Two of the last five remaining Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) judges are calling for their dismissal. CSJ interim president Tamara Chișca-Doneva and magistrate Ion Guzun, who were part of the panel that ordered the re-evaluation of candidates who failed the Pre-Vetting Commission, have submitted resignation requests to the Superior Council of Magistracy (SCM). The information was confirmed to ZdG by SCM interim president Sergiu Caraman, who said that the other supreme court judges have not submitted resignation requests.The requests for the resignation of the two came less than 20 days after the notification sent to them by the Vetting Commission on the initiation of the integrity evaluation, which means that they will not be subject to the evaluation process.                        

“The deadline expires on 17 August for the majority of judges at the SCJ. In the context of these requests, the SCM is making an effort to meet next week, most likely on Friday 25 August,” Sergiu Caraman said.              

Tamara Chișca-Doneva indicated in her application submitted to the SCM on 14 October that she is requesting to resign as a judge on 31 December 2023, with the payment of a one-off severance pay, according to a document published by TV8.                      

“In view of the fact that the proper functioning of the Supreme Court of Justice is seriously affected due to the number of vacant posts, having regard to the provisions of Article 13 para. (4), (5), (6) of the Law on the Supreme Court of Justice No. 64 of 30 March 2023 and the fact that the Law No. 65/2023 does not provide for the term of the judge’s release from office, I request that the application be accepted as of the indicated date.                        

I consider it inappropriate for me to participate in the assessment under Law No 65/2023, on the grounds that my term of office as a judge expires on 14 June 2024, pursuant to Article 25(2)(a) of the Law. (1) letter k) of the Law on the Status of Judges No. 544-XIII of 20 July 1995″, the document states.                     

On the other hand, the application filed by Judge Ion Guzun on 10 August does not indicate the requested date of termination of his mandate as a magistrate. However, the magistrate mentions that he would like to be present at the SCM meeting in which the request will be examined, but he is on holiday from 14 August to 8 September 2023 and will be out of the country.                           

20 other SCJ magistrates resigned in spring 2023.             

• Pre-Vetting Commission, ANIHILATED by four Supreme Court justices.

On 1 August, the special panel of the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) ordered the re-evaluation of 18 candidates for membership of the Superior Council of Magistrates (SCM) and three candidates for membership of the Superior Council of Prosecutors (SCP), including judges Tamara Chișca-Doneva, Mariana Pitic, Ion Guzun and Ion Malanciuc.                        

ZdG previously reported that the vice-president of the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ), Tamara Chișca-Doneva, who was previously targeted in an illicit enrichment case, was appointed as interim president of the court. She has been in office since 7 April. The decision was approved on Tuesday 18 April by the members of the Superior Council of Magistracy (SCM).                          

On 15 April 2022, Tamara Chișca-Doneva was suspended from her position as interim president of the SCJ in connection with the criminal prosecution in the illicit enrichment case in which she was targeted.                  

In March 2022, anti-corruption prosecutors raided Tamara Chisca-Doneva’s office, home and car, as she was targeted in a criminal case on illicit enrichment. As a result of the criminal prosecution, no procedural measure of constraint was applied against the magistrate. Subsequently, the judge was admitted as a suspect in the criminal case initiated for illicit enrichment.                

She was suspected by prosecutors that during the years 2014-2021, while holding the position of a judge, including performing administrative functions in the courts, she obtained a substantial increase in her wealth and that of her family members, which could not be reasonably justified in relation to her income from the lawful exercise of her duties in her office.                

In October 2022, Tamara Chișca-Doneva was removed from criminal prosecution in the case for illicit enrichment, but the prosecution continues, with procedural actions ordered that were not completed by September 22, 2022, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (PA) announced. If new evidence is acquired that was not known at the time of removal from criminal prosecution, the representatives of the Prosecutor’s Office announced that they will take the actions required by law. According to the AP, the status of suspect can be assigned to a person for a maximum period of 6 months.                          

Tamara Chișca-Doneva has been a judge at the CSJ since 2003, having previously worked at CA Chisinau, Râșcani Court, Chisinau and Hincesti Court. She was a member of the panel of judges who ordered, by a decision issued on 20 July 2005, the prohibition of the execution and registration of any transactions of alienation of assets, including the property of the former “Gemeni” S.A..                        

In February 2020, by the judgment issued by the ECtHR, the Government of the Republic of Moldova was ordered to pay damages of €1,515,000 and to return to the applicants the parts of the buildings which were in their ownership immediately before the adoption of the judgment of 20 July 2005, together with the related land, free of ownership restrictions, in exchange for the simultaneous transfer by the applicants to the Government of 36.55% of the “Gemeni” shares returned to the applicants after the annulment of the judgment in their favour. In the event of failure to return the property, the sum amounts to EUR 2 120 000.                     

ZdG wrote in 2014 that Judge Tamara Chișca-Doneva and her husband, Vasile Chișca, lived in a two-storey house with attic in the Râșcani sector, estimated by real estate experts at about 7 million lei.                    

Ion Guzun was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of Justice on 14 February 2014, until he reached the age of 65.                       

Ion Guzun was appointed as a judge in 1993 at the Buiucani Court, mun. Chisinau. After ten years of activity, the magistrate gave up the mantle and put on the lawyer’s robe for eight years. In 2012, Ion Guzun returned to his position as a magistrate at the Bender Court of Appeal, and was subsequently promoted to the CSJ in 2014.                      

Judge Ion Guzun was also a member, together with magistrate Liliana Catană, of the panel that finalized the case against former Prime Minister Vladimir Filat at the Supreme Court of Justice.                  

In 2014, magistrate Ion Guzun, who together with magistrate Liliana Catană, was also part of the panel of judges at the Supreme Court of Justice that freed the interloper Ion Druță, also known as Vanea Pisateli, was sanctioned with a warning by a decision of the SCM.                    

Maria Guzun, his wife, has been a judge at the Chisinau Court of Appeal for over a decade. In 2019, Denis Guzun, the son of the two magistrates, was appointed judge at the Chisinau Court of Appeals, although at least 10 candidates scored higher than him. The Guzun family’s wealth has advanced in proportion to their career advancement.                

ZdG previously wrote that the Guzuns live in a luxury house in Dumbrava, a village on the outskirts of Chisinau. The 11-acre plot of land on which the house is built was bought by the Guzun family in 2012, the year in which the building permit for the house was obtained. Although the building is completed and the Guzuns live in it, the two magistrates’ asset declarations state that it is unfinished. The magistrate also owns 5 plots of land and a 140 sq.m. property.