Ombudsman gets reinstated

Renate Weber to be reinstated as Ombudsman, after the Constitutional Court invalidates her dismissal by Parliament.

Daniela Budu, 30.06.2021, 13:50

Renate Weber will be reinstated as Ombudsman, after
the Constitutional Court unanimously invalidated her dismissal by Parliament
two weeks ago. The Court accepted a complaint from the Social Democratic Party in
opposition and ruled that Weber must continue her 5-year mandate, which she
received in 2019. In a press statement, the magistrates explained that the decision
by which Parliament dismissed her is in breach of the principle of the rule of
law and the principle of the legality and supremacy of the Constitution, as
well as of certain provisions of the law regulating the institution of
Ombudsman.

Renate Weber was dismissed on 16th June by
the parliamentary majority during a session that Social Democrats refused to
attend. The president of the Senate’s legal committee, the Liberal MP Iulia
Scântei, said at the time that the Ombudsman’s job is to defend the citizens’
fundamental rights and freedoms and levied a number of accusations against
Weber:

The Ombudsman failed to act consistently in relations
with Parliament and other authorities in keeping with the principle of loyal
cooperation. Neither did the Ombudsman fulfilled her role and duties in 2020
with respect to defending, protecting and promoting the rights of children, who
were strongly affected by the restrictions adopted during the pandemic.

In response, Renate Weber said she had nothing to
blame herself for during her term in office. The leader of the Social Democrats
in opposition, Marcel Ciolacu, spoke of an attack by this toxic coalition against
the rule of law, adding:

The Ombudsman has the job to monitor the government in
case they violate citizen’s rights and our freedoms. The Ombudsman’s job is not
to applaud the government, on the contrary. For the government of a European
country to accuse the Ombudsman of monitoring it and pointing out breaches of
the law with respect to citizens’ rights and freedoms is simply an act of
contempt.

The Venice Commission also requested explanations from
the speakers of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, Anca Dragu and Ludovic
Orban, respectively, about the dismissal of the Ombudsman. Last week, the legal
committees of the two chambers already gave the green light to the nomination
of Fabian Gyula from the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania to
take over as the new Ombudsman, a move that now proves to have been in vain. Among
other powers, the Ombudsman can block the government’s orders by challenging
them in the Constitutional Court. (CM)