Radio România Internațional

Tag: ruling

  • A controversial Supreme Court ruling

    A controversial Supreme Court ruling

    The Higher Court of Cassation and
    Justice in Romania on Tuesday made a ruling with major effects on cases
    subjected to a limitation period. Under the court’s ruling this limitation is
    to be applied retroactively according to the most favourable law. The court ruled
    that there were no interruptions in limitation for four years between June
    2018, when the first ruling of the Constitutional Court (CCR) had come into
    effect, and May 2022, when the Penal Code was amended also under a CCR ruling.




    The special limitation allowed
    prosecutors to interrupt its course on the base of new evidence or by bringing
    the offender to court as a defendant. According to some legal sources, the
    Supreme Court ruling is going to affect thousands of cases pending in courts or
    under investigation allowing the culprits to avoid sentences or charges thanks
    to this limitation. The list includes famous cases such as that of former
    minister Elena Udrea, who has been a constant presence in courts for the past 8
    years, since the end of the second term in office of former president Traian
    Basescu, considered her protector.




    Currently serving a prison sentence
    on corruption charges, the former minister has also been involved in another
    two pending cases. The first case concerns the funding of president Basescu’s 2009
    election campaign, when Udrea got an 8 year prison sentence for bribery
    incitement and money laundering. The former president’s eldest daughter, Ioana
    Basescu, has also been given a five year prison sentence in the same file. The court dealing with this pending case
    adjourned until December this year, one month after the Supreme Court ruling. Udrea
    is also being tried in the ‘Hidroelectrica’ file on several charges, such as
    influence peddling and money laundering for having allegedly received five
    million dollars from a businessman. Among
    the offenders benefitting from limitation are the former Liberal president of
    the Chamber of Deputies, Bogdan Olteanu and Adrian Mititelu, owner of Romanian
    football side UCraiova 1948.




    Courts adjourned in many other cases
    until the aforementioned ruling and these cases will probably be closed. Among
    those to benefit the latest ruling on limitation are the former mayor of the
    city of Pitesti, in southern Romania, Social-Democrat Tudor Pendiuc, the ex-PSD
    now Liberal mayor of the city of Iasi, in northern Romania, Mihai Chirica, or
    the former PSD minister Constantin Nita.




    The latest ruling on limitation has
    made some people very happy. These are usually business people, mainly charged
    with embezzlement and misappropriation, as well as leading political figures
    accused of influence peddling, bribery and abuse of office with aggravating
    circumstances. Most of the cases likely
    to be closed after the latest Supreme Court ruling, have been dragging on for
    years. Is this only the merit of lawyers or the consequence of the investigators’
    incompetence?


    (bill)

  • May 12, 2022 UPDATE

    May 12, 2022 UPDATE

    NATO The
    president of Romania Klaus Iohannis hailed Finland’s announcement regarding its
    intention to join NATO, and says Bucharest supported the decision. Romania is
    a firm supporter of NATO’s open door policy and stands ready to support Finland
    in the process of NATO accession. Together we are stronger! Iohannis posted on
    Twitter on Thursday. The president of Finland Sauli Niinistö and PM Sanna Marin Thursday spoke in favour of the
    country’s joining NATO without delay, with the candidacy to be announced on
    Sunday, AFP reports. As a member of NATO, Finland would strengthen the Alliance
    as a whole, the two officials said in a joint press release. Finland’s
    accession will be a threat to Russia, the Kremlin said in response. Three in
    four Finnish citizens support the accession. A neutral state during the Cold
    War, Finland joined the EU and NATO’s Partnership for Peace programme, but
    remained outside the alliance. The decision to join NATO comes against the
    background of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Finland shares a 1,300-km border
    with Russia.


    RULING The Bucharest Court of Appeals Thursday passed
    its final ruling on the Colectiv case, after several successive
    postponements. The former Bucharest District 4 Mayor Cristian Popescu-Piedone, currently
    the mayor of District 5 of the capital city, was sentenced to 4 years in prison
    for abuse of office. The club owners also received prison sentences ranging
    between 6 and 11 years, while the 2 firefighters with the Bucharest
    Inspectorate for Emergency Situations who inspected the Colectiv nightclub and
    disregarded the workplace security legislation were sentenced to 8 years and 8
    months in prison, and 2 pyrotechnics workers will also serve 6 years and 10 months
    each. The manager of the fireworks company received a suspended sentence. The
    October 2015 fire in Colectiv killed 64 people and injured many others. It
    was the most serious accident in Romania since 1989. The tragedy forced the
    government at the time to step down.


