The law on the
\nstatus of judges and prosecutors, the first in the package of justice laws, has
\nbeen adopted by the Romanian Senate, which is the decision-making forum on this
\nmatter. The law has been changed as compared to the form in which it was
\nendorsed by the Chamber of Deputies. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
According to one of
\nthe modifications, the president of the country can refuse the nominations for
\nProsecutor General and head prosecutors just one time. The most important
\nchange, however, is that regarding the magistrates’ material liability and
\npotential penalties. The special committee that analysed the justice bill
\ninitially rejected the amendments, but they were reformulated and then adopted
\nby the Senate. According to the new law, judicial error triggers judges’ and
\nprosecutors’ accountability if they performed their duties in bad faith or with
\nnegligence. So, the state will act against the magistrate who committed a
\njudicial error. The Social Democrat MP Serban Nicolae, who initiated the
\namendment, believes the provisions concerning magistrates’ accountability are
\nby no means an abuse or a means of putting pressure on them. Serban Nicolae:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Holding judges and prosecutors accountable is not an
\nact of repression or revenge. All public servants in this country are
\naccountable for what they do. What I have proposed regarding judges’ and
\nprosecutors’ accountability is a balanced solution. If a clerk makes a mistake
\nwhen issuing a certificate, it can be fixed. But when such an error occurs in a
\ncourt of law, there is no solution.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The bill has been harshly criticised by the
\nopposition, which has announced it will challenge it at the Constitutional
\nCourt. The Liberal Senator Alina Gorghiu has stated that nobody trusts any more
\nthe good intentions of the ruling coalition regarding the justice laws, which,
\nshe says, affects the independence of the judiciary. Alina Gorghiu:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
I’m calling on my colleagues from the majority
\ncoalition to accept dialogue and debate, because we, the National Liberal
\nParty, want to explain to the Romanian citizens why this law is a bad law and
\nwe won’t vote for it. Also, I believe it is the obligation of the Social
\nDemocratic Party to explain why they believe the law is good, despite so much
\ncriticism and opposition.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The law regarding the status of judges and
\nprosecutors was voted only by the Social Democratic Party, the Alliance of
\nLiberals and Democrats and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians. The
\nrepresentatives of the opposition, the National Liberal Party and the Save Romania
\nUnion participated in the debates, but left the room when the voting started.
\nThe Senators of the People’s Movement Party refused to take part in talks after
\ntheir request for the justice bill to be debated in the next parliamentary
\nsession was rejected. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Senate passes bill on the status of judges and prosecutors, but the opposition plans to fight it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":75860,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[32472],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-75859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-justice-laws"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n