Radio România Internațional

Tag: justice laws

  • The justice laws, under debate

    The justice laws, under debate

    Described by specialists and pundits as one of the most widely spread and toxic forms of corruption, abuse of office continues to fuel heated debates in the Romanian Parliament. On Wednesday, MPs on the relevant parliamentary committee which should harmonise any piece of legislation in the field of justice with the rulings issued by the Constitutional Court no longer talked about redefining “abuse of office” as had been previously announced by the head of the committee, former Social-Democrat Minister Florin Iordache.



    He had earlier announced that establishing a threshold of some 19,000 lei, that is less than €5,000, for the prejudice produced as a consequence of “abuse of office” would not affect anyone. The National Liberal Party and the Save Romania Union, in opposition, have criticised this delay and accused the power of trying to avoid an honest debate on the idea of introducing a financial threshold. Liberal MP Ioan Cupşa has reiterated that his party does not intend to establish a threshold, although this is one of the requirements made by the Court. “People are very emotional about this issue”- the head of the legal committee of the Senate, Robert Cazanciuc, has admitted.



    Himself a former minister, a couple of years ago, in the Social Democratic cabinet led by Victor Ponta, Cazanciuc says Romania needs a piece of intelligible legislation in the field, to the understanding of each citizen. He has also said that various versions referring to the abuse of office have been submitted to the relevant committee and underlined that, if the Social-Democrats haven’t come up with another proposal yet, it means that they haven’t embraced a clear standpoint yet.



    The power-opponents accuse the majority made up of the Social Democratic Party-the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania that by introducing as higher a threshold as possible for the prejudice that has been created, they try to protect their party members accused of abuse of office, starting with the strongman of the coalition, the Social-Democrat Liviu Dragnea. The suspicions of the opposition, civil society and the press are fuelled by a more extensive package of laws meant to reform the judiciary and promoted by the incumbent line minister, Tudorel Toader.



    With the declared aim of bringing the legislation in line both with the rulings issued by the Constitutional Court and the latest evolutions in society, the draft law stipulates that the country’s president will no longer be involved in the procedure of appointing head prosecutors and it places the Judicial Inspection Corps from under the umbrella of the Higher Council of the Magistracy to the subordination of the line ministry. “If this mixture of measures is adopted by the government and endorsed by Parliament, Romania’s efforts in the past ten years or more, will be erased, and the justice system will return to a period when it was subordinated to politics”- President Klaus Iohannis warned last year. In turn, civil society announces that on Sunday, it will resume the already famous anti-government protests, under the slogan “We are not a nation of thieves”. (Translated by D. Vijeu)

  • Measures and decisions in the Romanian justice field

    Measures and decisions in the Romanian justice field

    The draft law amending the existing justice laws, written by justice minister Tudorel Toader, has been a topic of heated debates for months, and it will eventually reach Parliament. The strongman of the governing coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, the Social Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea, announced that a special parliamentary committee would decide what remains, what will be added and what will be eliminated from the justice minister’s bill, after it is debated in Parliament.


    Dragnea added that debates would start before receiving the opinion of the Venice Commission on the procedure of appointing the heads of prosecutor’s offices. He added that their determination to pass these laws in the current parliamentary session remained unchanged. Sharply criticized by the right wing opposition, by the press, civil society and by part of the magistrates, the reform promoted by justice minister Toader was motivated by the need to adapt the legislation both to the decisions of the Constitutional Court and to the developments in society.



    President Klaus Iohannis, whose prerogatives in appointing the heads of the General Prosecutor’s Office, the National Anticorruption Directorate and the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism will be eliminated, labeled the move as “an attack against the rule of law”. Professional associations expressed their shock at the setting up of a special body aimed at monitoring the crimes perpetrated by magistrates and at increasing the minimum age for appointing prosecutors. Another issue of discontent is the governing coalition’s idea to subordinate the Judicial Inspection, currently under the umbrella of the Higher Council of Magistracy, to the Justice Ministry.



