Can the criminal codes be passed by emergency decree?

The executive committee of the Social Democratic Party wants the amendments to the criminal codes to be passed by emergency decree

Ştefan Stoica, 11.12.2018, 12:57

The executive committee board of Social Democratic
Party (PSD) has decided the time is right for the articles of the Criminal Code
and the Code of Criminal Procedure declared constitutional to be passed by
emergency decree. The reason for that decision would be that the law making process
on the two codes has been too long. PSD leader Liviu Dragnea:

The topic has been discussed by the
Executive Committee at the proposal of a party member. The decision has been
submitted to the Justice Minister and the Prime Minister. They said they would
look into it and we’ll see what they’ll do. Our colleagues said it is a
never-ending story and there is no reason for the articles declared
constitutional by the Constitutional Court not to be passed by emergency decree.

The articles that were declared unconstitutional will
be submitted to parliamentary debate so as to comply with the Constitution. A
never-ending story, Liviu Dragnea said. A story of challengeable and challenged
amendments to the justice laws and the criminal legislation that started, as
pundits note, with the famous Decree 13 adopted in January 2017, shortly after
the current leftist majority had taken office. The decree partially decriminalized
the abuse of office and seemed tailored to favour the PSD leader and other
people prosecuted for similar acts of corruption. Under the protesters’
pressure, the decree was withdrawn. And now, just like then, the right wing
opposition claims there is no emergency for the ordinance to be adopted and
accuses PSD of bypassing the Government and Parliament. The National Liberal
Party deputy, Ioan Cupsa, believes that such a decision would belittle the whole
parliamentary activity. The Save Romania Union deputy, Cristian Seidler,
reminds the coalition that in the field of the judiciary, it must take into
account the recommendations of the Constitutional Court and of international
experts. Cristian Seidler:

After Decree 13, the PSD-ALDE coalition
has no legitimacy to even think of an emergency decree related to criminal laws
and codes. The decree should be passed by Parliament and it should entirely
comply with the Constitutional Court’s rulings and the recommendations of the
Venice Commission.

In the report on the Mechanism for Cooperation and
Verification made public in mid-November, the European Commission called on the
Romanian authorities to freeze the enforcement of the amendments to the
Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure and re-launch the process of
amending them, while taking into account the need for those codes to comply
with the EU Law and international anti-corruption instruments. In turn, the
European Parliament said it was deeply concerned about the reform of the
justice and criminal laws in Romania as that might trigger the structural
undermining of the independence of the justice system and its capacity to efficiently
fight corruption, and might also weaken the rule of law.

(Translated by A.M. Palcu)