The resignation tendered by Iulian Muntean to the Parliament’s Secretariat, to vacate the post of member of the Superior Council of Magistracy (SCM), will most probably be examined next week. After the legislative body approves the resignation, a new contest will be announced.
Contacted by IPN for details, the head of the Parliament’s legal commission for appointments and immunities Olesea Stamate said that a decision will be drafted based on the resignation and this will be examined by the commission that will compile a report. Both the draft decision and the report will be presented to Parliament which is to accept the resignation.
Later, a new contest will be announced to choose two SCM members from among non-judges - to fill the place that will be vacated by Iulian Muntean and the vacancy of the sixth SCM member that hasn’t been yet designated by the legislature.
The contest will be held in the conditions agreed earlier, in several stages - submission and acceptance of files, assessment of the integrity of candidate by the special (pre-vetting) commission, the contest of files, and the interview.
Commenting on the resignation, Olesea Stamate said the problem of Iulian Muntean is that he didn’t include information about the criminal case that featured him in the questionnaire he presented to the pre-vetting commission. “It was normal for him to resign so as not to affect the image of the Superior Council of Magistracy,” noted the legal commission’s head.
The Superior Council of Magistracy consists of 12 members. Six of them are chosen by the General Assembly of Judges from inside the system, while the other six are named by Parliament from among non-judges. So far, Parliament designated five members, one of whom was Iulian Muntean.
Iulian Muntean on Tuesday tenders his resignation to the Parliament’s Secretariat following reports about his involvement in a criminal case started over passive corruption. He didn’t inform the pre-vetting commission about this fact and didn’t provide evidence to show that he attempted to find out at what stage the criminal case is now.
Iulian Muntean argued that the so-called case was fabricated by order of the regime of Plahotniuc as an intimidation method.
