Radio România Internațional

Tag: ECHR

  • December 28, 2021 UPDATE

    December 28, 2021 UPDATE

    Covid – 1,144 new Covid cases were registered in Romania in 24 hours alongside 67 deaths, the Strategic Communication Group informed on Tuesday. The Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus is also spreading in Romania, 38 cases being confirmed, so far, by lab tests. The authorities and public health experts estimate that a new pandemic wave will begin in January, in the context of the spread around the world of the Omicron variant, of the people who work abroad returning home for the holidays, and of the people coming home from holidays. Under these conditions, the medical units are preparing for another difficult period, with a peak of the pandemic being expected in February and March. One year after the start of the vaccination campaign, on December 27, 2020, only 7.8 million Romanians have been fully vaccinated, i.e. about 40% of the eligible population. About two million also had the booster dose.



    Protests — The Romanian Sanitary Solidarity Federation organized new protests on Tuesday in front of the Government, Presidency and Parliament headquarters. Their main demand is to receive the income promised almost two years ago, which was not granted in 2021. They are also asking that the bonuses and the payment of on-call services be related to the basic salary. Simultaneously with the three protest actions in Bucharest, the health workers protested in the courtyards of the hospitals in Bucharest and other cities of Romania. The Sanitary Solidarity Federation is a representative trade union organization in the healthcare system, having as members over 25,000 employees.



    Government — The Romanian government adopted several emergency ordinances on Tuesday. One introduces new obligations for online stores related to product warranty, and is needed to avoid European sanctions. By December 30, 2021 Romania was supposed to introduce in its legislation a series of European directives that make online commerce a safer activity for both sellers and buyers. The law does not apply to contracts regarding the supply of digital content or digital services. On the other hand, the government has decided to provide new aid for low-income pensioners who need medicines. Therefore, people with incomes from pensions and social allowances of up to 1,429 lei per month (the equivalent of less than 300 Euros), regardless of whether or not they earn other income too, will benefit from a 90% compensation of the reference price of medicines. Also on Tuesday, President Klaus Iohannis promulgated the State Budget Bill and the Social Welfare Bill for 2022.



    Court of Human Rights – The European Court of Human Rights ruled that the refusal of the Romanian judiciary to register a political party that did not dissociate itself from the former Romanian Communist Party (PCR) was justified. The ruling cannot be appealed. National courts considered that the program and statute of the Communist Party included vague, general terms, ignored democratic values and the social and political evolution of the country after the 1989 anti-communist revolution, and allowed for totalitarian and extremist actions that could undermine national security and posed a threat to democratic values. The Court also notes that national courts wanted to prevent any political party that seriously abused its position of power over a long period of time by instating a totalitarian regime from making the same abuse in the future. The communist regime in Romania came to power in 1945 with the help of the Soviet occupation troops and was ousted in 1989. During this totalitarian regime, thousands were imprisoned and killed. The regime was declared illegitimate in 2006 by the then president, Traian Băsescu. (LS)

  • The Week in Review, May 4-9

    The Week in Review, May 4-9

    Coronavirus in Romania


    Almost 15 thousand people infected and close to one thousand deaths have been reported in Romania since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. President Klaus Iohannis has warned that the situation has not improved and that the pandemic has not passed. However, he said the state of emergency, in force in the country in mid-March, will not be extended after May 15 and will be replaced by a state of alert. In a first stage, hairdressers and barbers shops will be opened, along with dentist practices and museums, and people will be allowed to leave their homes without a sworn statement regarding the purposes of traveling. Wearing protection masks will be mandatory, including on public transport. However, restrictions will not be eased to quarantined localities such as Suceava, Tandarei and two neighbourhoods in Buzau.




    Constitutional Court rejects increases in fines


    The Constitutional Court of Romania admitted the claim filed by the Ombudsman against the emergency government decree that established sanctions for non-compliance with the rules of quarantine and isolation. In other words, the fines were declared unconstitutional. However, the fines will not be automatically annulled but they must be challenged in Court. The Liberal Prime Minister Ludovic Orban reacted to the decision, saying the ruling of the Constitutional Court prevents the Government, the authorities, from protecting the health and lives of the Romanians. In turn, the Finance Minister Florin Citu has said that the role of the large fines was not to bring money to the budget, but to reduce the risk of further spread. Previously, Interior Minister Marcel Vela admitted to situations of abuse by the police when handing out fines during checks on free circulation. Since the state of emergency has been announced, the fines received by the Romanian citizens for not observing restrictions in place stand at around 120 million euros.




    ECHR versus CCR


    The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled in favour of Laura Codruţa Kövesi, head of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, regarding her dismissal in July 2018 from her position as Chief Prosecutor of the Romanian National Anti-Corruption Directorate. Kovesi took her case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg arguing that when she was dismissed, in 2018, by a decree of President Klaus Iohannis, following a decision of the Constitutional Court, two of her fundamental rights had been infringed. The ECHR ruled that Kovesi was denied the right to a fair trial, as she could not defend her case in court, and also the right to freedom of expression and that she was unjustly dismissed before the end of her second term. Laura Codruta Kovesi, who is now the first chief prosecutor of the European Union, did not ask for damages in this case, saying the burden would have been put on the shoulders of Romanian taxpayers.




