Romanian Justice in the Spotlight Again
Romanians are still dissatisfied with Romanian politicians, and say the justice system is too politicized
Bogdan Matei, 13.03.2017, 13:07
In February this year, hundreds of thousands of scandalized Romanians took to the streets to take part in the largest rallies Romania has seen since the fall of communism in 1989. Soon after being sworn in, the government, made up of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE), tried to grant collective pardon and amend the criminal codes through emergency decrees. After the protesters discourse was publicly shared by the right-of-center opposition, the media and Romanias western partners, the Government members felt cornered and had to eventually withdraw the decrees. Nevertheless, the public opinion continues to suspect that the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats plan to exonerate from criminal liability high-level politicians and decision-makers with the central and local administration.
On Sunday evening, fresh protests against the Government and Parliament were held in the capital Bucharest and several other cities, as the Romanian MPs are currently debating a pardon bill, initiated by the Social Democrat senator Serban Nicolae. In Bucharest, around three thousand people expressed their outrage at this bill, which pardons certain acts of corruption. Protesters have denounced what they see as the politicization of the Constitutional Court, which has recently ruled that the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) exceeded their attributions when investigating the way in which the emergency decree amending the criminal codes was adopted.
Protesters have again called on the Government to resign:
“This Government should leave because they made changes aimed at fooling the people.”
“I no longer want a political class that represents itself or decision makers who make a career out of politics”.
“When you finally relax because you think that they eventually understood what this is about, here comes senator Serban Nicolae, who deplores the sad life of detainees. You could be easily fooled if you didnt know what he is really after. I wonder which is the politicians priority? Have they ever stepped into an oncology hospital? Honestly, what I really want is for this government to resign.”
In another move, the new Justice Minister Tudorel Toader, appointed after the author of the emergency decrees, his predecessor Florin Iordache had to resign, pleads for transparency in decision making, in keeping with the Constitution and the EU standards. Toader says that the Bucharest authorities are making efforts to lift the European Commissions monitoring of the Romanian justice system.
“We are still under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism. We want to lift this monitoring and we can only do that by having a transparent decision-making mechanism. We can only do that by adopting regulations in keeping with the constitutional standards, through judicial regulations that are in line with the standards of the Venice Commission.”
The Justice Minister has also announced he will hold talks with the General Prosecutor Augustin Lazar and with the DNA chief Laura Codruta Kovesi on the investigation regarding the government emergency decree. Minister Toader has said that, in the following two weeks, he will also analyze the activity of the General Prosecutors Office. Toader did not rule out the possibility of having the two chief prosecutors dismissed. Such decision, however, risks sparking large-scale protests again, pundits have warned.
(Translated by Elena Enache)
