On 20 January 2015 the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova ruled on the constitutionality of the Decision of the Parliament no. 169 of 21 July 2014 on the removal from office of the Director General of the Board of the National Agency for Energy Regulation - ANRE (Complaint no. 59a / 2014).

 Circumstances of the case

The case originated in the complaint lodged with the Constitutional Court on 27 November 2014 by the MP at the time, Mr Veaceslav Ioniţă.

 The complaint brings forward the fact that on 6 March 2014, by final and irrevocable judgment, Mr. Victor Parlicov, the then Director General of the Board of ANRE, was sanctioned with the prohibition to hold public office for one year, due to the infringement of secrecy regime (Article 365/1 of the Contravention Code).

Subsequently, on 21 July 2014, the Parliament passed the Decision no. 169 by which Mr Victor Parlicov was removed from office.

The Author of the complaint claimed that by passing the respective contested decision, the Parliament infringed the duties established by the Constitution concerning the appointment/dismissal of public officials [Art. 66 let. j)].

The Court declared the complaint admissible, given the fact that it is the first time that a decision of the Parliament on the enforcement of a judgment is challenged at the Constitutional Court.

The Constitutional Court ruled on the complaint in the following composition:

Mr Alexandru TĂNASE, President,

Mr Aurel BĂIEȘU,

Mr Igor DOLEA

Mr Tudor PANȚÎRU,

Mr Victor POPA, judges

The Court’s assessment

Hearing the reasoning of the parties and reviewing the files of the case, the Court noted that it previously held that "acts of individual nature, issued by the Parliament [...] concerning officials exposed to a particular public interest, elected or appointed for a term, and namely: [...] the Director General [...] of the National Agency for Energy Regulation [...] - may be a subject of constitutional review in terms of form and procedure of enactment"(Decision no. 29 of 21 December 2010).

The Court found that, as basis for the enactment of Parliament’s Decision no.169 of 21 July 2014 was the irrevocable judgment which established the prohibition to hold public office for a period of one year, which was the reason why Mr Victor Parlicov was considered incompatible with holding the position.

The Court held that, under Article 120 of the Constitution, it is mandatory to abide by the sentences and other final rulings delivered by courts of law and to cooperate with the latter at their request during trials and during the enforcement of sentences and of other final judgments.

The Court emphasized that any final and irrevocable judgment is res judicata. For this reason, and in accordance with the principle of separation of State powers, neither the Parliament nor the Constitutional Court have the power to censor judgments or to pronounce itself on the reliability of the evidence provided in court proceedings and concerning the proportionality of the sanctions applied.

The Court noted that the enforcement of judgments is the last stage of the judicial process, whereby are carried out certain procedural actions.

Under the law, in order to execute the sanction of deprivation of the right to hold certain positions, the authorized body shall pass the act of removal from office.

In this respect, the Decision of the Parliament no.169 of 21 July 2014 was passed in accordance with constitutional and legal provisions.

Judgment of the Court

Stemming from the above reasoning, the Constitutional Court: rejected the complaint of Mr Veaceslav Ioniţă and declared constitutional  the Decision of the Parliament no. 169 of 21 July 2014 on the removal from office of the Director General of the Board of the National Agency for Energy Regulation – ANRE.

 The Judgment of the Constitutional Court is final, cannot be appealed, shall enter into force on the date of passing, and shall be published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Moldova.