The former president of the Constitutional Court, Augustin Zegrean, commented on the request to suspend the two CCR judges, appreciating that the Bucharest Court of Appeal does not have the competence to judge these requests, and the result is predictable.
Augustin Zegrean, the former president of the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR), explained on Monday, January 5, during an intervention on Antena 3 CNN, that the request submitted to the Bucharest Court of Appeal (CAB) for the suspension of two judges of the CCR, Dacian Dragoș and Mihai Busuioc, could be rejected on the grounds that they do not fall under the jurisdiction of this court.
“At least one of the judges was appointed by the Parliament, he is appointed. The decisions of the Senate cannot be challenged in administrative litigation”, he pointed out on Monday evening.
“Suspension for how long? Until the story with magistrates’ pensions? Or what do they want? Madam lawyer, I’m sorry for you, but he is not very familiar with the problem. The Court of Appeal has no jurisdiction to hear this claim.
There are remedies for requests that do not have jurisdiction: they are dismissed as being made to an incompetent court. I think they will reject each other because they cannot judge. At least one of the judges was appointed by the Parliament, he is appointed. Decisions of the Senate cannot be appealed in administrative litigation. If he did not meet the conditions for appointment to the position of judge at the Court, someone had to notify the court and ask for the annulment”, he also said.
The former CCR president also explained the consequences of a possible suspension:
“You will again have the surprise of an adjournment due to lack of quorum. There will be no quorum and the decision at the Court will be annulled. I do not think that it will end up in this situation. With seven judges it is possible to judge, if the other four go to work.”
Regarding the outcome of this situation, it is a predictable one, believes Augutin Zegrean.
“At the Court of Appeal, I understood that they should postpone the ruling. So they no longer have to participate in the meeting there. And if it still remained in the ruling today, then the solution is predictable and will reject the request as inadmissible.” he explained.
His statements come in the context in which, at the Bucharest Court of Appeal, the trial on the merits of the appeals regarding the appointment of the two judges of the CCR has begun. The magistrates rejected the postponement requests made by both the lawyers of the judges and the representative of the Presidential Administration, considering that there are no sufficient reasons for delaying the proceedings.
The decision regarding the suspension or not of magistrates Dacian Dragoș and Mihai Busuioc will be announced on January 16.
