the message addressed by the request to organize the Assembly was misinterpreted.
Anatolie Turcan, a judge and former member of the CSM, says he supports the initiative to organize the General Assembly of Judges. According to him, in addition to the 87 judges who signed the initiative to organize the Assembly, other magistrates have also made joint statements. "And I support this initiative because the current CSM admits that:" yes, the judiciary, allegedly, opposes the reforms ". The judiciary does not oppose the reforms, it is overloaded. We do not resist, no one from the judges opposes. The judges want reforms, but the reforms should be carried out in such a way that any common citizen could have access to justice,” said the magistrate.
Judge Oleg Melniciuc says that he is not against the organization of the General Assembly of Judges, but that he is disturbed by the hidden processes behind the summoning of this assembly. "The first requirement is not a problem: the evolution of the system, the resetting, but lifting the CSM mandate constitutes an issue and this is the main reason, it is hidden a little, but it is the main reason," says Oleg Melniciuc. According to him, lifting the mandates of the current members of the CSM is necessary to block the reforms initiated by the current government. "There were very serious situations in the system, but no judge in the system reacted. There was a reaction only after the draft law on the reform of the Supreme Court of Justice was published. I know very well who is behind this”, added the magistrate.
Oleg Melniciuc compared the current situation of the Superior Council of Magistracy with the political situation in June, when the Constitutional Court adopted the decisions that have been subsequently annulled. "This is in contradiction with the law. There is no reason to lift the mandates. The law does not envisage this and there have been no such cases”, said the judge. The magistrate says that "if the Assembly is convened and the current composition of the CSM is dismissed, then we might find ourselves in a situation with two CSMs, similar to the two Governments situation in June."
At the meeting on September 19, the CSM postponed the examination of the request of a group of judges regarding the convening of the General Assembly of Judges. The members of the Council ordered the judicial inspection to verify under what conditions the signatures of the magistrates were collected, more precisely if they knew for what they were signing. And on Tuesday, September 24, the request for convening the Assembly was rejected. Meanwhile, on September 20, the Chisinau Court of Appeal obligated the CSM to convene the General Assembly of Judges, at the initiative of at least incumbent 50 judges, after a group of judges went to court. Following this decision, the CSM has stated that it will file an appeal, in which will also request the suspension of execution.
