The laws concerning the disciplinary punishment of judges and the immunity of judges, which were adopted on the Government’s responsibility, are contradictory and contain many shortcomings and may be annulled by the Constitutional Court. Such opinions were stated in the program “Place for dialogue” on Radio Moldova station, IPN reports.
Teo Carnat, a member of the Supreme Council of Magistrates, said the Council didn’t endorse the law that limits the immunity of judges, basing its decision on an earlier decision of the Constitutional Court. In 99% of the cases, the Council gives its consent to investigating judges. So, there was no need to make such an amendment to the legislation.
Teo Carnat considers that the Supreme Council of Magistrates is a ministry within the judicial system and it should be empowered to submit legislative initiatives. “We could promote better laws to eradicate corruption from the system,” he stated.
Carnat admitted that there is corruption in the judicial system, but considers that this system is not more corrupt than other branches of the state power. “The people, when they have problems, go mainly to court rather than to the Government or Parliament. That’s why they consider the judicial system more corrupt,” he said
Sergiu Ostaf, executive director of the Resource Center for Human Rights, considers it is not right to arrest judges for money laundering without the Council’s consent. “Money laundering is a complex offense that leaves many imprints. The arrest without the Council’s consent is not appropriate,” he stated.
Lawyer Ion Dron expressed his disagreement with the given laws, saying they will affect the independence of judges. “The judges should not be arrested without the consent of the Supreme Council of Magistrates,” he stated.