    President Iohannis warned that if that mixture of laws was adopted by the government and passed by Parliament, Romania’s efforts of the past 10 years or so would be canceled, and the justice system would take a leap backward in time, when it was subordinated to the political system. Not all the things in the Romanian justice system are working well. Proof thereof was the fact that on Thursday the authorities forced the coming into effect of the law on the so-called compensatory appeal related to the detainees’ release from prison on account of improper detention conditions.



    The law stipulates that for one month spent in prison in improper conditions, detainees will benefit from a reduction of their sentence by 7 days. As many as 100 detainees will thus be released from prison starting on the first day in which the law is enforced. Romania has been repeatedly condemned by the European Court of Human Rights because of prison overcrowding, as Romanian prisons cannot cope with the more than 27 thousand detainees.



    Moreover, the Speaker of the Senate, Calin Popescu Tariceanu, announced that he would file a notification to the Constitutional Court regarding a potential conflict between the Government and the Public Ministry. He claims that prosecutors are investigating not the legality but the opportune character of government decisions, after the National Anticorruption Directorate has indicted, on corruption charges, two ministers of the current government who have eventually tendered resignations: the deputy prime minister Sevil Shhaideh and the minister delegate for European Funds, Rovana Plumb.

  • October 18, 2017 UPDATE

    October 18, 2017 UPDATE

    EDUCATION LAW — The Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis, held a phone conversation on Wednesday with his Ukrainian counterpart, Petro Poroshenko, on the controversial education law, recently adopted by the Kiev authorities. According to the Presidential Administration in Bucharest, the Romanian President expressed, in firm terms, the discontent about the law, which produces negative effects on the right to education in the native languages of the ethnic minorities in Ukraine, including the Romanian one. The Romanian President said the Kiev authorities should have held consultations with representatives of the national ethnic minorities and of the neighbouring countries. Klaus Iohannis has called on his Ukrainian counterpart to comply with the commitments Ukraine has constantly made to the Romanian side relative to the observance of international norms and standards as regards the protection of the national minorities’ rights. In turn, President Poroshenko gave assurances that the opinion of the Venice Commission on this law will be observed. According to the normative act, the children of the ethnic minorities will be able to study in their languages only in primary education, and afterwards they have to attend classes only in the Ukrainian language. Almost 500,000 ethnic Romanians are living in Ukraine.



    ROMANIAN-SPANISH RELATIONS – The Romanian foreign minister, Teodor Melescanu, met in Bucharest on Wednesday with his Spanish counterpart, Alfonso María Dastis. The two ministers discussed about bilateral trade relations and the stage of preparations for the first common session of the Romanian and Spanish governments. Minister Melescanu mentioned the very important contribution of the Romanian community to the economic development of Spain and thanked his counterpart for the Spanish authorities’ support for the integration of the Romanian citizens. On this occasion, the two sides signed an agreement on ways to prevent tax evasion and to eliminate double taxation for incomes. We recall that the over one million Romanians living in Spain make up the largest foreign community in that country.



    JUSTICE — Romanian Justice Minister Tudorel Toader announced on Wednesday that his ministry has finalized the proposal to modify the basic package of legislation regulating justice. He said he would meet on October 26 European Commission First Vice-President Hans Timmermans to discuss the project. Toader called on the Venice Commission to approve the procedure to appoint high-ranking prosecutors. The draft amending the justice laws will be promoted as a parliamentary initiative.



    LEGAL NOTIFICATION— The Speaker of the Romanian Senate, Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, announced on Wednesday that he will file a notification to the Constitutional Court, early next week, on a possible conflict between the Government and the Public Ministry, on the issue of government decisions. The talks on the notification of the Constitutional Court emerged after the National Anti-corruption Directorate opened a file involving two former members of the current cabinet, Sevil Shhaideh, former deputy prime minister and Regional Development Minister, and Rovana Plumb, who has been Minister Delegate for European Funds. They tendered their resignations last week, against the backdrop of accusations levelled against them in the file. The National Anti-corruption Directorate claims that in 2013, two plots of land close to the Danube riverbed were illegally transferred, by a government decision, from state property to property of the Teleorman County, in the south, and into the administration of the Teleorman County Council. Back then, Shhaideh was state secretary at the Regional Development Ministry and Rovana Plumb was holding the environment portfolio.



