Wikileaks - MCCLXXXVII

193486 2/24/2009 9:16 09CHISINAU123 Embassy Chisinau UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY 09SECSTATE16118 VZCZCXYZ0001 RR RUEHWEB DE RUEHCH #0123 0550916 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 240916Z FEB 09 FM AMEMBASSY CHISINAU TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7668 INFO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0132 RUEHBM/AMEMBASSY BUCHAREST 4319 UNCLAS CHISINAU 000123

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/UMB, IO/MPR-BHACKETT, L/UNA-DJOHNSON, USUN/MR--BRASHKOW

E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ACABQ, AORC, APER, KUNR, PREL, UNGA, MD, RO SUBJECT: Judge Pantiru-in Romania since 2001

REF: SECSTATE 16118

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY.

1. (SBU) Post's response to reftel request for information on Tudor Pantiru, candidate for the UN Appeals Tribunal, is given below.

2. (SBU) Judge Pantiru left his position with the European Court of Human Rights in 2001, when the present Party of Communists government took office, and now lives in Bucharest. On November 30, 2008, he was elected to the lower chamber of the Romanian Parliament, and began his term on December 15. Because of the passing of time, strained relations with the present Government of Moldova (GOM), Pantiru's residence in Bucharest, and his membership in the Romanian Parliament, we expect that our request for information, made February 23 to the GOM, may not yield results. We believe that Embassy Bucharest might be better placed to research the information requested. We also note that during his service in Bosnia and Kosovo, Pantiru could have made contacts with FSOs and other USG representatives who could attest to his judicial expertise and reputation.

Curriculum Vitae of Judge Tudor Pantiru
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3. (SBU) We received the following information from non-official legal contacts in Chisinau. Pantiru was born on 26 October 1951 in Baraboi, Moldavian SSR, Soviet Union. He earned his MA in Law at the Faculty of Law, State University of Moldova. From 1977 to 1980 he was an attorney. From 1980 to 1987 he was a judge and from 1987 to 1990 he served as the President of the Frunze District Court in Chisinau. From 1988 to 1990 he served as the President of the Commission for the Evaluation, Admission and Promotion of Judges. From 1990 to 1994 he served as Member of Parliament of the Republic of Moldova and from 1990 to 1992 he was the President of the Legal Committee of Parliament. From 1992 to 1996 he was Ambassador (Permanent Representative) of Moldova to the United Nations. From June 1996 to November 2001, he served as International Judge of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. In 2001, he moved to Romania and currently lives in Bucharest. 4. (SBU) In June 2002, he was appointed Judge of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, taking up the position in September 2002. From May 2003 to June 2006, he served as the Vice-President of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. From April 2002, he also served as International Judge at the Supreme Court of Kosovo, and from April 2005 to December 2008, he was the International Presiding Judge of the Special Chamber of the Supreme Court of Kosovo. After his election to the Romanian Parliament, he resigned from that position. 5. (SBU) Pantiru has published numerous texts in Chisinau-based legal journals, and wrote the chapter "Protection of Refugees under the ECHR" in the book "Jurisprudence of the International Legal Institutions in Refugee Matters," published in 2000. Chaudhry