International experts in international law are to publish a report in October on Romania’s revised justice laws.
A delegation of the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe's advisory body on constitutional matters, was in Bucharest for two days. Its agenda was extremely busy. The international experts met representatives of many important state institutions, including the president Klaus Iohannis, the Justice Ministry, the High Court of Cassation and Justice, the Constitutional Court, the Prosecutor's General office, the National Anticorruption Directorate, the Superior Council of Magistracy and Parliament, as well as judges and prosecutors associations and civil organisations.
The president of the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe had requested the opinion of the Venice Commission on three draft laws on judicial organisation, on the Superior Council of Magistracy and on the statute of judges and prosecutors. For two days, the experts from the Venice Commission heard completely opposing views, which have been dividing the power and the opposition in Romania, and implicitly, society in general. Based on the data gathered, they will draft a preliminary report in July and a final one in October.
The president of the special parliamentary committee that oversaw the revision of the justice laws, the Social Democrat Florin Iordache, believes the report will not alter the substance of the laws in their amended form:
"The clarifications they received and the material we have provided and which solves many of the untruths that have circulated will help the representatives of the Venice Commission, both in their preliminary opinion and the final opinion expected in autumn, to make the best observations and note that three justice laws are in keeping with both the opinions expressed by the Commission and the rulings of the Constitutional Court."
The Liberals, in opposition, are, however, sceptical that the ruling coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats will take into account the final report of the Venice Commission, given the stage of the revision process. Liberal senator Alina Gorghiu:
"The revision is in its final stage and it will be quite difficult to work so fast so as to be able to publish the report within a timeframe that allows the country in question, Romania, to take it into account."
The right-wing opposition, part of the media and a number of civic organisations have said that, by amending the three laws in such haste, the government coalition is trying to put an end to the fight against corruption and place magistrates at its orders. The power, on the other hand, says the laws in question had not been revised for a long time and that justice is not free from abuses and violations of the rule of law. They also speak about the existence of an illegitimate, subterranean structure they call "the parallel state" which they say paralyses state institutions and influences magistrates' decisions.
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