    BRUSSELS — European Council President Donald Tusk has introduced an ambitious schedule of 13 regular summits over the next two years to revive the European Union after the Brexit. Tusk made public this schedule on Tuesday, after several calls for a profound revision of the Union, including from French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Jean-Claude Junker. The schedule starts with the end of the week summit in Brussels, which will be attended by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis. President Tusks plan will also include an extraordinary European summit in Romania a few weeks after the UK leaves the EU, which is scheduled for March 2019, as well as a security summit next year in Vienna.



    TRADE — The U.S. trade mission Trade Winds 2017, the largest government trade mission in the history of the Southeast Europe region is Taking Place in Bucharest, between October 18-20. The mission is organized by the US Department of Commerce in partnership with the Romanian government. The event concludes on Friday, and will be attended by 100 American and 50 Romanian companies. In the three days of the forum, the attendees will be holding business and trade conferences, as well as discussions with American commercial attaches from 25 European states. Parallel events are held in Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece and Serbia. This is the 10th year the Department of Commerce’s U.S. Commercial Service has led Trade Winds.

  • September 12, 2017

    September 12, 2017

    DEFENCE PORTFOLIO – The incumbent economy minister, Mihai Fifor, has been nominated by the ruling coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party – the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats to take over the defence portfolio. He is to be replaced at the economy ministry by the Social Democrat MP Gheorghe Şimon. The former defence minister, Adrian Ţuţuianu, resigned a week ago, after PM Mihai Tudose reproached him for improper communication relative to the payment of salaries and allowances of troops and civilians working in the Army. The Defence Ministry had announced that the employees would receive this month only their allowances and salaries, and not their meals allowances, and without paying to the state budget the social security contributions and the income taxes. The announcement made by the defence ministry was later denied by both the prime minister and the finance minister, who said there were no problems with the payment of salaries. The president of the National Liberal Party, in opposition, Ludovic Orban, has accused the Government of being unwilling to comply with the commitment it has made to allot 2% of the GDP for the army endowment program. The care-taking defence minister is deputy prime minister Marcel Ciolacu.



    MOTION – The Chamber of Deputies is today debating the simple motion tabled by the National Liberal Party and the Save Romania Union (both in opposition), against justice minister Tudorel Toader. The signatories say the amendments to the justice laws, initiated by Toader, are an attempt to cancel the progress made in the field. The vote on the motion is due on Wednesday, in a plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies. Vehemently criticised by civil society and the media, Toaders draft stipulated, among others, that the countrys president will no longer nominate the chief prosecutors of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate and of the Directorate for the Investigation of Organised Crime and Terrorism, provides for subordinating the judicial inspection unit to the justice ministry and for increasing the number of years necessary to get promoted as a magistrate. At the start of the year, after the governments attempt to change the criminal codes by an emergency ordinance, hundreds of thousands of Romanians took to the streets in Bucharest, across the country and abroad. They accused the power of trying to exonerate influential people in politics and administration from criminal liability for acts of corruption.



    US-ROMANIAN STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP – The Romanian Senate is today adopting a political declaration to mark 20 years since Romania signed the Strategic Partnership with the US. Launched on July 11, 1997, on the occasion of the visit paid to Bucharest by the then US president Bill Clinton, at the invitation of his Romanian counterpart Emil Constantinescu, the Partnership made possible the establishment of privileged relations between the two countries and deepened cooperation once Romania joined NATO in 2004. Romania is hosting military bases and elements of the US anti-missile shield, and its troops have fought, alongside the Americans, in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Romanian foreign ministry has recently issued a communiqué, expressing its confidence that the Strategic Partnership between Romania and the USA will continue to develop and expand, capitalising on all opportunities and the potential of an outstanding bilateral relation.



