There are three
\nbills that the Social Democratic Party, the main partner in the ruling
\ncoalition in Romania, wishes to be urgently debated in Parliament, namely those
\nregulating the magistrates’ status, the functioning of the Higher Council of
\nMagistracy and judicial organisation. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The head of the
\nNational Anticorruption Directorate Laura Codruta Kovesi is one of the many who
\nsay that there are no serious grounds for such haste, also stressing the lack
\nof transparency in the drafting of these bills. Laura Codruta Kovesi:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
There is no
\nmagistrate in Romania who would deny that there are problems the three bills try
\nto address, such as the magistrates’ career, promotion and other issues.
\nHowever, what the magistrates have contested is the total lack of transparency,
\nas there have been no consultations on the matter. It’s an attempt to increase
\nthe authority of the Justice Minister over prosecutors, which would seriously
\naffect the independence of the latter and also, indirectly, the judges’
\nindependence. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The fast-paced
\npassing of the justice laws was decided last week, after a meeting of the
\nSocial Democrat leaders, who adopted a resolution against a so-called
\nillegitimate parallel state, which, according to the Social Democrats, would
\ntry to decapitate the political power legitimately elected in Romania. One of
\nthe targets would be the very head of the Social Democratic Party, Liviu
\nDragnea. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, the
\nNational Anticorruption Directorate forfeited all of Dragnea’s assets and
\naccounts, in order to recover the 27 million euros damage incurred in a case of
\ncorruption in which the Social Democrat leader is accused of setting up an
\norganised crime group and abuse of office with regard to the refurbishing of
\ncounty roads with European money, during the time when he was president of the
\nTeleorman County Council. Liviu Dragnea, however, says he is just the victim of a political
\ncampaign: <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
I have been a
\ntarget every time the Social Democratic Party has tried to do something
\nimportant for Romania. Now I am being used as a means to block the justice
\npackage and by whom? By people who are themselves hiding.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Those who are
\ncontesting the actions undertaken by the Social Democratic Party and its junior
\npartner, the Alliance of Liberal and Democrats, say that the ruling coalition
\nis actually fighting against a phantom, the so-called parallel state which
\nthey have actually invented themselves. The number of those contesting the
\ngovernment’s decisions will grow, as the National Trade Union Bloc has decided
\nto join the protests staged by civil society representatives. Here is the
\npresident of the bloc, Dumitru Costin:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The
\nconfederation’s executive bureau has decided to share civil society’s stand
\nwith regard to the famous justice bills, so, from now on, the National Trade
\nUnion Bloc will take part in the protest meetings organised by civil society
\nrepresentatives both in Bucharest and across the country, because a proper
\nsettling of this situation will benefit all Romanian citizens.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Bloc has
\nalready announced a large-scale event for December 12, in Bucharest. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The planned changes to the justice laws keep stirring discontent in Romania.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":65893,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-75562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n