    The crisis after the pandemic


    Romanias economy will go down by 6% this year, according to the EU Spring Economic Forecast. The European Union will be experiencing the deepest recession in its history, the European Commissioner for the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni announced on Wednesday. He added that the European economy will contract by a record 7.4%. According to Gentiloni, Romania is expected to report a budget deficit of at least 8%. Actually, almost all the other EU Member States are expected to report higher deficits because they have to support the economy with liquidities and to protect jobs. In Romania the unemployment rate will reach 6.5 % in 2020 and 5.4% in 2021. As regards the inflation rate, it will reach 2.5% in 2020 and it is going to rise next year.




    Romania supports Moldova


    A convoy of 20 trucks full of medical equipment as part of aid provided by Romania to the neighbouring Republic of Moldova to help it fight the Covid-19 outbreak, reached its destination on Thursday. The convoy was accompanied by an official delegation including the Romanian health minister Nelu Tătaru, the head of the Emergency Situations Department Raed Arafat and the secretary of state for relations with the Republic of Moldova, Ana Guţu. The Government in Bucharest decided to grant Moldova humanitarian aid worth 3.5 million euros in the form of medical equipment and medicines. Romania has also sent a team of 52 doctors and nurses who will be working in hospitals in Moldova treating patients infected with the novel coronavirus.




    Autonomy during pandemic


    Romanias Senate dismissed, by a comfortable majority, a controversial bill regarding the autonomy of the so-called Szekler Land in central Romania, under which this region would have been turned into an autonomous legal entity. The bill was initially passed automatically by the Chamber of Deputies, through a procedure roughly equivalent to what is known as pocket veto, without debates, in the form tabled by the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians. The so-called Szekler Land is a region in central Romania mostly inhabited by ethnic Hungarians, and comprises the counties of Covasna, Harghita and part of Mureș County. The bill defined the borders of the territory that would have become the Szekler Land, which was supposed to have its own administrative organisation, its own institutions, using Hungarian as an official language and the official symbols of the Hungarian nation.


    It was the turn of the Chamber of Deputies to reject a draft Administrative Code that has tacitly passed the Senate. Also initiated by UDMR, it allowed for the use of national minority languages in local administration and public institutions in the localities where minorities represent more than 20% of the population and for the hoisting of the Szekler flag on public institutions. President Klaus Iohannis accused the Social Democratic Party—the largest Opposition party in Romania— who control both Parliament chambers, of complicity with the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians and with Budapest. The PSD leaders dismissed the accusations.


    (Translated by Elena Enache)

  • European Court of Human Rights rules in favor of Laura Codruta Kovesi

    European Court of Human Rights rules in favor of Laura Codruta Kovesi

    The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled in favour of Laura Codruţa Kövesi, head of the European Public Prosecutors Office, regarding her dismissal in July 2018 from her position as Chief Prosecutor of the Romanian National Anti-Corruption Directorate. In a ruling delivered on May 5 by an unanimous vote of the judges, the Court concluded that the dismissal of Ms. Kovesi before the end of her second term as Romanian chief anti-graft prosecutor, violated her human rights.



    Moreover, the Court said her dismissal was abusive and that she was denied freedom of expression and the right to a fair trial to contest her ousting. Kovesi took her case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg arguing that when she was dismissed as head of the Anti-Corruption Directorate, in July 2018, by a decree of President Klaus Iohannis, following a decision of the Constitutional Court, two of her fundamental rights had been infringed. These are the right to a fair trial, as she could not defend her case in court, and the right to freedom of expression, given that her dismissal, based on an evaluation of former justice minister Tudorel Toader, was decided after she had publicly criticized a series of legislative changes that were affecting the legal system.



    Laura Codruta Kovesi, who is now the first chief prosecutor of the European Union, has said the ECHR ruling will help strengthen judicial independence across the continent and that Romania’s Constitutional Court should rule based on principles and not on persons. Moreover, she has said the European Court’s ruling is a victory of all those who have supported justice in the past years.



    President Klaus Iohannis has said that the European Court’s decision was unprecedented and that Romania’s Constitutional Court must immediately revise not only the decision regarding Kovesi’s revocation but also all other decisions they based on mere political declarations. In his opinion, the credibility of Romania’s Constitutional Court has been seriously shaken. In his turn, the Constitutional Court President, Valer Dorneanu, has said that those who want to objectively read the ECHR ruling will see there is no criticism leveled against the institution he represents. Liberal Prime Minister Ludovic Orban believes that the Constitutional Court has been compromised by the ECHR ruling and that there is the need to reassess the way in which Romania’s Constitutional Court works. Lucian Romascanu, the spokesman for the Social Democratic Party (PSD) which had initiated Kovesi’s ousting, says the ECHR sanctions a procedure that has to do with rights and liberties and that PSD is not to blame.



