The Romanian Government has passed an emergency decree to amend the justice laws
On Monday, the Romanian Government passed an emergency ordinance amending the justice laws, which have been the topic of fierce debates for some time. Applauded by some and contested by others, the amendments have been validated by the Constitutional Court, as the Prime Minister Viorica Dancila announced in the latest government meeting, also stressing that the changes will ensure a better functioning of the justice system, for the benefit of the Romanian citizens. In turn, the Justice Minister Tudorel Toader has stated that passing this ordinance was necessary in order to incorporate some of the recommendations made by the Venice Commission and some of the requests made by the Superior Council of Magistracy. The minister has emphasized some of the changes, such as the provision according to which, in order to hold a leadership position within the General Prosecutor's Office, the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) and the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), prosecutors will need to prove 15 years of seniority, instead of 8 as before. Interviews for these positions will be recorded, archived and available to all those interested in watching them. Also, the prosecutors who want to work with the National Anticorruption Directorate or DIICOT will have to have 10 years of seniority. The provision regarding the early retirement of magistrates after 20 years of seniority will be applied after December 31st, 2019, in order to avoid shortage of staff, which is one of the concerns voiced by the Venice Commission. Minister Toader explained:
"In order to strike the balance between the desire of some of the magistrates to retire immediately after 20 years of work, the ruling of the Constitutional Court and the recommendations made by the Venice Commission, which believes that this would create staff shortage, we have decided to postpone the implementation of this provision up until the end of 2019. In the meantime we will see how the system works."
The president of the opposition National Liberal Party Ludovic Orban has stated, however, that out of the nine recommendations made by the Venice Commission, the Government has only complied with two and that the current ruling coalition ignores all the messages conveyed at European level. Ludovic Orban:
"The National Liberal Party firmly blames the Government for continuing to mock the independence of the judiciary, the citizens' fundamental rights and freedoms and the cooperation with the European Commission and other European institutions."
In turn, Romania's Prosecutor General Augustin Lazar has stated that the changes brought to the justice laws were done hastily, thus affecting the solving of important cases:
"Staff from several prosecutor offices have been mobilized and posted to solve big and complex cases. In this new situation, the staff working on these cases will be dismantled."
According to Augustin Lazar, unless these so-called 'big cases' are solved, Romania might have to pay large amounts of money following rulings by the European Court of Human Rights.
(Translated by M. Ignatescu)Useful Links
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