Romania, from violence to justice

Notable results were reported in the field of the judiciary in 2016 despite legislative instability, says Romanias General Prosecutor Augustin Lazăr.

Mihai Pelin, 08.03.2017, 14:29

The level of violence in Romanian
society has increased alarmingly over the past decade, shows the latest
activity report issued by the General Prosecutor’s Office. The number of
Romanians sent to trial for having aggressed or killed a member of their family
rose by more than 300%. Last year, 34 children were killed by their parents,
and 22 parents were killed by their own children. In the last ten years, the
number of people standing trial on corruption charges has tripled.

Romania’s General Prosecutor
Augustin Lazăr says that prosecution in the big cases has been resumed and
taken one step further. According to the activity report, the amount,
efficiency and quality of legal activities have increased despite the
legislative instability caused by certain decisions issued by the
Constitutional Court that required permanent readjustments of the criminal law
and criminal procedure legislation. Augustin Lazăr:

In 2016, 63,722 individuals were
sent to trial, 8.2% more than in 2015.

The General Prosecutor has also
pointed out that the percentage of instances of waiver of prosecution out of
the total number of cases solved other than by sending to trial has dropped by
almost 5% compared with 2016. However, in the period 2007-2016, the average
number of defendants (natural persons) sent to trial per 100,000 inhabitants
reported continual growth, except for a sudden drop in 2014.

As regards the number of people
who received final acquittal verdicts in 2016, Augustin Lazăr says it dropped
significantly as compared to 2015 and even compared to 2013, only 809 such
cases being reported. The General Prosecutor also added that in 2016 the
General Prosecutor’s Office solved over 300 cases of conflict of interest.

The General Prosecutor’s
presentation of the activity report was also attended by President Klaus
Iohannis, who said that the latest reports under the Mechanism of Cooperation
and Verification constantly pointed to Romania’s progress in the judicial field
but also required sustainability. President Iohannis has underlined that the
attempts to question the authority of court rulings or the independence of
magistrates are doing nothing but slowing down this progress and affecting
Romania directly. Klaus Iohannis:

Consolidated democracy and
genuine rule of law cannot be conceived of in the absence of an independent
judicial system, immune to any political pressure.

Romanians want to live in a
country free of corruption and which promotes laws and not abuse, Klaus
Iohannis highlighted, adding that he was looking forward to the finalisation of
investigations into the 1989 revolution and the 1990 miners’ riots.