    Laura Codruta Kovesi’s case also made headlines in the international media. New York Times writes that the European Unions chief prosecutor was wrongly removed from her previous job as head of Romanias anti-corruption agency. “Her removal was the culmination of moves by the then Social Democrat government to change judicial legislation and replace chief prosecutors, which led to street protests and alarmed the European Commission, the EUs executive arm,” the paper says.



    At the same time, the publication Emerging Europe, which a few days before designated Kovesi Emerging Europe’s Public Figure of the Year, in an article entitled “Victory at ECHR for anti-corruption hero places Romania’s constitutional court in unwanted spotlight” says that Kovesi did not ask for damages, “although the ruling of the ECHR is likely to have a heavy cost for Romania’s constitutional court (CCR), over whose independence and credibility a huge question mark now hangs.” (Translated by Elena Enache)



  • The compensatory appeal law has been repealed

    The compensatory appeal law has been repealed

    Having taken effect two years ago,
    the compensatory appeal law was repealed on Wednesday in Parliament by
    unanimous vote. Originally designed by Justice Minister Raluca Pruna, the law
    was passed in 2017 by the Social-Democratic ruling power. It was meant to do
    away with the harsh sanctions Romania was handed down by the European Court of
    Human Rights for its improper detention facilities. According to the National
    Penitentiary Administration, some 23 thousand felons were released from prison
    under the new law, of which 19,000 on probation. 2,300 reoffended and were sent
    back to prison, some of them having committed criminal offences shortly after
    their release, others because they were being investigated in other criminal
    cases at the time of their release. The National Liberal Party in power, in
    this matter supported by Save Romania Union, admits the law was originally
    designed to deal with the precarious situation in penitentiaries, but claims it
    was twisted by the Social-Democrats to serve as an amnesty in disguise. Liberal
    MP Ioan Cupsa:


    The law 169 of 2017 denoted an
    obvious lack of wisdom and goodwill, unlike anything this Parliament has seen.
    You knew the effects it would have, but you needed some of your colleagues to
    be released earlier from prison, so you let everyone go.


    The Social-Democrats defend
    themselves, arguing everyone who got an early prison release under the
    compensatory appeal law was released by court order. Alfred Simonis, the leader
    of the Social-Democratic group in the Chamber of Deputies, who voted in favor
    of the repeal, has admitted to the flaws in the former law, saying citizen
    safety prevails over any sanctions Romania might receive from the European
    Court of Human Rights for its improper detention facilities.


    We hope that the new Government
    will find alternative means of detention, as well as measures to avoid ECHR
    sanctions. We all agree it’s better to pay compensations, if it comes to that,
    rather than release people from penitentiaries.


    On the very day the law was
    repealed, the Finance Ministry published a draft law whereby the state has
    loaned 177 million euros from the Council of Europe Development Bank. The money
    will be used to build two penitentiaries that will be able to detain 1,900
    offenders in line with European standards.


    (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • September 19, 2019 UPDATE

    September 19, 2019 UPDATE

    EPPO – The Committee of Permanent Representatives in the European
    Union (COREPER) has voted the Romanian Laura Codruta Kovesi as the first
    European Chief Prosecutor, with 17 votes out of 22. Kovesi’s candidacy must
    also be endorsed by the European Parliament, which has already voiced its
    support for the Romanian candidate. Kovesi on Thursday told a television
    station that the vote represents an acknowledgment of the activity of the
    entire Romanian justice system, a success for all Romanians who in recent years
    have supported the fight against corruption and upheld the rule of law. In
    turn, President Klaus Iohannis said the vote in favor of appointing Laura
    Codruta Kovesi as chief European Prosecutor is a major win for Romania.




    GENERAL ASSEMBLY – Romanian
    President Klaus Iohannis next week will attend the UN General Assembly meeting
    in New York. High on the agenda are eradicating poverty, quality education as
    well as social inclusion and climate change. Klaus Iohannis will give speeches
    and have a series of bilateral meetings. The 74th session of the UN
    General Assembly kicked off on September 17, being the most important annual
    event devoted to multilateral diplomacy.




    ECHR – Romanian Prime
    Minister Viorica Dancila Thursday received in the Bucharest the president of
    the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos. The two
    officials discussed progress with a view to streamlining the Court’s activity,
    with a focus on the future European Convention of Human Rights. Prime Minister
    Dancila pointed out Romanian authorities are actively taking part in the
    process of reform regarding the future system of the Convention. The Romanian
    official has reiterated Romania’s trust in the ECHR, in its role to uphold
    fundamental rights and liberties, underscoring its attachment towards the
    values of the Council of Europe. In turn, the ECHR president referred to the
    good cooperation with Romanian authorities.




    MIGRATION – Last year, some
    5.3 million migrants left their home countries to settle in developed
    countries, reads a report published in Paris by the Organization for Economic
    Cooperation and Development. Romania ranks second after China among the
    countries with the largest number of migrants. Last year, some 500,000
    Romanians emigrated. Most of them got to Germany, Great Britain and Italy. As
    regards migration to Romania, most of the immigrants came from the neighboring Republic
    of Moldova, followed by Chinese and French.


