The Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest
\non Wednesday adopted the bill for the elimination of the Section Investigating
\nCrime in Justice, a promise of the center-right ruling coalition. Dubbed the
\nSpecial Section, the institution was created by the Social Democrats and
\nsparked widespread controversy in Romanian society, being equally criticized by
\nthe relevant European institutions. The new body had become operational in
\nNovember 2018, being charged with the criminal prosecution of judges and
\nprosecutors and any other people involved in their investigations. Fears arose
\nthat the Section could be used to influence investigations into top-level graft
\ntargeting politicians. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The creation of the Section Investigating Crime in
\nJustice was a big mistake. It’s a disgrace for the Romanian justice system, as
\nwe look back and analyze the activity of this section, Justice Minister
\nStelian Ion said on Wednesday. The Romanian official said that, beyond a few
\ninvestigations targeting brave magistrates, the institution had no special
\nachievements. On the contrary, 6,000 cases are still pending and effectively
\nblocked, the Minister said. Stelian Ion pointed out that corruption
\ninvestigations and those linked to organized crime and terrorism should be
\nhandled by specialized prosecutors. The elimination of the Special Section
\nhowever didn’t occur in the form presented by the Government, but with one
\nadditional amendment, providing that judges and prosecutors should be searched,
\ndetained and put an pre-trial arrest at home only with the approval of the Superior
\nCouncil of Magistracy. The result reflects a compromise at the level of the
\nruling coalition, but some politicians hope the Senate, which is the
\ndecision-making body in this matter, will make some adjustments to the bill.
\nThe amendment concerning the Council’s approval will allegedly be used by the
\nSocial Democrats to challenge the law at the Constitutional Court. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The
\nSocial-Democratic Party and the Alliance for the Union of Romanians in
\nopposition have opposed the elimination of the Section, voting against it in
\nthe Chamber of Deputies. Social MP Simona Teodoroiu claims over a thousand
\nmagistrates have signed and submitted a memorandum to the Chamber of Deputies, calling
\nfor rejecting the bill and notifying the international relevant authorities.
\nChamber of Deputies Speaker Liberal Ludovic Orban says he hasn’t received the
\nmemo yet. AUR representatives called for keeping and reforming the section. The
\nbill passed with 171 votes in favor, 136 against and 2 abstentions. The
\nelimination of the Special Section also falls in line with the recommendation
\nissued by the European Commission in its report on Romania, as a prerequisite
\nfor lifting the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism. (V.P.)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Chamber of Deputies has voted for the elimination of a controversial institution of the Romanian justice system<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":87941,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[38882,40213,36280],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-88385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-high-level-corruption","tag-special-section-investigating-crime-in-justice","tag-stelian-ion"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n