Tuesday, April 26, is the last day to submit applications for the position of judge at the Constitutional Court in place of Valer Dorneanu. So far, the only candidacies submitted are those of Cristi Danileț (supported by USR) and Ioan Sabău-Pop (supported by AUR), but Bogdan Licu, supported by PSD, is also expected to submit his file.
Procedure. The nomination of a new judge to the Constitutional Court in place of Valer Dorneanu is to be made by the Chamber of Deputies, given that this was also the one who appointed Valer Dorneanu in 2013. The deadline for submitting nominations is April 26, 2022, according to a decisions of the Permanent Bureau of the Chamber of Deputies of April 11, 2022. The Legal Commission of the Chamber of Deputies will submit the report by April 29, followed by the vote in plenary.
Important. The mandates of three judges at the Constitutional Court expire on June 9: Valer Dorneanu (appointed by the Chamber of Deputies with PSD support), Mona Pivniceru (appointed by the Senate with PNL support) and Daniel Morar (appointed by the Presidency). According to information, G4Media, PNL and PSD would have shared their appointments even now, so the Liberals will propel Iulia Scântei at CCR, and PSD – on Bogdan Licu. Regarding the nomination made by the Presidential Administration, the highest chance has the presidential adviser Mihaela Ciochinăhead of the Constitutional Legislative Department.
G4Media.ro has been writing since April 4 that the first deputy general prosecutor, Bogdan Licu, is being taken into account by PSD in order to be proposed as a judge at the Constitutional Court. Licu was allegedly supported by the party’s president, Marcel Ciolacu. He would run for office today and be supported by the PNL in the vote.
USR announced that it supports Judge Cristi Danileț, but the majority of votes in the Chamber of Deputies is held by the governing coalition PSD-PNL-UDMR.
Context. Bogdan Licu was accused in 2016 by journalist Emilia Șercan of plagiarizing his doctoral dissertation, “Corruption, a major risk to national security.” At that time, Licu was also the first deputy general prosecutor, and Șercan accused him of plagiarizing 200 pages of the over 400 pages of the work coordinated by former Deputy Prime Minister Gabriel Oprea. Licu had defended his doctoral thesis at the National Academy of Information “Mihai Viteazul”, an institution subordinated to SRI.
Along with Oprea and other doctors he did, Licu was targeted by a criminal case regarding his doctoral thesis. The case was filed by the prosecutors under his subordination in August 2018, more precisely by the prosecutor Alexandra Mihai from the Coordination Service of the Public Ministry’s activity in the field of intellectual property rights within the SUPC of the High Court Prosecutor’s Office. Although he did not identify criminal elements, prosecutor Mihai’s investigation established that Bogdan Licu allegedly plagiarized in his doctoral thesis almost 27 percent.
In November 2021, the first deputy general prosecutor, Bogdan Licu, won the case at the High Court of Cassation and Justice. The Supreme Court ruled in his favor and ordered the Ministry of Education to take note of the waiver of the doctor’s degree following a partially plagiarized thesis, according to the court’s decision.
In December 2019, journalist Sorin Semeniuc accused Licu of plagiarism for the second year. He said in a survey published by the Romanian Center for Investigative Journalism (CRJI) that Bogdan Licu had written an entire chapter (“Criminogenesis of Corruption”) in a book published in 2005, copying excerpts from eight sources that he did not quote them. “Criminogenesis of Corruption” appeared in the volume “Insecurity Anxiety” (pp. 187-196), a book coordinated at Tritonic Publishing House by University Professor Cristian Troncotă, then employed at the National Academy of Intelligence, Sorin Semeniuc says on crji.org .
About CCR (Agerpres synthesis). According to the Romanian Constitution, the Constitutional Court consists of 9 judges, appointed for a term of 9 years, which cannot be extended or renewed. Of these, 3 judges are appointed by the Chamber of Deputies, 3 by the Senate and 3 by the President of Romania (art. 142 of the Romanian Constitution).
The judges of the Constitutional Court elect, by secret ballot, its president, for a period of 3 years. The Constitutional Court is renewed with one third of its judges, every 3 years, under the conditions provided by the organic law of the Court, the Romanian Constitution also shows (art. 142).
Each Chamber of Parliament shall, on a proposal from the Permanent Bureau and on the recommendation of the Committee on Legal Affairs, appoint the person who has the majority of the members present to vote. Nominations may be submitted to the Committee on Legal Affairs by parliamentary groups, Members of Parliament and senators. Each candidate will submit a “curriculum vitae” and documents proving that he meets the conditions set out in the Constitution. Candidates will be heard by the committee and the full House. The report of the Legal Commission will refer, motivated, to all candidates, according to Law no. 47/1992 on the organization and functioning of the Constitutional Court (art. 5).
Foto: Bogdan Licu. Above photo: I say photos / Octav Ganea
–