    INFLATION The Romanian Central Bank has updated its
    inflation forecast to 12.5% for end-2022 and 6.7% for end-2023, governor Mugur
    Isarescu announced on Thursday. In February, the Central Bank estimated
    inflation would stand at 9.6% at the end of 2022 and at 3.2% at the end of
    2023. Inflationist pressure triggered by production costs is expected to go
    down gradually. However, its effects will continue to be felt for around 12
    months. Romania sees the highest annual inflation rate in the last 18 years,
    nearly 14%, with the steepest price rises reported for natural gas (85%).


    POLL One in two Romanians has considered moving to
    another country after the start of the war in Ukraine, and the first options
    would be Germany, France and Britain, according to data made public by a
    recruitment platform. 12% of respondents are waiting to see how things unfold
    and 11% believe the war will not affect us. Another 26% say they will not leave
    the country irrespective of what happens next. The main reasons for moving
    abroad are the wish to change the scenery and the country where they work
    (38%), personal and family safety (24%), better incomes (21%), more
    opportunities for professional development (14%) and the wish to work in a
    safer environment, unaffected by war (4%).


    UKRAINE A first Russian soldier will be on trial in
    Ukraine for killing a civilian in the Sumy region. International teams of
    prosecutors and investigators continue to probe into war crimes committed by
    the Russian army, with more than 10,000 such cases pending. According to Radio
    Romania’s special correspondent, investigators say the 21-year old Russian
    soldier killed a Ukrainian civilian who was walking his bike along the sidewalk.
    The soldier and other Russian troops were in a stolen car, after their unit had
    been destroyed by the Ukrainian forces. The prosecutor general of Ukraine, Iryna
    Venediktova, said there was enough evidence of his involvement in violation of
    the laws and customs of war, including premeditated murder, and that he was
    facing 10 to 15 years or life in prison. Experts from Poland, Lithuania and
    France help the teams of investigators, and the cases documented so far point
    to people being killed with no reason. Clashes continued on Thursday in the
    north-east and south-east of Ukraine, with both sides announcing local-scale
    advances.


    NATURAL GAS The Romanian Senate passed amendments to the Offshore
    Act, which green lights gas exploitation in the Black Sea. The ruling
    coalition, which tabled the bill, says this is a much more balanced version of
    the one endorsed four years ago. Tax changes have now been introduced in favour
    of the companies concerned, and dependence on Russian gas would be
    significantly reduced in a few years’ time. According to estimates, around 80
    billion cubic metres of gas are in the Neptune Deep perimeter alone. The
    national state-owned company Romgaz-the largest gas producer in Romania-and the
    Austrian company OMV will extract gas from the Black Sea in the coming years. (A.M.P.)

  • Cosmopolitan Bucharest

    Cosmopolitan Bucharest


    The 18th century, in the history of Romanian principalities,
    is known as the Phanariot century, broadly speaking. However, that timespan
    does not exactly coincide with the early and the late 1700s proper; in Moldavia
    it begins in 1711 and in Wallachia, in 1714. For both principalities, the
    Phanariot age ended in 1821. We recall that back then Tudor Vladimirescu’s revolution
    made it possible for the indigenous rulers to regain their thrones. During the Phanariot
    age, the Romanian Principalities were under the suzerainty of the Ottoman
    Empire. The sultan controlled the principalities in the region through a bunch
    of Greek civil servants who hailed from Istanbul’s Phanar district. They were
    the Phanariotes, the anointed ruling princes of Moldavia and Wallachia, for a
    limited period of time. The age was viewed and, quite aptly, still is, as an age
    of backwardness. The Romanian Principalities no longer were autonomous, they
    did not have their own currency and their own army. Besides, the Romanian
    principalities were getting Orientalized at a fast pace. The historian Tudor Dinu gives us all the details.

    Tudor Dinu:

    The age is a very interesting one because,
    on one hand, it marks the Orientalization process as, prior to the Phanariotes,
    Oriental culture was seldom present with us. For instance, in the markets
    around Bucharest all sorts of delicious produce were available for purchase. Then
    again, it also marks the incipient Westernization, since to a considerable
    extent the Phanariotes were the driving force for the advent of the Italian and
    then the French culture in the Romanian Principalities. The research that I
    carried revealed that it was not true that Westernization began after 1821. As
    for the Phanariotes, they did keep themselves abreast of Western civilization
    primarily because they wanted to provide intelligence services to the Porte, so
    that was another reason for the Western culture to make its presence felt with
    us.