    (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • May 31, 2018

    May 31, 2018

    VISIT The president of the Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest, Liviu Dragnea, has today ended the official visit he was paying to Bern at the invitation of Dominique de Buman, president of the National Council in Switzerland. Dragneas agenda also included a meeting with the president of the Swiss Confederation Alain Berset as well as talks with Romanias three honorary consuls to the Swiss Federation. On Tuesday, after Dragnea had already started his visit to Switzerland, the High Court of Cassation and Justice in Bucharest postponed for June 8th the verdict in a corruption file in which the Romanian official is involved. Anti-corruption prosecutors have called for a prison sentence of 7 years and 5 months in this file for abuse of office. According to them, Dragnea should also serve 2 years and 5 months in prison for forgery. They have accused Dragnea that while being president of the County Council in Teleorman, southern Romania, he ordered the fictitious employment of two party members in the Direction for Social Assistance and Child Protection. The two were paid out of public money, although they were exclusively working for the Social Democratic Party. In 2016, Dragnea also received a two-year suspended sentence for attempted election fraud.





    PROTESTS Thousands took to the streets of Bucharest on Wednesday night to protest a Constitutional Court ruling through which president Klaus Iohannis is asked to issue a decree for sacking Romanias anti-corruption chief, Laura Codruta Kovesi. The protesters chanted slogans against the court and the main ruling party PSD, which they have accused of trying to stop the anti-corruption fight and subordinate the magistrates. Street rallies against the CC ruling have also taken place in Timisoara, western Romania and Sibiu in the centre.





    ECHR The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has today condemned Romania and Lithuania for the alleged CIA detention centres on their territories. The European court has ruled in a case against Romania tabled by Saudi citizen Abd al Rahim al-Nashiri currently held at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and considered a High Value Detainee by the CIA since the beginning of the ‘war on terror, the US president George W Bush had launched after the September 11th terror attacks. Al-Nashiri says that Romania allowed his secret detention on its territory by the CIA, where he was subjected to various forms of torture as well as mental and physical abuse for several years. He also accuses Romania of allowing his transfer to other secret CIA detention centers. Al-Nashiris case was registered at ECHR in 2012 though Romania has constantly denied the existence of such centers on its territory.





    RESOLUTION In a resolution passed on Wednesday, the European Parliament has reiterated Romania and Bulgarias readiness to become part of the Schengen zone and has called on the European Council to approve the accession of these two countries, 11 years on from their EU accession. In another development MEPs have condemned border checking inside the Schengen zone, which, according to them, hinders the free circulation between the 26 member countries. We recall that some European countries are again applying border checking in an attempt to prevent migration, while France is applying this measure to prevent further terrorist attacks.





    HANDBALL The Romanian national womens handball side is today playing the Austrian representative in their last but one away game in qualifying Group 4 for the European Championship, France will be hosting in December. The two sides are the first in the groups ranking, each with six points and they are followed by Russia, with four, and Portugal with no points. The Romanians will be playing Portugal in their last game at home on Sunday. The first two sides in the group are qualified for the final tournament.


    (translated by bill)


  • January 25, 2018 UPDATE

    January 25, 2018 UPDATE

    TENNIS The world’s no. 1 tennis player Simona Halep on Thursday qualified, for the first time, for the finals of the Australian Open, the year’s first Grand Slam tournament, after defeating the German Angelique Kerber 6-3, 4-6, 9-7. Simona had one of the best matches of her career, and managed a win after a dramatic match that lasted for more than 140 minutes. The odds-on favorite in Melbourne, in the finals Simona will be up against the world’s number two Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark. For Halep this is the third finals of a Grand Slam tournament in her career, after she lost two finals in Roland Garros in 2014 and 2017. For Wozniacki this is also the third finals of her career, and just like Halep, she did not win any of the previous finals.




    PRESIDENCY Victor Negrescu, the Romanian Minister delegate for the European Affairs, on Thursday said that the central element during the upcoming Romanian EU Council presidency due in the first half of 2019 would be the citizen. According to Negrescu, a webpage in Romanian and English, on the preparation for taking over the presidency would be made available in a couple of days. Negrescu has also said that the logo for the EU Council presidency will be established following the vote cast by 10 thousand citizens.




    GOVERNMENT Representatives of the ruling coalition in Romania made up of the Social Democrats (PSD) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) are to announce the new government on Friday. The structure of the executive will remain unchanged with 28 members, out of whom three deputy Prime Ministers, one without portfolio. Some of the Social Democratic ministers will carry on their terms in office during the future government. Among them Mihai Fifor at the Defense Ministry, Carmen Dan at the Interior Ministry, Olguta Vasilescu at the Labor Ministry, and Petre Daea at the Agriculture Ministry. Of the ministers from the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats who will continue their activity in the new government we can mention Graţiela Gavrilescu, as deputy prime minister and environment minister, Teodor Meleşcanu as foreign minister, Toma Petcu as energy minister and Viorel Ilie as minister for the relationship with the Parliament. On Monday senators and deputies are going to give their confidence vote for the final membership of the Dăncilă cabinet and to the governing program. The Liberal opposition is holding talks with the other political parties to block the investiture of the new cabinet, the third one of the governing coalition.




