The Pre-Vetting Commission (hereinafter referred to as the Commission), adopted a decision establishing that Dumitru Pușca, candidate for member of the Superior Council of Magistracy (SCM), currently a judge at the Bălți Court of Appeal, did not pass the evaluation.
The letter of withdrawal sent by the candidate to the Commission on the 9th of September 2022 provided the basis for the candidate’s failure to pass the financial and ethical integrity evaluation. According to Law No 26/2022 on certain measures related to the selection of candidates for the position of member of the self-governing bodies of judges and prosecutors, the withdrawal of a candidate after the institution in charge of organising the selection or the competition has forwarded the list of candidates to the Commission, is equivalent to failure to pass the evaluation, regardless of the reasons given by the candidate.
The decision of the Commission on the candidate’s failure to pass the evaluation was sent to the candidate and to the institution in charge of organising the competition that, in this given case, was the SCM, for publication on its official website. The decision of the Commission may be appealed to the Supreme Court of Justice within 5 days of receipt, pursuant to Article 14 of Law No 26/2022 on certain measures related to the selection of candidates for the position of member of the self-governing bodies of judges and prosecutors.
Previously, two other judges, both candidates for the position of member of the SCM, failed the evaluation. One of them is the magistrate Gheorghe Balan, from the Chișinău Court of Appeal, Buiucani office, who did not submit the 5-year Asset and Interest Declaration, which was established by Commission Decision of 21 July 2022. The withdrawal of candidate Mihail Cojocaru, judge in the Bălți Court of Appeal, central office, was also deemed by the Commission as failure to pass the evaluation, as set out in the Decision of 11 July 2022.
To see the Decision, go to: https://www.csm.md/ro/?option=com_content&view=article&id=3472&fbclid=IwAR25uCkKCuq8jBFM1qctycOVldw-sM2Xu0PxdbQywxxulT7uUPSYwmHE8is
Note: The Commission reminds the general public and journalists that they can send in evidence-based information regarding the financial and ethical integrity of the 25 remaining candidates for the position of members of the SCM, to the e-mailbox: secretariat@vettingmd.com. Such information will be processed by the Secretariat of the Commission and will be handled with confidentiality.
