July 18, 2019 UPDATE

Constitutional Court dismisses bills to revise the Constitution

Newsroom, 18.07.2019, 19:57

CONSTITUTION The Constitutional Court of Romania Thursday dismissed the legislative initiatives of the National Liberal Party and Save Romania Union, in opposition, and of the Social Democrats and ALDE in power, concerning proposals to revise the Constitution. The Court found that forbidding amnesty and pardons for corruption offences is outside the scope of Constitution revision initiatives, and that lawmakers must be allowed to decide the individuals and categories of offenders that may benefit from amnesty and pardon. On July 1, opposition parties presented Parliament with a bill transposing into legislation the outcomes of the May 26 referendum. Under the bill, amnesty and pardon are prohibited for individuals sentenced for corruption offences, the President may no longer pardon such offences, and integrity is included under the Constitution among the prerequisites for holding public offices. Individuals serving final sentences for crimes committed knowingly and wilfully were thus banned from running in parliamentary, local, presidential and European elections. The same bill made all emergency orders issued by the government subject to constitutionality checks. Also in early July, the ruling coalition tabled its own bill to revise the Constitution, prohibiting individuals sentenced to prison from holding public office and extending the right to notify the Constitutional Court with respect to government emergency orders. The bill also denied the presidents right to pardon corruption-related offences.

MEDAL Tennis player Simona Halep was awarded on Thursday the highest distinction of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Patriarchal Cross, for her performances in womens tennis. On Wednesday, tens of thousands attended a ceremony on the National Arena in Bucharest, where Simona Halep presented the trophy she won at the Wimbledon tournament. Halep was the first Romanian to win a singles title in Wimbledon, after defeating the American Serena Williams in the final. Attending the ceremony were also several Romanian sports personalities. The athlete will also be granted by President Klaus Iohannis the National Order of the Star of Romania, the highest distinction offered by the Romanian state. This was Simona Haleps second Grand Slam title, after she won the Roland Garros trophy last year.

FESTIVAL Electric Castle music festival continues until Sunday on the Banffy estate in Bonţida, Cluj County, (north-western Romania). Banffy castle is a heritage monument dating back to the 15th century. The music festival here is the first in Romania accessible to the hearing impaired. Amber Galloway Galgow, the best known sign language interpreter specialising in concert interpretation, will translate all the songs performed on the main stage of the festival. Thousands of music fans attended on Wednesday the opening of this 7th edition of the festival, which tries to cover as diverse music genres as possible The festival area covers 300 thousand sq m, including 10 stages for musicians, a food area and a camping site for thousands of people. Performing at the Electric Castle 2019 are also Florence and The Machine, one of the most creative indie bands of the past decade, fronted and founded by singer and songwriter Florence Welch. Other bands performing in the festival are the rock band Limp Bizkit, with 3 Grammy nominations and more than 40 million albums sold, Jared Leto, Bring Me The Horizon, Chvrches, Giggs, Lemaitre, Mono, Tommy Cash, Handsome Furs and Viagra Boys.

COURT Judge Corina Corbu was validated on Thursday as president of the High Court of Cassation and Justice by the Judges Division of the Higher Council of Magistracy. The outgoing president of the supreme court, Cristina Tarcea, whose term in office ends on September 14th, claimed the procedure breached the law on the organisation of courts. Corina Corbu was the only candidate for the post, after Cristina Tarcea announced she would not run for a new term in office. In 2014, Corina Corbu was indicted by the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, alongside other supreme court judges, for criminal facilitation, but the charges against all the defendants were dropped in 2018.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)