Domnica Manole, currently a Constitutional Court (CC) judge, won
a case against Moldova. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled that the Moldovan authorities violated her rights to freedom of expression by dismissing her from the Court of Appeal.
As a result, the state must pay Domnica Manola 9,500 euros in compensation, 4,500 euros in moral damages, and another 5,000 euros in legal costs.
Recall that in 2016, the judge of the Court of Appeal, Domnica Manole, canceled the decision of the CEC to organize a referendum proposed by the DA Platform and ordered the institution to initiate a plebiscite. Later, the decision, signed by Manole, was appealed to the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) by the CEC. The Central Election Commission appealed to the Supreme Council of Magistracy (SCM) and the Prosecutor General’s Office. The then Prosecutor General Eduard Harunzhen asked the Council for consent to investigate the actions of the judge.
In 2017, the SCM decided that Domnica Manole could not hold the position of a judge after an additional advisory opinion of the Information and Security Service (ISS) was considered at the plenary session, which referred to the “presence of risk factors in the work of a judge.” On July 21, 2017, President Igor Dodon signed a decree dismissing Manole from office.
Manole appealed this decision to the SCJ, and, according to anticoruptie.md, after repeated delays, in November 2018, the judges rejected Domnica Manole’s request to be reinstated as a judge.