Judge Sergiu Caraman was elected at the meeting of the Superior Council of Magistracy (SCM) on Tuesday, July 4, as interim president of the SCM until a president is appointed by competition. The members of the self-administrating judicial body unanimously accepted the resignation of interim president Nina Cernat.

The non-judge member Ion Guzun and the magistrate Vasile Șchiopu were also proposed for the position of interim president. Neither of them received the required number of votes. Sergiu Caraman was elected with seven votes.

Sergiu Caraman has been a judge since 2012. He served in Soroca, and since 2018 he has been a judge in Criuleni. Previously he worked in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Centre for Combating Economic Crimes and Corruption, the current NAC.

Caraman passed the evaluation by Commission decision of 29 December 2022. During the hearings the candidate was asked about his wife’s failure to declare her bank accounts in the manner prescribed by the legislation.

The Commission established that the judge and his wife were married in September 2014, and in 2014 and 2015 the candidate’s wife had three bank accounts, which he did not disclose in his asset declarations filed in those years. “The candidate provided detailed answers regarding his wife’s bank accounts both in the written proceedings and at the hearings. After examining the bank statements from these bank accounts provided by the candidate, the Commission was able to establish both the nature and the level of financial flows into the candidate’s wife’s bank accounts. The Commission did not find any suspicious or dubious bank transactions, undeclared sources of funds or other bank accounts belonging to the candidate or his wife that were subject to disclosure,” the Commissioners said.

The competition for the post of President of the Superior Council of Magistracy was announced by decision of 13 June.

The President of the Superior Council of Magistracy is elected by secret ballot for a two-year term by a majority vote of the members of the Council and serves on a permanent basis. The President of the Superior Council of Magistracy cannot be re-elected.

Among his duties are convening and chairing the meetings of the SCM, coordinating the work of the Council and allocating materials for examination, appointing a rapporteur for the presentation of examined materials, as well as organising and implementing the internal management control system. It bears managerial responsibility for the administration of the institution’s budget and the public assets under management.

Nina Cernat has served as interim president of the SCM since 21 March 2023.