    INTL CONFERENCE OF PUBLIC RADIO SERVICES – The mountain resort of Sinaia, in southern Romania is currently hosting the annual meeting of public radio services, which continues the Media 2020 meeting, organised by the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation and the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union. For two days, radio and tv experts from numerous countries are sharing their experiences and ideas on the best way in which they can face challenges specific to media institutions. The participants will also talk about the values that should be promoted by public media services, against the backdrop of a fast paced development of social media services.



    ENESCU FESTIVAL – The prestigious “George Enescu International Music Festival continues in Bucharest. Today, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London will give a concert for the second evening in a row. The program includes Enescus Romanian Rhapsody and pieces by Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy. The soloist of the evening is the world-famous pianist Martha Argerich, and the orchestra will perform under the baton of the outstanding conductor Charles Dutoit. Over 3,000 of the best musicians in the world will perform in Bucharest and seven other cities across the country until September 24. Inaugurated in 1958, interrupted by the communist regime in 1971 and resumed after the fall of communism, the Enescu Festival is held every other year.

  • September 6, 2017

    September 6, 2017

    MOTION – The National Liberal Party and the Save Romania Union have filed a simple motion to the Chamber of Deputies, against the justice minister. The signatories to the document say the amendments to the justice laws, initiated by Tudorel Toader, are an attack to the independence of the judiciary and an attempt to cancel the progress made in the field. Vehemently criticised by the opposition, civil society and the media, the draft amending the justice laws stipulates, among others, that the countrys president will no longer nominate the chief prosecutors of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate and of the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism, that the judicial inspection unit will be subordinated to the justice ministry and also provides for increasing the number of years to be promoted as magistrate. At the start of the year, the governments attempt to amend the criminal codes, by an emergency ordinance, took to the streets hundreds of thousands of Romanians, in the capital city, in big cities across the country or abroad. They accused the power of trying to exonerate from criminal liability influential people in politics or the administration. The motion is to be debated in a plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies next Tuesday, and the vote is scheduled for Wednesday.



    JUSTICE LAWS – British ambassador to Bucharest, Paul Brummel, has today held talks, upon his request, with the line minister Tudorel Toader about the amendments to the justice laws. He said, fresh from the talks, that the aforementioned legislative changes should be aimed at stepping up the fight against corruption and at strengthening the rule of law. Paul Brummel has underlined that Romania should decide, according to the Constitution and its parliamentary procedures, what justice system it wants to have, and any amendment should be previously discussed will all interested sides. On Tuesday, justice minister Tudorel Toader had a meeting on the same issue with the US ambassador to Bucharest, Hans Klemm, who said “it was a fruitful and complete discussion, in the spirit of cooperation within the Strategic Partnership.



    REP OF MOLDOVA – The pro-western government of the Republic of Moldova, a former Soviet country with a predominantly Romanian speaking population, has today approved a decision on the participation of Moldovan troops in a military exercise in neighbouring Ukraine. Prime Minister Pavel Filip has said international institutions will cover 80% of the costs with the participation of Moldovan troops in such exercises. The government made the decision after the pro-Russian Socialist President Igor Dodon, the supreme commander of the armed forces, has forbidden the participation of the Moldovan troops in the manoeuvres in Ukraine, without however explaining his refusal in any way. Earlier, Dodon has opposed to the participation of Moldovan military in an exercise unfolding in Romania.



    ENESCU FESTIVAL – The George Enescu
    International Festival continues in Bucharest, an event co-produced by Radio
    Romania. Wednesday’s highlights include a concert by violinist Alexandru
    Tomescu, in the Festival Square, and another highly awaited concert given by
    the Romanian Youth Orchestra and the George Enescu Philharmonic Choir, under
    the baton of Domingo Hindoyan. One of the most prestigious musical events in
    Europe, the festival is unfolding for three weeks and includes 80 concerts and
    events. Over 3,000 of the most appreciated artists of the international musical
    world will come to perform in Bucharest and seven other big cities across the
    country. Radio Romania is the only media institution in Romania to broadcast
    live the concerts given as part of the Enescu Festival, on the Radio Romania
    Music and Radio Romania Culture channels. The festival is held every two
    years.



