Moldova Court of Appeal overwhelmed by caseload
The Court of Appeal is facing a significant caseload backlog, with over 43,000 cases examined in 2023 and another 13,000 pending due to a shortage of judges.
This situation was highlighted during a meeting between magistrates and members of the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM) on February 2nd.
To address the issue, the CSM will initiate procedures to temporarily transfer judges from other courts to the Court of Appeal.
Ghenadie Mîra, the acting president of the Court of Appeal of Chisinau, stated that each judge at the court handled an average of 1,200 cases in 2023, which is at least double the recommended workload. He emphasised that filling vacant positions is crucial to avoiding further delays in case resolution.
"In 2023, seven judges left the court," Mîra said. "They leave due to the high workload, which they cannot objectively handle. 85% of the cases pending in the Courts of Appeal throughout the country are being examined at the Court of Appeal of Chisinau."
Sergiu Caraman, the acting president of the CSM, confirmed that the council will initiate procedures to temporarily transfer judges from other courts to the Court of Appeal in Chisinau. He added that the measure will also be applied to the Cahul and Bălți Courts of Appeal, if necessary.
"We will examine at the CSM the issue of the temporary transfer of judges from the first instance courts to the Courts of Appeal, where the situation requires it," Caraman said. "Today we saw that the Court of Appeal of Chisinau is operating with only about half of its judges. So the situation is serious, we need to intervene. As for the other Courts of Appeal in the country, the situation is somewhat better, based on the number of cases pending in those courts."
Currently, the Court of Appeal of Chisinau has 35 judges out of a total of 57 authorised positions.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
