Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, on Monday, May 9, appointed presidential adviser Mihaela Ciochină, currently head of the Constitutional Legislative Department of the Presidential Administration, as a judge at the Constitutional Court (CCR).

President Iohannis already signed the decree on her appointment as a Constitutional Court judge for a term of nine years, effective June 11.

Ciochină thus joins Bogdan Licu and Iuliana Scântei, appointed as judges at the CCR by the Social Democratic Party (formally, as the candidate of the Chamber of Deputies) and the Liberal Party (Senate).

Reformist party USR has referred the appointment of Bogdan Licu to the Constitutional Court.

As opposed to Licu, criticized for alleged plagiarism, and Scântei, blamed for backing the controversial real estate deal Romexpo, Mihaela Ciochină has a less controversial profile.

However, none of the three candidates - who will replace CCR judges in June - have developed sound academic careers that would justify their appointment at CCR at a moment when the Constitutional Court is undergoing a credibility crisis.

Ciochină was appointed presidential adviser in January 2015. From 1992 to 2015, at the time of her appointment to the Presidential Administration, she worked in the Romanian Senate, holding various positions, from executive to director-general of the Legislative Directorate-General.

(Photo: Octav Ganea/ Inquam Photos)

andrei@romania-insider.com