The first Moldovan judge to be sentenced by the first instance to 7 years in prison with execution for illicit enrichment, Oleg Melniciuc, does not try cases and does not receive a judge’s salary. The clarification was made by the Superior Council of Magistracy (SCM) in a press release issued on Friday, 19 January, after acting SCM President Sergiu Caraman said on Thursday, during a TV programme, that the magistrate “is not suspended from his post at the moment”.

The confusion is said to have been created in connection with the fact that he was not suspended from office at a request of the prosecutor general to start criminal proceedings in a sexual harassment case.

However, asked by the presenter of the show “seriously, he judges cases?”, Caraman did not answer, but shook his head in agreement, implying that the judge is not suspended from office, although the SCM approved in on 25 May 2022 his suspension “until the final ruling on the case” of illicit enrichment.

After the TV appearance, journalist and presenter Vitalie Călugăreanu shared the video footage, with the message “Moldova, excuse me for getting stuck tonight during the show when I found out that a judge (Melniciuc), sentenced in 2021 to 7 years in prison for illicit enrichment, is still judging, sentencing other people and getting paid for it. This simply cannot be!”.

On 24 May 2022, a referral was submitted to the SCM by the Prosecutor General requesting the issuance of the consent to prosecute the judge under Article 173 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Moldova – sexual harassment.

Subsequently, the SCM rejected the Prosecutor General’s referral by judgment no. 132/10 of 27 May 2022, and the Chisinau Court of Appeal by judgment no. 3-212/22 of 12 October 2023 annulled the SCM’s judgment and ordered the re-examination of that referral.

The Superior Council of Magistracy is therefore to re-examine the referral.

“Indeed, Judge Melniciuc has not been suspended from his post in this case. It should be noted, however, in order to exclude any ambiguity, that at the moment Judge Oleg Melniciuc does not judge cases and does not receive the salary of a judge, because he was suspended from office in 2022 in connection with the issuance by the Anenii Noi Court of the sentence of conviction in another case, namely the criminal case of illicit enrichment, provided for in Article 3302 paragraph (2) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Moldova,” the SCM communicates.

The criminal case is currently before the Chisinau Court of Appeal and the next hearing is scheduled for 26 January 2024.

The Council notes that it will also come back later with information on the number of judges who have been suspended from office in connection with the initiation of criminal proceedings against them.

Oleg Melniciuc’s name came to public attention again in the autumn of 2023, when the court ordered him to be compensated by the state for a criminal case opened in 2017 for influence peddling. State prosecutors had been investigating Melniciuc’s taking of a €100,000 bribe. The case was closed in January 2020, and Melniciuc subsequently sued the state, seeking damages.

Oleg Melniciuc was the president of the Rascani Court. Previously, he served as deputy president of this court. On 3 September 2021, Oleg Melniciuc, the first judge to be sentenced for illicit enrichment, was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment. Melniciuc was sentenced to 7 years’ imprisonment with execution for illicit enrichment and false statements, with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or to exercise a certain activity in the field of jurisprudence for 15 years. The case is being examined at the Chisinau Court of Appeal.