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BUCHAREST, July 13 (Xinhua) -- The Constitutional Court of Romania on Wednesday elected judge Valer Dorneanu as its new chairman for a three-year mandate.
Dorneanu has led the high court ad-interim, after Augustin Zegrean's chairman mandate expired in June. The elections took place behind closed doors,
"I believe that my colleagues took into account my experience, my calm, my conciliatory spirit and the fact that we shall manage together to carry on the prestige of this institution, which is a rule of law pillar," Dorneanu said soon after his election. He said he hoped the high court would cooperate well with other state institutions.
The Constitutional Court, created in 1992, is the institution which rules on whether the laws, decrees or other bills enacted by Romanian authorities are in conformity with the Constitution.
The Court is made up of nine judges serving a nine-year mandate which cannot be extended, with three members each appointed by the president, the senate and the chamber of deputies.
The high court has a chairman elected by secret voting, on a three-year period, by a majority of the judges' votes.
Dorneanu, 71, is a jurist and prominent member of the Social Democratic Party. He was the president of the chamber of deputies between December 2000 and November 2004. In 2013, Dorneanu became a judge in the Constitutional Court. Enditem
