Judges of the Chisinau Court of Appeals, Centre Branch, ask the Moldovan Presidency to communicate the reasons behind the rejection of the applications of 24 judges to be appointed until they reach the age limit. According to a press release issued by the Chisinau Court, the rejection of the 24 applications on 1 June and 7 November this year “seriously affected the work of the courts and the quality of justice, and their cases are now being assigned to other active judges, who are setting new deadlines for examination”.

Representatives of the presidential institution told ZdG that so far “no official request has been registered” in this regard. At the same time, the presidency claims that the reasons for the rejection of the applications of the 24 judges “were set out in the letter to the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM)”.

According to the magistrates of the Chisinau Court of Appeal, Centre Branch, by assigning cases to other active judges, “the right of the individual to examine the case within a reasonable time is affected and the workload of active judges is increased, effects which may undermine confidence in the judicial system”.

“In particular, in the Central seat of the Chisinau Court, due to the number of rejected judges, those who were not even proposed for confirmation up to the age limit due to lack of proper evaluation, resignation/promotion/suspension of some judges, vacant judge seats available (along with other long-standing problems: shortage of court clerks and other employees due to extremely low salaries (about 5 thousand lei, with excessive workload, urgent increase of salaries of these categories of employees being imperative), insufficient allocated financial resources, unsuitable working conditions for a court) – reveals an objectively and existentially complicated situation”, reads the press release of the Chisinau Court, Centre seat, published on Facebook.

In this context, the judges of the Centre Court ask the Presidency to explain the reasons behind the decision to reject 24 judges, as well as “maximum transparency in the process of cooperation between the state powers in matters concerning the career of judges”.

“The judges of the Chisinau Court Centre ask the Presidency of the Republic of Moldova to communicate to the judiciary and to the society the reasons for the rejection of the 24 judges to be appointed up to the ceiling and to ensure maximum transparency in the process of collaboration of the state powers in matters concerning the career of judges, as well as all decision-makers – to contribute to the urgency of the corresponding related procedures, including those related to the reform of justice, in order to ensure normal and optimal activity of the courts,” the statement issued by the Central Court reads.

The note states that this position is the majority one and was agreed upon by the collective of judges of the Chisinau Court of the Centre.