    ECHR Romania is ranking first in terms of the number of complaints its citizens have filed against the state at the European Court of Human Rights, most of them against the conditions in the country’s penitentiaries, the ECHR report on 2017 shows. 9,900 cases of human rights violation had been registered at the court by the end of last year. According to the court’s president Guido Raimondi, most of these complaints are about overcrowded penitentiaries and poor detention conditions. The court ruled in favour of the complainants in 20 cases last year and condemned the Romanian state for inhuman and degrading conditions. Guido Raimondi told a news conference that he had met the Romanian Justice Minister last week. The Romanian official presented him with a plan of measures pledging to solve the problems facing the Romanian penitentiaries by 2024. According to the ECHR report, the Romanian state has been found guilty in 11 cases of depriving individuals of a right to a fair trial, in six cases in which the legal procedures were taking too long and in other five cases of property right violation.



    translated by Daniel Bilt

  • January 17, 2018 UPDATE

    January 17, 2018 UPDATE

    PRIME MINISTER – The President of Romania Klaus Iohannis announced on Wednesday having decided to give the Social Democratic Party, the senior partner in Romanias ruling coalition, another chance. He designated the MEP Viorica Dăncilă as the new prime minister, following a nomination made by the Social Democrats. The head of state explained that he had made his decision after consultations with the parliamentary parties, having weighed all arguments and taking into account the situation in Parliament, where the Social Democrats have a comfortable majority. Iohannis has emphasised that the Social Democratic Party made important promises, and it now has to prove its ability to keep them. He invited all those involved in forming the government to take all the required steps so as to finalise the procedure by February 1 and to make sure the new Cabinet may start working. On Wednesday the President had talks with the parliamentary parties on the designation of a new prime minister, after Mihai Tudose resigned, having lost the political support of his party. The Social Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea said that by designating Viorica Dăncilă as PM President Klaus Iohannis made a choice for stability. He announced Parliament would be convened in special meeting on January 29 for the new Cabinet to be sworn in.




    GOVT MEETING – This weeks Cabinet meeting was headed on Wednesday by the interim PM, Mihai Fifor. He has decided to dismiss the chief of the Romanian Police, Bogdan Despescu, and to appoint Cătălin Ioniţă for an interim six-month term to replace him. The decision follows a scandal triggered by last weeks arrest of a police worker under accusations of sexual assault and paedophilia. Amid suspicions that the policeman had been protected by his superiors and fellow police officers, a clash broke out between the Interior Minister, Carmen Dan, and the former PM, Mihai Tudose, who eventually stepped down on Monday night.




    DIPLOMACY – Foreign Minister Teodor Meleşcanu said in Bucharest on Wednesday, after a meeting with his Italian counterpart, Angelino Alfano, that he was confident Italy would continue to support Romanias Schengen accession efforts. The two officials agreed to start preparations for the third joint meeting of the two governments. Meleşcanu emphasised that the Romanian-Italian relations, relying on a two-decade-long strategic partnership, are excellent, with bilateral trade standing at nearly 14 billion euros in 2017.




    PRISONS – The Government of Romania Wednesday endorsed a 2018-2024 roadmap for solving the problem of prison overcrowding and of detention conditions, in order to implement an April 2017 ruling by the European Court of Human Rights. According to the Justice Ministry, the measures include legislative changes aimed at reducing the number of prisoners, improving detention conditions, investments in penitentiary infrastructure, implementing programmes and strategies targeting the social inclusion of former prisoners, and the introduction of electronic surveillance. The measures are also intended to facilitate the transfer of Romanian citizens detained in other EU member states. According to the document passed by the Government, over 23,000 people are currently detained in Romanian facilities, and the occupancy rate is 121.5%. The Romanian Justice Minister, Tudorel Toader, discussed in Strasbourg on Tuesday with the head of the ECHR, Guido Raimondi, about the measures taken by Bucharest to improve penitentiary standards. The deadline for Romania to come up with the penitentiary improvement roadmap was January 25.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • The European Court of Human Rights and the situation in Romanian prisons

    The European Court of Human Rights and the situation in Romanian prisons

    The bad news from Strasbourg comes to confirm a situation that everyone in the country has been well aware of. Detention conditions in Romanian penitentiaries run counter to the European Convention on Human Rights, being indicative of a structural dysfunction in the field. Therefore, general measures must be adopted by the state, the European Court of Human Rights, ECHR, underlines. Romania has six months at its disposal to come up with a timetable and a package of measures to solve prison overcrowding and improper detention conditions.



    By this pilot decision issued on Tuesday, the court has fined Romania some 17,850 Euros and decided to postpone analysing in court similar complaints until Bucharest authorities come up with a set of measures they consider necessary. At the moment, official statistical figures point to a deficit of over 11,000 jobs and a degree of occupancy of over 200% in eight of the 44 Romanian penitentiaries. Some of the possible solutions include building new prisons or expanding the already existing detention space, pardoning detainees with short sentences and shortening the length of sentences in certain conditions or placing some detainees under home arrest.



    Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu has announced he has already analysed the ECHR ruling together with justice minister, Tudorel Toader, and has expressed confidence that the latter will draft the set of measures in due time. Pardoning or home arrest can only solve the issue of prison overcrowding on short term, says the director of the National Administration of Penitentiaries, Marius Vulpe, who suggests that new detention centres should be built: “In the long run, the only solution is to build new detention centres and refurbish the old ones. Sentences are granted based on these very grounds. Pardoning or home arrest do not solve the situation in penitentiaries. Resources should be invested to modernise prisons and increase accommodation capacity”.



    Former justice minister, Titus Corlatean, recently elected vice-president of the Council of Europe PA, has said the deadline set by ECHR is rather short: “It will not be easy at all, during this period of 6 months, to draft a coherent plan, which should become reality, which entails resources allocated to the project and a consistent decision making process at domestic level.”



    Experts say that no matter how expensive the measures to be adopted might seem, they will be a profitable investment, considering that in the past years alone, the Romanian state paid over 2 million Euros worth of damages to the detainees who won the cases they referred to ECHR against the Romanian state, deploring the improper conditions in penitentiaries.

  • Laws on the penitentiary system

    Laws on the penitentiary system

    The Romanian authorities are looking for solutions to improve the situation in prisons in order to avoid new sanctions by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) because of poor, improper detention conditions. Last year, fines exceeded 1.6 million Euros. In late January, the government made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats adopted a controversial emergency decree on prison pardon invoking overcrowding in prisons. The document provided for full pardon of inmates serving prison sentences of up to five years, except for repeat offenders.



    The emergency decree generated the largest-scale street protests in Romania since the fall of communism in 1989 and stirred criticism both at home and abroad. The Government repealed the emergency decrees in the wake of the rallies, but the problems in the Romanian penitentiaries are back into the focus of attention.



    On Monday the Senate adopted a draft law amending the sentence serving law. It stipulates that inmates who are detained in improper conditions will see 3 days off their sentence every month. Any room with a surface below 4 square meters per person is considered improper detention space. The draft law, which is part of a package initiated by the Romanian Government to avoid a new ECHR sanction, has been endorsed by all parties. Liberal Senator, Alina Gorghiu, (in opposition) says that thus Romania takes half a step forward in an effort to solve a problem that has long been outstanding. Alina Gorghiu



    “If we do not talk about building penitentiaries that the government takes into consideration, if we do not consider seriously adopting the measure of introducing electronic bracelets for prisoners, if we do not finally and clearly say that compensation appeals do not solve the lack of hygiene in the cells they are confined in, nor the social reintegration issue, which is the major problem of the Romanian penitentiary system, we will never solve the actual problem”.



    According to Social-Democrat senator Serban Nicolae the situation of penitentiaries continues to be a real problem, despite dropping crime rates. Serban Nicolae:



    “15 years ago, there were some 56,000 inmates in penitentiaries across Romania. At present, there are 28,000, which means that in the absence of a pardon law, without compensation appeals, without electronic bracelets and alternative measures to serving the sentence, the number of inmates in Romania’s penitentiaries decreased by half.”



    The draft law adopted by senators has been submitted to the Chamber of Deputies, which is the decision-making body in this case. (Translated by D. Vijeu)

  • April 12, 2016 UPDATE

    April 12, 2016 UPDATE

    The International Monetary Fund has revised
    up to 4.2% its forecast on Romania’s economic growth this year, from 3.9% it
    estimated last October, an IMF report published on Tuesday shows. According to
    the IMF forecasts, Ireland is the only country in Europe with a higher growth
    than Romania this year. The IMF cautions though that this growth will go down
    to 3.6% in 2017, but even so, Romania will have some of the highest growth
    rates in Europe, equal to Ireland, Latvia and Poland.








    Romanian
    president Klaus Iohannis has held talks in Bucharest with representatives of
    the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberals and the Democratic Union of
    Ethnic Hungarians on legislation concerning national security. The head of
    state wants a political consensus to be reached before subjecting the issue to
    public debates. The first issue under discussion was a legislation package
    including laws on anti-terrorism, pre-paid cards and cyber security. Issues
    related to the national security law, the status of military personnel and the
    laws regulating the good functioning of the Romanian Intelligence Service have
    also been tackled. Leaders of the three parties stood for a balance between the
    need for security and human rights observance. The need for amending the
    security law has been highlighted recently by the Romanian president, who has
    said the current legislation is no longer effective in the present security
    context. The talks on amending the present security legislation are to continue
    on Wednesday as well with representatives of the National Union for the
    Progress of Romania, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats and the national
    minorities.








