Attorney General Candidate Disqualified: SCP Decision and New Competition Initiated
Upon the decision of the Superior Council of Prosecutors (SCP) on May 24, one of the four candidates vying for the position of Attorney General has been disqualified from the race.
The individual in question is Grigore Vornicescu, a former university lecturer. SCP cited incompleteness in his file as the reason for disqualification. Meanwhile, SCP member Mariana Cherpec announced that the remaining three candidates will undergo the "interview" test on May 30. These candidates include the interim Attorney General, Ion Munteanu, the deputy chief of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, Octavian Iachimovschi, and the prosecutor Alexandru Cernei.
Following a thorough examination of the eligibility of the candidates enrolled in the competition, it was determined that Ion Munteanu, Octavian Iachimovschi, and Alexandru Cernei meet all the legal conditions to continue participating in the competition.
Regarding Grigore Vornicescu, it was found, upon verification of all documents, that he does not fulfil one of the legal conditions. Specifically, he has not previously held the position of judge, prosecutor, lawyer, or officer of criminal prosecution for at least 5 years. Additionally, it was noted that he failed to submit the complete set of required documents within the established deadline, as stated by SCP member Mariana Cherpec.
On April 15, the Superior Council of Prosecutors initiated a new competition for the election of the Attorney General, following the failure of the previous one due to the scandal involving the deduction of points from a candidate.
The day before, Minister of Justice Veronica Mihailov-Moraru emphasised that the appointment of the Attorney General is one of the requirements presented by the European Union, given that negotiations for the accession of the Republic of Moldova to the European Union could commence at the end of June. She further specified that the future head of the Attorney General's Office should be selected "as soon as possible."
Translation by Iurie Tataru