    At first, Western customs and patterns had an unassuming presence
    in our society, being influenced by the fact that the Romanian Principalities
    were used more like a war theater for the conflicts between Austria, Russia and
    Turkey. Westernization proper began with the first Austrian occupation after
    1789. It was enhanced through the arrival of the Russian troops stationed in
    the Principalities, that including Bucharest. however, those were not the first
    foreigners who settled in Wallachia’s capital city, which beginning the Phanariot
    age, became a truly cosmopolitan city. Those foreigners, who in time became people
    of the place, also created the mixed specificity of the city. For instance, together
    with the Phanariotes a growing number of Greeks settled here, yet their community
    did not account for more than 5% – 10% of the entire population of Bucharest. It’s
    just that they were scholars, dignitaries, entrepreneurs, merchants and craftsmen,
    so they did step out of the line as against the rest of the population.


    As for the other foreigners in the city…who were they?

    Tudor Dinu:


    First off, it’s about the Jews, a very
    dynamic population, they were harassed by the Christian population instigated
    by the clergy, yet they were protected by the Phanariot rulers. Their contribution
    was fundamental, to the economic progress of Bucharest since they were tailors,
    bookbinders, metal workers. A dynamic presence was provided even by the
    Armenians who at that time may have been known as ‘Christian Jews’, since their
    customs were similar and so was their way of doing business. The Rroma were a very
    large population as well, at that time they were known as gypsies, tigani in
    Romanian. Their contribution was significant considering the difficult jobs the
    Romanian wouldn’t take, such as metal and iron work, but also the panning of gold
    in the waters of Dambovita river. Also, the Rroma were the kings of the street
    performances of that time. Their bears were hopping about, while their fiddlers’
    music made the delight of the pubgoers. I also did some research on the Turkish
    community, but they were in small numbers at that time, since the privileges
    granted to Wallachia only allowed for the ruler’s Turkish secretary and his team
    to be present in the country. He was known as Divan efendi. However, there
    was a princely brass band made of Turkish musicians, an Ottoman police force,
    the one of the Beshlii, the mounted Turkish cavalry, there were also a couple of
    merchants. People of the Balkans were much more numerous, the Christian ones, first
    of all, since for them Bucharest was like a true Eldorado. Gaining access to
    the Romanian space was, that was very difficult, some sort of special paper or
    visa, known as tescherea, was needed, which granted safe passage to the
    promised land. They were labelled Serbs
    in a broader sense, but there were also Albanians among them. The Serbs, that
    is the peoples south of the Danube, of Slavic origin, were mainly known as
    vegetable farmers and tanners. On Lipscani and Gabroveni, two of the streets
    in today’s historical center, many Bulgarians sold their merchandise, for
    instance.


    We
    know that the Saxons, a Germanic population, settled in Transylvania 800 years
    ago. Yet it was also in the Phanariot age that other German groups settled in
    Bucharest. They brought the technical and engineering spirit with them. In time,
    the French who would come over also arrived in large numbers. They were brought
    by the boyars as private tutors for their children.




  • Constitutional Court rules on state of alert measures

    Constitutional Court rules on state of alert measures

    Constitutional
    Court judges ruled on Thursday that isolation at home, quarantine and
    hospitalisation cannot be imposed based on ministerial order, even if the
    persons in question are infected with the novel coronavirus. They say these
    measures are restricting individual rights and freedoms and that imposing
    restrictive measures can only be established by a law that clearly regulates them.
    The ruling of the Constitutional Court comes after a complaint by the Ombudsman
    referring to some provisions of a law on healthcare reform from 2006 and the government
    emergency order on measures to prevent and combat the effects of the Covid-19
    pandemic.




    Prime minister Ludovic Orban says the persons
    who find themselves in the situations covered by the Court’s ruling will not,
    however, be able to leave isolation or quarantine or ask the state for
    compensation neither before nor after the Court publishes the justification of
    its ruling in the Official Gazette. Ludovic Orban:




    There
    is currently a law adopted by Parliament, law no. 55, which establishes the
    legitimacy of this measure. I don’t understand why the Constitutional Court
    prefers to look at a ministerial order or an emergency order adopted earlier
    rather than at the legal basis for the state of emergency, the presidential
    decree and the Parliament’s approval of these measures. Where would Romania be
    today if we hadn’t been able to protect people’s health by isolating those who
    had come into contact with people who had tested positive or by isolating or
    quarantining persons arriving from areas with high infection levels?




    The Social
    Democratic Party in opposition says the government must urgently come up with a
    bill to clearly regulate the conditions for quarantine, isolation and hospitalisation.
    The interim Senate speaker and member of the Social Democratic Party Robert
    Cazanciuc says the people who had to suffer may start filing complaints in the courts:




    They
    have kept asymptomatic persons in hospital for weeks, while chronic patients
    were deprived of vital treatment. They imposed quarantine by ministerial order
    although they were well aware that a law was needed for this. It was the
    government’s responsibility from the very beginning. It’s the government’s duty
    to repair this abuse as soon as possible.




