In the case of Catană v. the Republic of Moldova the Court held that there had been a violation of the right to a fair hearing.

The case concerned disciplinary sanctions (“severe reprimands”) which were imposed on the applicant in respect of her conduct as a judge.

The Court held that the requirements of independence and impartiality had not been satisfied in the present case with regard to the composition of the National Judicial Service Commission (CSM) that had ruled in the applicant’s case. It found that the presence of a member of the government within a body empowered to impose disciplinary sanctions on judges was in itself highly problematic in terms of the requirement for the disciplinary body to be independent.

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