Judge Pantiru-in Romania since 2001

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
--------------

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