    The board
    of the National Liberal Party, Romania’s main right-wing force, has nominated
    Marian Munteanu as its candidate in the election race for Bucharest’s mayor,
    Liberal co-president Alina Gorghiu has announced. A civil society
    representative, Marian Munteanu is a symbol of the 90s, a students’ leader back
    then and a symbol of the anti-communist movement. The previous candidate,
    Ludovic Orban has withdrawn from the race after being probed in for using
    influence in order to get undue benefits. Local elections are due on June 5th
    in Romania.




    The European Court of Human Rights has again
    ruled against Romania and the country will have to pay 675 thousand euros in
    damages after 45 people filed complains to the ECHR for the absence of an
    inquiry into the bloody crackdown on the anti-communist demonstrations in
    December 1989. Every plaintiff is to receive 15 thousand euros in damages. This
    is the second ECHR ruling against Romania, after the one in February this year,
    under which, 17 people, relatives of those who got killed in the bloody events
    in December were to be paid each 15 thousand euros in compensations. The
    plaintiffs are complaining about the long criminal proceedings related to the
    violent military intervention against the protesters in December 1989. A week
    ago, the ‘Revolution File’ was reopened in order to investigate the events,
    which led to the fall of the communist regime in Romania. According to official
    data in December 1989 more than 1,100 people were killed while 3,000 others
    were wounded.





  • January 13, 2016 UPDATE

    January 13, 2016 UPDATE

    ECONOMY– World Bank representatives are optimistic about Romanias economic performance but they warn however that some potential risks must not be neglected. A delegation of the World Bank, led by the Regional Vice-President for Europe and Central Asia, Cyril Muller, was received in Bucharest on Wednesday by Romanias President Klaus Iohannis. During the talks, the economic experts reiterated the WBs interest in further supporting economic and institutional reforms meant to boost Romanias development in the long run. These reforms are mainly destined for the sector of state enterprises and are also aimed at improving corporatist governance as well as at developing and modernising key sectors, such as transports. The meeting was held just days after the technocratic cabinet in Bucharest and the World Bank signed a new memorandum under which the World Bank grants technical assistance to Romanian public institutions until 2023. Thanks to a first memorandum, some 20 public institutions benefited from over 30 million Euro worth of funding, between 2012 and 2015.



    CHILD WELFARE – The Romanian Ambassador to Oslo has held talks at the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, where he has underlined the Norwegian authorities taking into custody five children of a mixed Romanian-Norwegian family, with residence in Norway, is a social case with a huge emotional and media impact. He made the proposal to the Norwegian side to start political cooperation with the relevant Romanian authorities in order to manage the case, the spokesperson for the Romanian Foreign Ministry, Raluca Lunculescu, announced on Wednesday. She added that law observance and the familys sensibility had been taken into consideration before starting any form of public communication on the case. Earlier, the Norwegian Embassy in Bucharest explained that an order of foster care placement is issued only when the child has been severely neglected, maltreated or abused. Rallies of support for Ruth and Marius Bodnariu have been staged in several cities across Romania and abroad. We recall that the five children of the family, aged between 4 months and 10 years, have been taken into custody by the Norwegian state, for reportedly having been disciplined by their parents. Their father, Marius Bodnariu, of Romanian descent, denounces the move, deeming it an abuse but he admitted to having applied small physical corrections on children. A joint delegation of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies and Senate will pay an official visit to Oslo next week for talks with representatives of the Norwegian Parliament on child protection laws, starting from the Bodnariu case. In turn, President Klaus Iohannis expressed his support for the efforts made by the Romanian Government to assure “the observance of human rights for the Romanian citizens, wherever they may be.



    DIPLOMACY– Romanian Foreign Minister, Lazar Comanescu, on Thursday and Friday will attend the informal meeting on foreign policy and security related issues, Snow Meeting, at the invitation of his counterpart, Linas Linkevicius. According to a communiqué issued by the Romanian Foreign Ministry, the event will bring together decision-makers and experts in foreign policy and security from NATO and EU member states, high ranking officials of the two organisations and academics. Security developments in NATOs eastern and southern neighbourhood, as well as the alliances response to such developments are the focal points of Snow Meeting 2016. Other issues high on the agenda of the meeting are the prospects of the NATO Summit due in Warsaw in July and the stage of implementation of the decisions made at the previous summit held in Great Britain in September 2014.



    STRASBOURG – An employer has the right to monitor the employees online communications during work time, according to a ruling issued by the European Court of Human Rights, following a complaint made by a Romanian engineer who got fired in 2007 for having spent time chatting on the computer during work time. He brought the issue to the European court, saying that by having his private conversations intercepted, his right to privacy was violated. In turn, the employer justified the decision to lay out the engineer for not using the electronic mail for professional purposes, but to communicate with his brother and girl-friend, against the backdrop of internal rules and regulations which forbid employees to use the companys resources for personal use. The man who was made redundant initially brought the issue to a Romanian court, which issued an unfavourable ruling, so he took the case to the European court, to no avail. In the ruling it issued, the European Court of Human Rights says an employer does not commit an abuse when checking on its employees to see whether or not they accomplish their professional tasks during work hours. Also, the European Court of Human Rights considers that the first Romanian court kept a correct balance between the employers interests and the observance of private correspondence confidentiality, because only transcripts of the conversations attesting to the fact that the employee used the companys computer for his personal interest during work time, have been used in court, and the identity of other people involved in the conversations has not been disclosed.



