The public associations Jurists for Human Rights and Promo-LEX urge the president of the Supreme Court of Justice Ion Muruianu to quit his post voluntarily, Info-Prim Neo reports.
In a news conference on Thursday, the head of the Jurists for Human Rights Vlad Gribincea said the Supreme Court of Justice’s decision to annul the disciplinary punishment imposed on Ion Muruianu astounded the Moldovan jurists. By its decision, the court practically accused the lawyers of appealing to the ECHR to do the people justice and the journalists of covering the ECHH’s work.
The jurists are also dissatisfied with the composition of the panel of judges who examined the case of Muruianu. “The information about the aleatory selection of the judges who tried the case wasn’t made public. The initial case was to be examined by a panel that included Nina Cernat. The Supreme Council of Magistrates banned judge Cernat from taking part in the examination and it is not clear if the procedure was observed,” Vlad Gribincea said.
The case was examined by a panel set up the same day. Two of the judges represented the Economic Board and the Penal Board, though the case was to be examined by the Civil Board.
Attending the conference, jurist Vitalie Nagacevschi said this case shows how a trial shouldn’t be. Under the court’s decision, the negative image of the judiciary is made by the lawyers and jurists who write about the cases tried by the ECHR, not by the judges who discredit the judiciary by their behavior. “If he is a honest man, Muruianu should resign from the post of president of the Supreme Court of Justice,” Nagacevschi said.
The members of the two associations, including jurists Doina Ioana Straisteanu, Veaceslav Turcan and Roman Zadoinov, said the persons to blame can be punished only if the Supreme Council of Magistrates identifies irregularities in distributing the case and selecting the judges in an aleatory way.