    TENNIS – The pair made up of Romanian Horia Tecau and American CoCo Vandeweghe has qualified to the mixed doubles semi-finals of the US Open, the last Grand Slam tournament of the year. On Tuesday, in New York, they defeated the pair Bruno Soares (Brazil)/ Timea Babos (Hungary), 4-6, 6-1, 10-8. The only Romanian tennis player still left in the competition, Tecau won a mixed -doubles tennis trophy at the Australian Open in 2012, alongside another American, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, and played the finals, also in Melbourne, alongside Indian Sania Mirza. He has also qualified in the men doubles semifinals, alongside the Dutch Jean-Julien Rojer, after defeating the pair Jamie Murray (Great Britain / Bruno Soares (Brazil) 6-1, 6-2.

  • August 30, 2017

    August 30, 2017

    ROMANIAN DIPLOMACY –President Klaus Iohannis has today presented in Bucharest the objectives of Romanias foreign policy, during a meeting with the heads of the Romanian diplomatic missions and general consuls abroad, occasioned by the Annual Meeting of Romanian Diplomacy. The Romanian president has called on them to get involved in the effort to address the problems the EU is currently facing, including Brexit. Just like in the past years, deepening the Strategic Partnership with the US continues to be a priority of Romanias foreign policy, especially in the context of Junes visit to Washington by Klaus Iohannis and of the talks he held with the U.S. President Donald Trump. Romania will further plead for a strong transatlantic relation within NATO, the head of state has also said. He has given assurances that, to Romania, further integration at EU level continues to be a major objective. At the same time, switching to the Single European Currency and joining the Schengen Area will be significant steps forward to strengthen Romanias role at European level, Klaus Iohannis has also underlined.



    MAINTENANCE CENTRE – Romania will set up a maintenance centre at Aerostar Bacau, in the east, for the F16 fighters made in the US and purchased from Portugal. PM Mihai Tudose has today signed an agreement with Jonathan Hoyle, the vice-president of Lockheed Martin, for the transfer of state of the art technology for this type of aircraft. The defence minister Adrian Tutuianu and heads of military structures involved in the purchasing of military technology met on Tuesday with a delegation of Lockheed Martin, the American company specialised in the research, development, production and integration of state of the art technology in the military field, which has come up with proposals of cooperation with the national defence industry. The 2017-2026 Romanian Army Endowment Plan has been approved by Romanias Supreme Defence Council, with 9.8 billion Euro funds having been earmarked for the eight programs. We recall that Romania has signed a contract for the purchase of 16 F16 fighters and Adrian Tutuianu has made public the intention to purchase 36 other fighters in the following years.



    JUSTICE – The draft aimed at amending the justice laws was sent to the Higher Council of Magistracy on Wednesday, the line minister Tudorel Toader has announced. He has added the document has not been sent to prosecutors offices. Earlier, the National Anti-corruption Directorate, DNA, has said the draft is a form of pressure exerted on the professional activity of prosecutors and Romanias Prosecutor General, Augustin Lazar, has said the prospective adoption of the draft would impact the independence of magistrates and the functioning of judicial institutions. According to the amendments envisaged by minister Toader, the countrys president will be eliminated from the process of nominating chief prosecutors and the judicial inspection unit will be subordinated to the Justice Ministry.



    TENNIS – Romanian woman tennis player Sorana Cîrstea, no.54 WTA, has qualified to the second round of the US Open, the last Grand Slam tournament of the year, after defeating the Dutch Lesley Kerkhove, no. 171 WTA. In the next stage of the competition, Sorana will meet Latvias Jelena Ostapenko, no. 12 WTA, on Thursday. On Tuesday, the match between Monica Niculescu no. 57 WTA and the French Kristina Mladenovic (no.13 WTA) was stopped because of heavy rain. Today, Ana Bogdan (no.108 WTA) will play against the American Taylor Townsend (no.119 WTA). Three other Romanian players have already got eliminated from the competition: Simona Halep (no.2 WTA), Irina Begu (no. 55 WTA) and Mihaela Buzărnescu (no.133 WTA). In the mens competition, Romanian Marius Copil (no.86 ATP), has also left the US Open.