    The
    Constitutional Court also ruled in favour of the government, who did not submit
    the extension to the state of alert to Parliament in mid-June. The Court says
    Parliament does not have the right to validate or reject by vote a government
    decision on the declaration of the state of alert because such a move would
    affect the principle of the separation of powers.

  • May 6, 2020 UPDATE

    May 6, 2020 UPDATE

    COVID-19 In Romania, the number of deaths caused by the novel coronavirus has reached 858. The number of confirmed cases exceeds 14,100. Some 5,800 people have recovered. Among the Romanians living abroad, more than 2,400 are confirmed to have caught the virus, most of them in Italy and Spain, while 96 have died, mostly in the UK. Meanwhile, Romanias Constitutional Court Wednesday ruled that the fines issued during the state of emergency for breaching the restrictions introduced over the COVID-19 pandemic are unconstitutional. The ruling concerns around 300,000 fines, totaling over 100 million euros. Prime minister Ludovic
    Orban said he was shocked by the ruling, which, he said, was obviously
    political in nature and was an invitation to breaking the law, a call for
    anarchy. In
    turn, Constitutional Court judges argue that the emergency order that regulated
    the fines were lacking in clarity, precision and predictability, and issuing a
    fine was left to the discretion of police officers.




    ASSISTANCE The Romanian prime minister Ludovic Orban Wednesday attended the departure of 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 epidemic. Last week, the government in Bucharest decided to grant Moldova humanitarian aid worth 16.5 million lei 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.




    PENSIONS Cancelling the so-called special pensions is unconstitutional, Romanias Constitutional Court ruled on Wednesday. The magistrates sustained the case filed by the High Court of Cassation and Justice and the Ombudsman against a bill passed by Parliament in January, which eliminated all special pensions except for those paid to Army and Interior Ministry staff, which are not calculated based on the contributions to pension funds. The ruling was based on procedural arguments, without discussing the contents of the bill.




    PANDEMIC Europe must learn its lesson from the corona crisis, and secure its “strategic autonomy in key sectors like medical supply chains, which requires stocks and relocation of production, the EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Wednesday. He emphasised that “It is not normal that Europe doesn’t produce a single gram of paracetamol, and 80 percent of the antibiotics production of the world is concentrated in China. At present 80% of the active substances used in pharmaceuticals come from third countries, with India and China alone accounting for 60%, according to a 2018 report by the French Senate. Confirmed coronavirus cases passed 3.7 million worldwide, with the death toll nearing 260,000, and 1.25 million people have recovered, according to measurements by ArcGIS and Worldometer. The United States is the worst hit country, with over 2,300 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to over 71,000, and the highest number of confirmed cases, at over 1.2 million. The UK, with over 29,000 deaths, is now the worst hit country in Europe, followed by Italy, Spain and France. Elsewhere, high schools in Hubei, the Chinese province that was the epicentre of the pandemic, Wednesday reopened for final-year students.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • 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)



  • May 5, 2020 UPDATE

    May 5, 2020 UPDATE

    MEETING — Romanian President Klaus Iohannis discussed on Tuesday with representatives of the business sector about measures to relaunch the economy which has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. After the meeting, Iohannis has said a massive increse in public invesment in all types of infrastructure is considered, with a focus on Romanian products. The Romanian Government has negotiated with the European Commission the redirecting of all non-repayable EU funds towards programmes for companies and large infrastructure projects. Iohannis has also said that a gradual reopening of the economic sectors will take place, the top priority being the protection of Romanians’ health.




    RULING – The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday that Romania violated the right to a fair trial and the right to free speech of the former head of the countrys Anti-Corruption Directorate, Laura Codruta Kovesi, who is now the European Union’s first chief prosecutor. According to the Court, “there had been no way” for Laura Codruta Kovesi, who was fired in July 2018, to make a court claim against her removal from office. Also, according to the Court, freedom of expression was violated because of Kovesi’s dismissal for criticizing the governments anti-corruption legislation. Kovesi said the ECHR ruling would help strengthen judicial independence across the continent and defend magistrates from discretionary political interference. Kovesi’s dismissal was initiated by the then Social Democratic Minister Tudorel Toader. President Klaus Iohannis had to fire Kovesi following the ruling of Romanias Constitutional Court. The Head of state said on Tuesday, after the court ruling, that the credibility of the Romanian Constitutional Court, already affected by some controversial decisions over the past few years, is now even more seriously shaken. Iohannis also said that the rulingshows that Romanian Constitutional Court needs to be reformed at the constitutional level. In his turn, the current Justice Minister said he would propose Government to dismiss former minister Tudorel Toader from the position of member of the Venice Commission.




