The Supreme Court summed up the results of 2019. The President, Heads of the legislative and executive branches of Government, ministries and departments, representatives of the judicial community took part in the Plenum.
Reporting and discussion is the main part of the event. Reports on the directions were voiced by the chairmen of the Judicial Collegiums for Civil and Criminal Cases.
To date, 18 judges represent the PMR Supreme Court. 8 of them are members of the Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases (with its staffing of 14 judges). The load is 124 cases per year. In the courts of general jurisdiction - 313.6 cases per one judge. Moreover, if we compare it by city and district, the highest - 379 cases - in the Rybnitsa City Court, the smallest (214) - in Kamenka City Court. Totally, 18819 civil cases were pending in the past year (17444 of them were received in 2019). 17468 cases have been closed. Every third of 16365 decisions in the whole country is taken by the Tiraspol city court. Almost half of the civil cases examined by the courts of the republic are related to evasion of fees for housing and utilities, 11% - to collect mandatory payments, 15% of disputes arose on the basis of marriage and family relations.
Chairman of the Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases Elena Polozova drew attention of the Plenum participants to the fact that the high load on the judges was largely due to the need to perform a large amount of mechanical work. Elena Polozova explained that organizations often turn not to notaries, but to the court. This is due to the fact that when contacting a notary public, it is necessary to provide a larger number of documents than when applying to сourt.
The activities of the Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the PMR Supreme Court were described by its Head Olga Kapinus. According to her, the board is staffed by 69%, it consists of 9 judges. Over the year, 1026 cases were considered. In the first instance, 10 convictions were passed against 12 people, 11 of them were sentenced to imprisonment. 1264 cases were considered by the City Courts, 55% (688 cases) - in a special order. Totally 1413 people were convicted under a guilty verdict. 8 defendants acquitted. 616 citizens were sentenced to imprisonment (27 of them are minors), 205 to compulsory labor, 45 to correctional, 179 people were fined, 384 were conditionally imprisoned or sentenced to other punitive measures. 5151 cases were considered by district and city courts on the basis of judicial control materials and issues related to the execution of sentences. 6.8% were received by the cassation hearing. According to complaints about decisions of city court judges that have not entered into force, members of the relevant Collegium considered 190 administrative cases. More than half of them are related to offenses in the sphere of road safety.
Olga Kapinus put an increased focus on the work of the Dubossary District Court. According to her, during the reporting period, this court has not a single case, the consideration of which would have lasted more than 3 months. In addition, the Supreme Court did not receive a single appeal to annul the decisions taken by the judges in Dubossary. Olga Kapinus thanked them for the prompt and high-quality administration of justice.
The judges focused on the statistics of offenses in the sphere of road safety. They accounted for the majority (56%) of the administrative cases considered by the criminal collegium. In 2019, 932 drivers were brought to administrative responsibility for driving a vehicle while intoxicated, 62 were brought to criminal responsibility. According to the judges, the existing rigid legal position of the state in relation to such offenses should be preserved.
In addition to carrying out the main activities, judges of the civil and criminal colleges provide practical and advisory assistance to the city and district courts of the republic on issues of the correct and uniform application of legislation. In addition, during the reporting period, judges actively interacted with the PMR Supreme Council, took part in the development of relevant legislations
The PMR prosecutor's office submitted 79 supervisory submissions on the review of court decisions to the Supreme Court in 2019, 53 of them are satisfied.
According to the results of the year, the President considers the work of the Supreme Court satisfactory. Targeting the judicial community towards its effective continuation, Vadim Krasnoselsky recommended that increased attention should be paid to appeals in which citizens indicate shortcomings, lack of professionalism, or non-performance by an official of his duties. Another aspect that the President focused on is the imperfection of the legislative framework governing relations between the state and property owners. We are talking about cases where emergency buildings that are privately owned have stood idle for decades, but the city or country’s leadership cannot take measures, transfer them to a more responsible and conscientious user. Vadim Krasnoselsky urged the judicial community, the Justice Ministry and the PMR Prosecutor's Office to jointly work through this issue and prepare an appropriate legislative initiative.
Speaking about the conditions under which judges and employees of the Supreme Court work, the President declared the condition of the building and premises that do not meet the requirements unsatisfactory. The Government will be instructed to study the placement of the Supreme Court in the new building. According to the President, it is advisable to place the Tiraspol City Court and the Supreme Court under the same roof. This is convenient from the point of view of logistics and will allow rational use of space for archives.
Analyzing the report on the activities of the College of Criminal Cases, the President called on the chairman of the Supreme Court to keep a personal review of cases when a citizen’s detention at the preliminary investigation stage is delayed for more than a year.
The President paid attention to the topic of parole of convicts. He noted positive changes in this direction. Vadim Krasnoselsky focused on the upcoming amnesty. The President considers it advisable to mark announcement of parole of convicts on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Great Victory and the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the PMR. The preparatory work was entrusted to the judicial community, the prosecution and internal affairs bodies.
The President expressed gratitude to the judges and staff of the PMR Supreme Court for their work aimed at protecting the rights and freedoms of citizens, strengthening and developing Pridnestrovian justice. The Plenum of the PMR Supreme Court concluded the ceremony of presenting state awards to the most distinguished judges.
