Interlic.md

EU Foreign Affairs Chief Catherine Ashton and EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Štefan Füle have voiced strong concern over the new amendment to the Law on the Constitutional Court of Moldova, allowing removal of judges from the Constitutional Court if they fail to secure the "trust" of parliament. In a joint statement issued on 3 May, they pointed to the extreme hasteand lack of proper consultation with Moldovan society, with which the legislature had adopted this  law and a number of other important laws “touching upon fundamental issues for the functioning of Moldova's democracy.”
 
The changes have been made without appropriate regard to European standards on constitutional reform, in particular those of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, Ashton and Füle said, adding they fully shared the concerns expressed by the President of the Venice Commission in a statement issued earlier on the same day.
 
“This follows a worrying new pattern of decision-making in Moldova, reflected also in other recent legislative moves, where the institutions of the state have been used in the interest of a few,” the statement said.
 
Ashton and Füle said these new measures, “carried out without proper preparation and consultation, could constitute a threat to the independence of key national institutions, and an obstacle to Moldova's further democratic development and stable rule of law.”
 
The High Representative and the Commissioner urged Moldova's political leaders “not to lose sight of the long-term impact of their decisions, including on the achievement of Moldova's aspirations.”(EU Neighbourhood Info)