    CORONAVIRUS ROMANIA – Barber shops, dental clinics and museums across Romania will reopen on May 15, after being shut down due to the coroanvirus pandemic. People will also be able to move around the city without a signed declaration. President Klaus Iohannis on Monday spoke about these measures, saying the state of emergency would be replaced with a state of alert, allowing the authorities to keep the situation in check. Meanwhile the COVID-19 death toll in Romania has reached 841 people, while the number of confirmed cases now stands at 13,800. 5,500 people have recovered. Health Minister Nelu Tataru says the pandemic could reach its peak at the end of the week. According to the Governments Group for Strategic Communication, some 2,400 Romanians living abroad have tested positive for coronavirus and 96 of them have died.




    PANDEMIC – Italy, the first country in the world to impose total quarantine for the entire population due to the coronavirus pandemic, has started easing restrictions. For the second day in a row, the number of deaths was below 200, while the total number of confirmed cases stands at some 100,000. On Tuesday, 4.5 million Italians returned to work. Until May 17, Italians can move around the city only for work, health problems, to shop or to visit their relatives, while observing social distancing measures. The British Government is also expected to announce a gradual lifting of restrictions this week. In France, the Governments plans for a gradual return to normal life starting May 11 have been met with political criticism. The right-wing Senate has voted against the Governments relaxation plan, although the vote is purely consultative, bearing no effect on the implementation of the strategy already approved last week in the National Assembly. Over 250,000 people have died worldwide since the beginning of the outbreak in December last year in China.


    (Translated by Elena Enache)

  • Constitutional Court dismisses changes in criminal legislation

    Constitutional Court dismisses changes in criminal legislation

    The changes operated by Parliament on the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure come against the Constitution, the judges of the Constitutional Court decided unanimously on Monday. The reason put forth by the Court was that Parliament did not comply with its obligation to bring these changes in line with previous Constitutional Court rulings. The Constitutional Court had postponed a ruling in this respect 7 times, before reaching Mondays decision.



    The changes in question include, among others, a considerable reduction of prescription periods for offences posing high social threats, concurrently with a reduction of special prescription periods to a half. Also halved were the penalties for embezzlement and abuse of office, if offenders cover the damages before a final ruling is passed. Criminal negligence was also decriminalised under the proposed legislation.



    As for the Code of Criminal Procedure, changes concerned, among others, the intelligence obtained under national security warrants, which was to no longer be used by courts of general jurisdiction even in corruption, rape or murder cases. Other changes were intended to forbid prosecutors from collecting evidence in a search, if the evidence concerns another offence than the one for which the search warrant has been issued, and to invalidate reports to the authorities against an offender, if the offence is older than one year.



    It was President Klaus Iohannis and the Save Romania Union and National Liberal Party in opposition that challenged these changes at the Constitutional Court. They argued that through the bills passed by the parliamentary majority made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, more than 300 damaging changes are operated on the Romanian criminal legislation.



    Klaus Iohannis welcomed the Courts decision, and urged Parliament to dismiss all the attempted changes of the criminal law and to cancel the changes already operated on the justice laws. In turn, the Liberal Party president Ludovic Orban asks Parliament to reject the new criminal codes as a whole, and if necessary to operate any subsequent adjustments through a new bill, following public consultation and debate. Along the same lines, Save Romania Union requests that police chiefs be appointed based on their merits.



    Meanwhile, the leaders of the ruling coalition announced they were working on an emergency government order to improve the legislative framework. The Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats decided to call a special parliamentary session, and PM Viorica Dancila promised that her Cabinet will waste no time.



    The Constitutional Court ruling against the modified criminal laws was also covered in international media. Reuters reports that since taking power in 2016, the Social Democratic government has operated a number of legislative and staff changes seen as threats to the independence of the judiciary and causing concern in the European Union, the US State Department, and among thousands of Romanian magistrates, whereas the Venice Commission requested the annulment of these changes.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • June 21, 2018 UPDATE 18:41

    June 21, 2018 UPDATE 18:41

    Sentence – The speaker of the Chamber of Deputies and leader of the Social Democratic Party Liviu Dragnea was sentenced to 3 and a half years in prison for instigation to abuse of office by the High Court of Cassation and Justice in a case related to the fictitious employment of two persons with the Teleorman Directorate for Social Assistance and Child Protection. In the same case he was acquitted for intelectual forgery. The suspension of the sentence he had previously received in the Referendum case was cancelled. The two sentences were merged resulting a total sentence of 3 and a half years imprisonment. The decision is not definitive and can be appealed in court.




