The Principle of Judicial Independence in the Jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court: Evolution and Legal Patterns

In the Republic of Moldova, the issue of judicial independence has gained momentous importance. This is evidenced, in no small part, by the recent progression of the justice system reform. The Constitutional Court has always been tasked with a major role in interpreting and driving forward the principle of judicial independence. The object of this study is to expound the evolution of the principle of judicial independence in the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court and to establish its patterns. The findings show that the Constitutional Court's jurisprudence in this regard can be delineated in correspondence to three time periods: 1995-2000; 2001-2010; and 2011 to the present day. It is argued that as of 2011, the Constitutional Court has been most active in scrutinizing the principle of judicial independence. The main reason is that during this period, almost all the criteria for assessing judicial independence have suffered legislative interventions, which have also contributed to growing complexity of related constitutional concerns.