The Legal Affairs, Appointments and Immunities Committee proposes on Thursday 30 March to Parliament the appointment of the three non-judicial candidates for the Superior Council of Magistracy (SCM) who passed the Pre-Vetting Commission’s evaluation. They are Ion Guzun, Tatiana Ciaglic and Alexandru Postica.

If the deputies in the Chisinau Parliament support the nominated candidates, the SCM could become functional with only four members (three non-judges and Nina Cernat – a magistrate who continues to exercise her duties as a member of the SCM until the next meeting of the General Assembly of Judges, where permanent members of the SCM would be elected from among the judges), explained to Ziarul de Gardă the chairwoman of the Legal, Appointments and Immunities Committee, Olesea Stamate, before the Parliament meeting.

According to her, the eventual SCM made up of the four members “should not take decisions on judges’ careers, but rather decisions of administration, i.e. to release certain processes, to announce the necessary competitions”.

“(…) Eventually, if the Parliament votes today on the three (n.ed. non-judge candidates) proposed by the Commission, there will be four members and it (n.ed. SCM) becomes functional, it can take decisions from my point of view. It should not take decisions on judges’ careers, but rather decisions on administration, i.e. to release certain processes, to announce the necessary competitions (…). According to the law, the SCM is deliberative when 2/3 of the members in office are present at the meeting. There will be four in office, if these three are voted by Parliament (…). Taking into account that the composition is reduced to the majority of members from civil society and there is only one judge, obviously its legality in career decisions can be questioned, i.e. this SCM is to start unblocking certain processes, to launch competitions, so that in the meantime the General Assembly of Judges will appoint its representatives in the SCM and the SCM, already in full composition, can take over the processes and continue them (…)”, said Olesea Stamate.

CVs and assets of the three non-judge candidates

Ion Guzun is currently Director of the Secretariat of the Independent Anti-Corruption Advisory Committee, a member of the College for the selection and career of judges of the Superior Council of Magistracy, President of the Commission for the Pardon of Convicted Persons to the President of the Republic of Moldova and Vice-President of the Council of Amnesty International Moldova, according to his CV. From July 2011 to June 2013, he served as a member of the Advisory Council for the Prevention of Torture in the Legal, Appointments and Immunities Committee. From April 2007 to June 2009 he worked at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP Moldova).

Ion Guzun graduated from the Law Faculty of the State University of Moldova. He did his master’s studies at the University of Connecticut, USA.

Alexandru Postica is an advisor on strategic development at Promo-LEX Association and president of the Association of Former Deportees and Political Prisoners of Moldova. According to his CV, from 15 April 2005 to 31 January 2021 he worked as Director of the Human Rights Programme at Promo-LEX. Over the years, Alexandru Postica has provided legal and consultancy services for several organizations. Alexandru Postica has a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the “Stefan cel Mare” Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Tatiana Ciaglic is head of the e-learning section at the Legal Information Centre and an expert at the Council of Europe Office in Chisinau. From April 2020 to February 2022, she was an expert in the Justice Expert Group. In 2012-2016 she served as chair of the Mediation Council of the Ministry of Justice.

On 30 March 2023, the Pre-Vetting Commission announced that it had completed its evaluation of the group of candidates proposed by Parliament for positions in the SCM and issued its final decision in this regard. According to the Commission, the non-judge candidate to the SCM, Alexandru Rotari, failed the integrity assessment. Alexandru Rotari is to notify the Commission whether he accepts or opposes the publication of the decision within 48 hours. Failing notification, the decision will be published on the Commission’s website in a de-personalised form.

The Pre-Vetting Commission finalised the evaluation of the candidates proposed by the Parliament to the SCM positions

12 candidates with relevant professional experience in law, admitted to the competition by a decision of the Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs, Appointments and Immunities, have passed the financial and ethical integrity vetting process conducted by the Pre-Vetting Committee in order to become eligible for membership of the SCM. Following the assessment of non-judges, the Commission issued three promotion decisions and nine non-promotion decisions, four of which were on the grounds of withdrawal from the competition or non-submission of the declaration for 5 years in time. So far, 9 of the 12 candidates assessed have accepted the publication of the Pre-Vetting Commission’s decisions.

Only five judges, candidates for positions in the SCM, have passed the evaluation of the Pre-Vetting Commission – Livia Mitrofan and Maria Frunze from the Chisinau Court of Appeals, Centre seat, Ioana Chironeț, judge at the Chisinau Court of Appeals, Ciocana seat, Vasile Șchiopu, judge at the Ungheni Court of Appeals and Sergiu Caraman, judge at the Criuleni Court of Appeals.

President Maia Sandu had previously convened the Supreme Security Council (SSC) in connection with the exceptional situation in the judiciary. The members of the Commission decided that the Parliament will prepare the legal framework for the creation of the Anti-Corruption Court, to be operational within 3 months. At the same time, the SCM will be operational within 30 days and the Ministry of Justice, the National Institute of Justice and the new SCM will work together to train and bring young judges into the system. The recommendations of the SCC came after the General Assembly of Judges, convened in session on 17 March, postponed the election of permanent members of the SCM from among judges.

To be fully functional, the new SCM must be composed of 6 judges, elected by secret ballot by the General Assembly of Judges, and 6 non-judges, appointed by Parliament.