    PROTESTS — Thousands of Romanians took to the streets of the capital Bucharest and several other cities across the country in protest at the modification, in Parliament, by the ruling coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE), of the justice laws and also of the Criminal Procedure Code, two days before. Incidents between protesters and security forces were reported in Bucharest, and several participants in the rallies were taken to the police station. Protesters chanted slogans against the Government, asking for their resignation and for early elections. The National Liberal Party (PNL) and the Save Romania Union (USR), in the opposition, say that some of the amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code endanger the act of justice, so they will appeal the bill in Court. The High Court of Cassation and Judice has taken a similar decision. According to the ruling coalition, the amendments are aimed at transposing into national legislation the decisions of the Constitutional Court and the European directives.




    VISIT – Romania provides economic stability and ensures an attractive environment for investment, Romanian deputy PM Ana Birchall has said at a meeting with the US Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross, on Wednesday. The Romanian official is paying a working visit to the US that ends on June 29th. The agenda of talks included the consolidation of the Strategic Partnership between the two countries, America’s support for Romania’s accession to the OECD and the Three Sees Initiative Summit to be held in Bucharest in September. Ana Birchall is accompanied in the US by a government delegation that participates, alongside representatives of the Romanian business environment, in the SelectUSA Investment Summit to be held in Washington DC between June 20 and 22. The Romanian official will also attend the first part of the works of the World Gas Conference due between June 25 and 29 in Washington DC.





    CHISINAU — The issue of the invalidation of the elections in Chisinau, the Republic of Moldova, is today on the agenda of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, Romanian MEP Cristian Preda, coordinator of the European People’s Party Group in this Committee, told Radio Free Europe. According to Preda, the decision of a court in Chisinau to invalidate the election victory of a pro-European candidate to the post of mayor of Chisinau clearly shows the political influence over justice. The Chisinau Court ruled Tuesday that Andrei Nastase was not the winner of the June 3 vote, but did not say why. On Wednesday, Nastase appealed the ruling, claiming it was “arbitrary” and politically motivated. Analysts say Nastase may have broken election rules by addressing voters after the end of the permitted campaigning period. The election was called after Dorin Chirtoaca, who had been mayor of Chisinau for the past 10 years, stepped down after being probed for influence trafficking in a city parking contract.




    FOOTBALL — The World Cup in Russia continues with matches pitting France against Peru and Denmark against Australia in Group C, and also Argentina against Croatia as part of Group D. On Wednesday, in Group B, Portugal defeated Marroco, 1-nil, and Spain beat Iran, also 1-nil. In Group A, Uruguay qualified to the round of sixteen, alongside Russia, who beat Saudi Arabia 1-nil. Romania is not present at the current edition of the World Cup. (Translated by Elena Enache)

  • May 29, 2018

    May 29, 2018

    JUDICIARY – The judges with the High Court of Cassation in Bucharest have today postponed to June 12 a verdict in a case involving the former chief of the Directorate Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism, Alina Bica, the businessman Dorin Cocoş and his son. Bica is accused of aggravated abuse of office while employed as a secretary of state and representing the Justice Ministry in the Central Commission for Compensation Settlement within the National Authority for Property Restitution. The former chief of the anti-mafia prosecutors office is in Costa Rica, together with Dorin Cocos ex-wife, Elena Udrea, herself a former minister and tried for corruption, after having been regarded for a long time the most influential member of the ex-President Traian Basescus circle. The 2 applied for political asylum in Costa Rica.




    CORRUPTION – The High Court of Cassation and Justice once again postponed today a ruling in the case in which the Social Democratic Party president and Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Liviu Dragnea is accused of corruption offences. At the previous hearing on May 15, anti-corruption prosecutors requested a sentence of 7 years and 5 months in prison for abuse of office and six months for forgery. They say that while Dragnea was the chairman of the Teleorman County Council, he ordered the Social Assistance and Child Protection Directorate to fictitiously hire 2 party members, who were paid from public funds although they worked exclusively for the Social Democratic Party. In 2016, Dragnea received a suspended sentence for attempted election fraud. The Social Democratic leader is until Thursday in Switzerland, on an official visit as Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies.




