The Constitutional Court (CC) judges partially admitted the petition of lawyers of former Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo and declared as unconstitutional the article of the Law on the Prosecutor’s Office providing for the evaluation of the Prosecutor General’s performance, in the wording before the entry into force of Law No. 280 of 6 October 2022.

Thus, the High Court declared unconstitutional the article on the basis of which the performance of the former Prosecutor General was evaluated. The decision was delivered on Thursday 9 November by the President of the CC, Nicolae Rosca.

The CC representatives stated that “Article 311 para. (5) of the Law on the Prosecutor’s Office, as it stood before the entry into force of Law no. 280 of 6 October 2022, which delegates to the Superior Council of Prosecutors the power to establish criteria for assessing the performance of the Prosecutor General, does not meet the requirement of Article 125 para. (2) of the Constitution, according to which the Prosecutor General may be dismissed “under the law, for objective reasons”.

“(…) The complaint concerning the exception of unconstitutionality of Article 31 (1) and (5) of the Law on the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the failure to regulate in the Law on the Public Prosecutor’s Office the right to challenge the report of the Commission for the evaluation of the performance of the Prosecutor General, raised by Mr. Iurie Mărgineanu on behalf of Mr. Alexandr Stoianoglo (…) is partially admitted.

Article 31(5) of the Law on the Public Prosecutor’s Office, as it stood prior to the entry into force of Law No 280 of 6 October 2022 (…) is declared unconstitutional. As regards the other heads of complaint, the complaint is declared inadmissible. The present judgment is final, may not be appealed against, enters into force on the date of its adoption and is published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Moldova”, said the President of the CC, Nicolae Rosca.

At a press briefing, CC member Serghei Turcan explained the High Court’s decision.

“(…) The Court stressed the need for Parliament to clearly establish, by law, the criteria for evaluating the performance of the Prosecutor General. Therefore, the Court concluded that Article 31 para. (5) of the Law on the Public Prosecutor’s Office, as it stood before the entry into force of Law no. 280 of 6 October 2022 delegating to the Superior Council of Prosecutors the power to establish criteria for assessing the performance of the Prosecutor General, does not comply with the requirement laid down in Article 125 para. (2) of the Constitution, according to which the Prosecutor General may be dismissed under the law for objective reasons (…)”, said Serghei Turcan.

Iurie Mărgineanu, one of the lawyers of the former prosecutor general, told Ziarul de Gardă that the regulation on the procedure for evaluating Stoianoglo’s performance, as well as the decision of the Superior Council of Prosecutors approving the regulation, have been challenged at the Chisinau Court of Appeal. The defender believes that both should be declared null and void.

“(…) We challenged both the Regulation under which the Evaluation Commission was supposed to act. Subsequently, we challenged the procedure of adoption of the decision by the Evaluation Commission. And subsequently we also challenged the decision of the PSC to adopt the results of the Commission (…). Both the adoption procedure and the PSC’s solution should be declared null and void (…),” said Mărgineanu.

Stoianoglo dismissed as Prosecutor General

On 26 September 2023, President Maia Sandu signed a decree dismissing suspended Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo from office. The document entered into force on the same day.

According to a statement issued by the Presidency, “given that the pronouncement of a decision by the courts on the legality of the dismissal of Alexandr Stoianoglo from office by the PSC is delayed, the signing of the decree comes in the context of the European Union’s recommendations to ensure the replacement of the office of the Prosecutor General and the Republic of Moldova’s obligations to meet the conditions of the justice system.”

Lawyers for the former prosecutor general told ZdG that the decree will be challenged in court.

Alexandr Stoianoglo was suspended from the position of prosecutor general in early October 2021, and is being investigated for passive corruption, false statements, abuse of office and exceeding the duties of his office. The case concerning the excess of power or overstepping of duties is before the magistrates of the Buiucani Court of Chisinau. The last hearing in this case took place on 20 September 2023, during which a witness was heard. The next hearing is scheduled for 5 December 2023.

Former Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo was detained on 5 October 2021. On 8 October 2021 he was placed under house arrest and subsequently under judicial control. No preventive measures are currently applied against Stoianoglo.

Stoianoglo case at the ECtHR

Moldova will have to pay former Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo €3,600 in moral damages. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) handed down its decision on 24 October.

The ECtHR unanimously found a violation of Article 6 § 1 (right of access to a court) of the European Convention on Human Rights. The case concerned the Prosecutor General’s inability to appeal against his suspension, which was triggered by the criminal proceedings that had been initiated against him. The applicant claimed EUR 3 600 by way of costs and expenses which he said he had incurred in the proceedings before the Court, for which he said he had instructed two lawyers. However, having regard to the documents in its possession and its case-law, the Court stated that it could not grant the applicant’s claim for costs in so far as it was not based on any relevant supporting documents.