    MOLDOVA– The President of the Republic of Moldova (a former Soviet state with a predominantly Romanian speaking population), Nicolae Timofti, on Wednesday announced he had rejected the proposal made by the Democratic Party for the position of Prime Minister, namely the controversial businessman Vlad Plahotniuc. Timofti called on the parliamentary majority to come up with a new candidacy and underlined that his rejection of Plahotniuc is based on Constitutional provisions and on rulings issued by the Constitutional Court, which stipulate that the nomination of people suspected of integrity-related issues for leading positions runs counter to the principles of the rule of law. A member of the Democratic Party and backed by a heterogeneous majority, ranging from pro-European Liberals to ex-communists, who are traditionally of pro-Russian orientation, Plahotniuc is described by his opponents as an oligarch who has repeatedly been accused of involvement in illegal activities which mar the image of the Republic of Moldova. If a new government does not get endorsement until January 29, the President will have to dissolve Parliament and call for snap elections.



    SPORTS – Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, WTAs no.2, on Thursday will meet Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova (WTAs no.25) in the semi-finals of the Sydney tournament, with 687,000 dollars prize money up for grabs. Halep has an overall 3-2 lead on the Russian player in the direct matches.


    (Translated and edited by Diana Vijeu)

  • April 21, 2015 UPDATE

    April 21, 2015 UPDATE

    The president of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, believes the legislation on elections and on the funding of political parties has made satisfactory progress in Parliament, but that the law on diaspora voting is lagging. In a Facebook post, after Monday’s consultations with the leaders of parliamentary parties, the head of state said around 4 million Romanians live abroad, and many of them queued for hours at the presidential elections of November 2014, in order to cast their ballots. Klaus Iohannis announced that he was closely monitoring the legislation in this field, and that he expects parliamentary parties to keep their promises.



    Writer and former journalist Tatiana Niculescu Bran announced on Tuesday that she stepped down as spokesperson for the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis. In a news release, she explains she did not have the kind of cooperation she would have liked with the mass media. Niculescu Bran adds that she will continue to support Iohannis’s project for the country, regardless of her professional relations with the presidential administration. Appointed on December 22nd, 2014, on the first day of the presidential term in office, she had previously worked for the BBC and has written novels, plays and film scripts.



    Anti-corruption prosecutors Tuesday charged the former minister for development Elena Udrea, with bribe taking, abuse of office and misuse of European funds. In the same case, concerning the organisation of a sports gala, seven other people are involved, including a former economy minister, Ion Ariton, and the former president of the Romanian Boxing Federation, Rudel Obreja. A politician close to former president of Romania Traian Basescu and viewed as the most influential of his aides, Elena Udrea is also probed into in other corruption cases. Also on Tuesday, prosecutors requested that the Chamber of Deputies approved the arrest pending trial of the Social Democrat Deputy Ion Ochi, for bribe taking and abuse of office.



    Romania’s accession to the Eurozone on January 1, 2019, is a very ambitious goal, and authorities must think carefully before deciding whether to maintain this target, says the governor of the National Bank of Romania, Mugur Isarescu. He said Romania’s problem was that it fails to implement structural reforms. According to Isarescu, at present Bucharest meets all the nominal criteria for joining the Eurozone, but this is not enough, in the absence of real convergence. PM Victor Ponta also said Romania currently fulfils the nominal criteria, but it also needs to fulfil the “true” criteria that have to do with the competitiveness of the economy and the agreement of the Eurozone countries.



    The Romanian Foreign Ministry has warned Romanian citizens who intend to travel to Belgium that an all-out strike has been announced for Wednesday in public services. According to the Foreign Ministry, public transportation, railway schedules and postal services will be disrupted. The protest takes place concurrently with the strike of police forces at the Zaventem International Airport in Brussels, which started on Monday and will last the entire week. This will increase travel difficulties in Belgium. The Romanian Foreign Ministry also issued a travel warning regarding Germany, where the trade union of engine drivers announced a federal-level strike that will carry on until Friday morning.



    The European Court for Human Rights Tuesday ruled against the Russian Federation in a case involving a citizen of the Republic of Moldova killed 3 years ago by a Russian soldier. The ECHR ordered that Russia should pay to the victim’s family 35,000 euros in compensation and 5,580 euro in court expenses. Aged 18, Vadim Pisari was shot dead in the morning of January 1, 2012, near a bridge over River Dniestr, which separates the breakaway region of Transdniestr from the Republic of Moldova. Chisinau started a criminal investigation, but the perpetrator was repatriated by the Russian authorities and later acquitted. Transdniestr split from the Republic of Moldova in 1992, after an armed conflict which left hundreds of people dead, and settled after the intervention of Russian troops on the separatists’ side. Russian forces are still deployed in the area, although at the OSCE summit in 1999 in Istanbul Moscow pledged to pull them out.