The Forensic Medicine Center Is Obliged by the Courts to Disclose the Names of Disciplinary Sanctioned Forensic Experts

In May 2019, the representatives of the association and citizen Silvia Rotari requested information of public interest from the Forensic Medicine Center, including the list of licensed/certified forensic experts working at the center and those who were sanctioned from October 10, 2014, to April 30, 2019, for breaches in forensic activity, as well as disciplinary sanctions each of these persons had. In addition, the association requested the total amount of money collected by the FMC for fee-based forensic expertise services from January 1, 2017, to April 30, 2019; public procurement procedures by the Center for purchasing services, goods, and items, and economic entities designated as winners; the amounts of the offers presented by them in the bidding process.

The FMC responded to the requests partially and after the deadline stipulated by the law, stating that the list of experts working at the FMC was published on the website of the Ministry of Justice, and the names of sanctioned employees could not be disclosed due to personal data protection. The representatives of the institution only specified that 14 experts had been sanctioned. Dissatisfied with the answer, the plaintiffs sued the organization, demanding complete data and compensation for legal expenses.

At last, the case reached the table of Judge Victor Sirbu from Rascani Sector Court in Chisinau, who dismissed the lawsuit as ungrounded issuing a decision in December 2019. According to the magistrate, the plaintiffs “did not present any clear arguments providing the public authority with the possibility to present the requested information regarding the disciplinary sanctions against the experts, besides, the request does not contain any motivation for such an increased interest or the existence of a public interest in knowing this information.”

The decision of the court of original jurisdiction was appealed against at the Court of Appeal. Judges Angela Bostan, Ion Muruianu, and Veronica Negru annulled it entirely and issued a new decision in February 2021, obliging the FMC to provide the requested information regarding the list of sanctioned experts and to pay legal expenses. The judges criticized the approach of the court of original jurisdiction stating that some information could be found by the plaintiffs on the of public authorities’ official websites. According to the magistrates, “the reply must be specific and refer directly to the object of the request; an evasive, incomplete, or only directing answer which is not specified is inadmissible.” “The defendant/respondent as the holder of the information must provide it to the applicant after the request for access to the information is addressed to them instead of referring to the public nature of the requested information and/or referring to the other sources. This is true even in the ‘information technology era’ and the authorities’ aspirations for maximum transparency by publishing information regarding the authorities. Once the person’s right to information is guaranteed by the law, including the supreme one, the subject/information provider/person receiving a request has to respond directly, not by referrals,” the decision of the Court of Appeal states.

In February 2021, the FMC filed an appeal against the decision of the Chisinau Court of Appeal, requesting to maintain the decision of the court of original jurisdiction. Tudor Crigan, the legal representative of the institution, mentions that the court of appeal, when taking the decision, “ignored the response from the National Center for Personal Data Protection, which supported the statement of the Forensic Medicine Center.” Crigan also remarks that the Court of Appeal failed to interpret the law correctly. “Lawyers for Human Rights” Public Association filed a reference requesting to dismiss Tudor Crigan’s appeal.

The specialized group for the examination of administrative lawsuits of the Civil, Commercial, and Administrative board of the Supreme Court of Justice, composed of Tamara Chisca-Doneva, Victor Burduh, and Nicolae Craiu, concluded that the appeal filed by Tudor Crigan was inadmissible by an irrevocable statement of June 16, 2021, motivating their opinion by the fact that the document was filed by an unauthorized person.