Moldova: Judges Transferred to Ease Court Backlog
Four judges from trial-level courts in Moldova will be temporarily reassigned to the Chisinau Court of Appeal, pursuant to a decision approved on Tuesday by the Superior Council of the Magistracy (CSM).
The CSM meeting reviewed applications submitted by eight judges. Following the vote, only four applications were approved for temporary reassignment to the Court of Appeal (CA), while three applications were rejected and one candidate withdrew.
The judges whose applications for reassignment were approved include: Andrei Cașcaval from the Anenii-Noi Court, Natalia Mămăligă from the Chișinău Court, Vitalie Budeci from the Chisinau Court, and Vladislav Schibin from the Chisinau Court.
According to CSM's acting president, Sergiu Caraman, the decision factored in both the capacity of the trial-level courts and the restriction on transferring magistrates from other courts to these first-level courts.
"The Council's vote considered both the situation at the Chisinau Court of Appeal and the capacity of the courts from which the judges would be reassigned," Caraman explained. "Our challenge is twofold: to support the Court of Appeal in handling its workload through these temporary reassignments, while also ensuring the smooth operation of the trial-level courts. Temporary transfers are possible to the Court of Appeal from other courts, but not to the trial-level courts. This situation was a key factor in the Council's decision."
Currently, the Chisinau Court of Appeal has 19 magistrates, including the president and vice president of the court. With the arrival of the four reassigned judges on June 17th, the total number of magistrates at the Court of Appeal will increase to 24.
Earlier in May, 20 magistrates resigned from their positions in protest against the external evaluation process. On May 16th, the CSM announced a competition to transfer 15 magistrates to the Court of Appeal. The application deadline for this competition was extended to June 3rd.
The CSM's decision allows for these temporary reassignments to the Chisinau Court of Appeal until at least 30 judge positions are filled at the court.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
