VENICE COMMISSION GIVES POSITIVE CONCLUSION ON AMENDMENTS TO SCM LAW

The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe and the Directorate have given a positive conclusion on the recently-approved amendments to the Law on the Superior Council of Magistracy (SCM).

The Commission’s document said that the proposal to increase the number of the members of the SCM from 12 to 15 may be positive as the functions of the Council concerning evaluation, management, discipline and accountability of judges can be qualitatively strengthened with a broader and more representative composition.

“The result of the proposed amendments, as with the previous draft amendments to the Law on Superior Council examined by the Commission and the Directorate in the October 2019 Interim Opinion, is to achieve a better balance within the SCM between judges and lay members”, wrote the Venice Commission, which particularly welcomed that the representation of lower courts on the Council is increased.

The Venice Commission wrote that the election of non-judge members by Parliament with the vote of the “majority of the elected deputies”, assuming that it is constitutional, is welcome as a positive step towards a larger support of the candidates by Parliament, and that “A stronger majority would be more appropriate because it would involve the opposition too: this should at any rate be examined in the context of the constitutional reform in preparation”.

The Commission and the Directorate presume that the Moldova authorities could also consider other solutions, as, for instance, vesting outside bodies, not under government control, such as the Bar or the law faculties, with the possibility to propose candidates or establishing an independent, non-political commission to fulfill this task.

At the same time, the Venice Commission and the Directorate stated that it is regrettable that the Parliament of Moldova did not wait for the present urgent opinion before the adoption at the second and final reading of the draft law amending Law no. 947/1996 on Superior Council of Magistracy on December 20, 2019, nor before submitting it to the President for promulgation. They welcomed however the information that constitutional amendments relating to the Supreme Council of Magistracy are being prepared and that the Commission’s assistance will be sought in that respect.

The Venice Commission and the Directorate expressed their readiness for constructive and substantive co-operation in the framework of the future draft constitutional amendments as this might be an opportunity for the authorities to address more structural problems at the constitutional level.