    DEFENCE – The Romanian Foreign Minister, Mihai Fifor, had talks in Paris with his French counterpart Florence Parly, about the bilateral cooperation in the defence sector. According to Minister Fifor, the parties have agreed to harmonise their positions on security on the eastern flank of NATO, ahead of the Alliances summit in Brussels in July. Another topic discussed by the 2 officials was the Romanian presidency of the EU Council in the first half of next year. Fifors visit also includes, among other things, a meeting with Philippe Etienne, the diplomatic adviser of President Emmanuel Macron and former Ambassador of France to Romania, and visits to military equipment producers.




    BREXIT – The deputy PM of Romania, Ana Birchall, had a meeting today with a delegation of the Romania-UK Friendship Parliamentary Group, in which context she reiterated, with respect to Brexit, the importance of protecting the rights of the Romanian citizens and their families who live, work or study in UK. ‘Romania will continue to lobby for Britain to remain as close as possible to the European Union after Brexit as well,’ Ana Birchall said. According to a news release issued by the Government, participants in the talks emphasised the importance of the Strategic Partnership with the UK, which has a sound foundation in the field of security and in the economic area.




    FILM AWARDS – ‘Fixeur’, directed by Adrian Sitaru, was the winner of the Awards gala of the Romanian Filmmakers Association (UCIN), held on Monday in Bucharest. The film won the Grand Prize and the Trophy of the Association. Călin Peter Netzer won the best director award for ‘Ana, mon amour’. The Gala, one of the most important events of the year in this field, was attended by hundreds of guests. This year the Romanian Filmmakers Association celebrates 55 years since its establishment.




    TENNIS – The world no 1 Simona Halep, of Romania, is playing today against the American Alison Riske (105 WTA), in the first tour of Roland Garros, the second Grand Slam tournament of the year. Three other Romanians will also play today. Sorana Cîrstea (45 WTA) is facing the Australian Daria Gavrilova (24 WTA), Irina Begu (41 WTA) the Slovak Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (78 WTA), and Ana Bogdan (65 WTA) takes on the Czech Marketa Vondrousova (90). On Monday, two other players from Romania moved past the opening round: Alexandra Dulgheru (160 WTA) beat the American Christina McHale (no 85 WTA), and Mihaela Buzărnescu (32 WTA) defeated Vania King (1.276 WTA), also from the USA. In the mens competition, the only Romanian player, Marius Copil (95 ATP), lost to the Italian Marco Cecchinato (72 ATP).


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • May 4, 2017 UPDATE

    May 4, 2017 UPDATE

    STATE VISIT – PM Sorin Grindeanu said in Jerusalem on Thursday that Romania remained firm in supporting the fight against terrorism. In a joint press conference with his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, Grindeanu said the terror attacks in Europe were alarming and mentioned Romanian citizens had also been among the victims. On the other hand, PM Grindeanu said Israel was Romanias closest ally and partner in the region, with the diplomatic ties between the 2 countries spanning nearly 70 years. The Romanian Prime Minister reiterated Romanias commitment to establish a Jewish History and Holocaust Museum. In turn, Netanyahu said the visit of his counterpart continues the great friendship between the 2 countries. During the visit, two bilateral documents were signed, a declaration on cutting international roaming fees and a joint statement on cooperation in the fields of electricity and natural gas transportation, research, development and innovation, high-tech and investments. The Romanian official also had talks with President Reuven Rivlin and visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem.




    JUDICIARY – The Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) Thursday dismissed as inadmissible a notification filed by the Ombudsman concerning an article that denies the access to government posts for convicted criminals. The Court found that the arguments put forth in the notification filed by Ombudsman Victor Ciorbea are either matters of interpretation and enforcement of the law by the relevant authorities, or elements of law-making that fall within the powers of Parliament. Law no. 90 of 2001 on the organisation and functioning of the government and ministries, says that only individuals who have not been found guilty in criminal cases and are not in an incompatibility case may be members of the government. The Court was notified after the Chamber of Deputies Speaker Liviu Dragnea was unable to get nominated for prime minister because of this article, although the Social Democratic Party he is heading won the December 2016 parliamentary election. Dragnea received a 2-year suspended sentence in a vote fraud case regarding the 2012 referendum on the impeachment of then President Traian Basescu.




    PARDON BILL – The Senates judicial committee Thursday rolled back Wednesdays decision, dismissing all amendments to the Governments bill on collective pardon, whereby sentences for some acts of corruption could be written off. According to the amendments passed on Wednesday, bribe taking and giving, as well as influence peddling, were on a list of crimes that would be written off provided the inmate commits to covering the damages suffered by the state. Hundreds of people protested in Bucharest and other large cities against these amendments. Protesters vented their anger at politicians, whom they see as deeply corrupt. The Government, who initiated the draft law on collective pardon, as well as the Chamber of Deputies Speaker and Social-Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea have argued against pardoning acts of corruption. Dragnea announced that the bill, whose final text would not pardon corruption offences, would be fine-tuned in a meeting of the Social Democrats National Executive Committee. Authorities see the bill on collective pardon as a possible solution to prison overcrowding. The European Court of Human Rights has called on Bucharest authorities to come up with a set of measures to improve detention conditions.



