How the Chisinau Court of Appeal argues the rejection of the appeal filed by Eduard Harunjen, regarding the annulment of the decree by which he was dismissed as Prosecutor General

The Chisinau Court of Appeals has rejected the appeal filed by former Prosecutor General Eduard Harunjen, regarding the suspension of the 2019 decree by which he was dismissed from the position of Prosecutor General of Moldova. The decision was handed down by the judges of the Chisinau Court of Appeal on 19 December 2022, thus upholding the first court’s decision of 25 November.

“The judicial complex concludes that the appeal filed by Harujen Eduard is unfounded, it should be rejected and the decision of the court of first instance should be upheld as legal and well-founded,” reads the decision of the Court of Appeal, which is irrevocable from the moment of its issuance.

Thus, the Court’s decision states that “having analysed the case materials in relation to the arguments of the plaintiff/appellant put forward in support of his request for the suspension of the contested administrative act, the Administrative Jurisdiction Panel concludes that they are unfounded, but, in this case, the request for suspension has been made primarily without the existence of an imminent danger of irreparable damage through the continued execution of the unfavourable individual administrative act being detailed and argued”.

On 25 November, the Chisinau Court, Râșcani seat, rejected the request of former Prosecutor General Eduard Harunjen, who asked for the suspension of the 2019 presidential decree on his dismissal from office.

In the reasoning of the judges of the Chisinau Court, it is stated that “the applicant Eduard Harunjen has not demonstrated the existence of grounds that could lead the judge to admit the request and that the non-application of the insurance measures claimed by the applicant would have on the latter the negative impact provided for by the legal norms applicable to the case, demonstrating only his right to request the court to suspend the contested act, not its merits”.

Former Prosecutor General Eduard Harunjen announced at a press conference on 10 November that he had asked the country’s President Maia Sandu to annul the 2019 decree dismissing him from the position of Prosecutor General of Moldova. Harunjen says he is asking for the annulment of this decree because it “was vitiated by several legal and factual circumstances.”

Eduard Harunjen was head of the Prosecutor General’s Office from 2016 to 2019. After the departure of the Plahotniuc-led PDM from government, several organisations representing civil society initiated a petition calling for Harunjen’s resignation on the grounds that he “has demonstrated in his work that he does not obey truth and justice, but party interests”.

In July 2019, Harunjen resigned, citing “health reasons”, although at the end of his term he reiterated that he would not leave office voluntarily.

Currently, Eduard Harunjen claims to be working “alongside private companies” and providing legal advice to economic agents “with whom he has known for a long time”: “I provide a little support. It’s the only source of income, of course.