Judge Olimpiea Creteanu of the Bucharest Court of Appeal on Friday postponed until January 30 the ruling on a request filed by the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR)-affiliated lawyer seeking the suspension from office of two Constitutional Court judges, Mihai Busuioc and Dacian Cosmin Dragos.
The decision came on the same day that Constitutional Court judges postponed debates on the draft reform of special pensions until February 11.
Lawyer Silvia Uscov asked the court to suspend the enforcement of Decree No. 774/08.07.2025, by which President Nicusor Dan appointed Dacian Cosmin Dragos as a Constitutional Court judge, as well as to suspend the Senate decision of June 24, 2025 appointing Mihai Busuioc.
In essence, she argued in court that Mihai Busuioc and Dacian Cosmin Dragos do not meet one of the requirements for appointment as Constitutional Court judges, namely at least 18 years of seniority in legal practice or in higher legal education.
In Mihai Busuioc's case, matters are clearer, in that there is a Constitutional Court decision of July 1, 2025 establishing that his appointment is constitutional, and Constitutional Court decisions cannot be overturned by ordinary courts.
The situation of Dacian Cosmin Dragos, appointed to the Constitutional Court by President Nicusor Dan, is more complex. Lawyer Silvia Uscov claims that he does not meet the requirement of at least 18 years of seniority in legal activity or higher legal education.
According to the claimant, this seniority must be acquired through practical legal activity (lawyer, legal adviser, judge, prosecutor) or through university teaching, but exclusively with a legal profile.
However, Uscov argues that Dacian Cosmin Dragos worked as a university professor at a law faculty for only about three years and four months (October 1998 - February 2002), while the rest of his career took place at the Faculty of Political and Administrative Sciences of Babes-Bolyai University, which, although it teaches law-related subjects, does not constitute higher legal education in the constitutional and legal sense of the term.
During the proceedings, the representative of the Presidential Administration requested that the challenge filed by lawyer Silvia Uscov be dismissed on the grounds that her request was filed out of time. He explained that President Nicusor Dan's decree appointing Cosmin Dragos to the Constitutional Court was published in the Official Gazette on July 8, 2025, and the claimant had a 30-day deadline to file a preliminary complaint. This complaint was submitted on December 30, 2025.
He also noted that the lawyer had 30 days to file a request to suspend the enforcement of the decree from the moment she became aware of Dacian Cosmin Dragos's appointment, and that on July 16, 2025, Silvia Uscov posted a message on a social media platform referring to this appointment.
On the other hand, the legal adviser pointed out that the case file contains evidence showing that Dacian Cosmin Dragos taught exclusively legal subjects, his teaching workload consisting of Administrative Law, European Union Law, Public Procurement Law and Labour Law.
He also worked in related activities as a scientific expert, researcher and adviser, being among the experts engaged by the Romanian state in an international dispute.
It should be noted that Dacian Cosmin Dragos is part of the group within the Constitutional Court that supports the government's draft reform of special pensions, a group that currently holds a fragile majority of five to four.
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