    MINORITY RIGHTS – The Romanian Foreign Minister, Teodor Melescanu, said on Thursday in Bucharest that guaranteeing the rights of ethnic minorities is necessary to ensure stability, security and good neighbourhood in the region. While attending a conference on responsible governance, he said Romania was probably one of the European countries with the most developed regulations on protecting national minority rights.



    CINEMA – The French actor Alain Delon will receive a lifetime achievement award at the Transylvania International Film Festival, which will take place in Cluj-Napoca between June 2 and 11. According to organisers, the award will be handed out on June 10, in a ceremony hosted by the National Theatre in Cluj-Napoca. On the day before, the 1981 film “Pour la peau dun flic, starring and directed by Alain Delon, will be screened in honour of the French actor.




    CULTURAL HERITAGE – The U.S. Ambassador to Bucharest, Hans Klemm, donated 59,300 US dollars to the Superior Consistory of the Evangelic Church Sibiu under the special U.S. Department of State program called the Ambassador Fund for Cultural Preservation. The grant is designed to help restore the Medieval Fortified Churches of Movile and Agarbiciu (Sibiu County) and Daia (Mures County). On Thursday, Ambassador Hans Klemm and Bishop Reinhard Guib held a ceremony at the fortified medieval church in the village of Movile, where Ambassador Klemm said: “Our cultural heritage is a reminder of the contributions and historical experiences of humanity. The medieval fortified churches of Transylvania are monuments to Europes cultural heritage. Local officials, representatives of the Evangelical Church, of the Fortified Churches Foundation, of the Democratic Forum of Germans in Transylvania, archaeologists and construction experts were present at the ceremony.




    FRENCH ELECTION – The centrist candidate in the French presidential election Emmanuel Macron filed a legal complaint after his far-right challenger Marine Le Pen implied he had an offshore account in the Bahamas. Macron strengthened his position as a frontrunner in Sundays second presidential ballot after the televised debate he attended jointly with his opponent Marine Le Pen. This was the only debate held for the two rounds, and the two contenders traded harsh words and even insults. For the first time in Frances post-war history, the candidates of the traditional right and left wings failed to qualify to the presidential second round. Defeated in the first round by Macron, Le Pen labelled him “the representative of wild globalization and criticized him for his superficial approach to terrorism. Macron said Le Pen is a dangerous nationalist feeding on Frances suffering. The French and international media writes the debate was brutal and violent, with the two contenders verbally abusing each other unlike never before in the history of presidential debates in this country.


  • Constitutional Court Ruling on Local Elections

    Constitutional Court Ruling on Local Elections

    Two days before the start of the election campaign, the Constitutional Court debated on Wednesday the challenge of constitutionality in the case of two articles of the local election law. The first article refers to the use of the one-round system, while the second one concerns the minimum number of signatures required for independent runners to have their candidacy validated.



    The two articles were challenged by journalist Liviu Avram, but the Constitutional Court dismissed them as ungrounded. The president of the Court Augustin Zegrean said that from the point of the view of the Court, there will only be one round of voting for the local elections, and that practice would not change from one day to the next, despite other similar cases being brought before the Court.



    The Courts ruling has sparked a diverse response among the political class. The co-president of the National Liberal Party Alina Gorghiu believes two rounds are necessary to elect local officials, as has been the case in Romania from 1992 to 2012. She hopes that next week, when the Court will issue its judgment on the merits regarding the use of the one-round or the two-round voting system, which she says is necessary in order to respect the principles of democracy, it will rule that it is the majority who will decide the winner of the local elections.



    The Social-Democrat vice-president of the Chamber of Deputies legal committee, Ciprian Nica, says that both the Social Democratic Party and the National Liberal Party stand to gain from the decision of the Constitutional Court with respect to maintaining the one-round system. In his opinion, rules should not change in the middle of a game. He said, however, that the Courts arguments could be taken into account in the future, if the law is to be amended at some point during the next Parliament term.



    The co-president of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, Calin Popescu Tariceanu, shares the opinion that the voting system should not change one month before the elections, and that the next Parliament elected in autumn must re-discuss the way in which mayors are elected, given that the current law works to the disadvantage of smaller parties.



    The decision of the Constitutional Court is welcome because election rules should not change during the election campaign, agrees Martin Arpad, an MP for the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania.