Radio România Internațional

Tag: Supreme Council of Magistracy

  • Constitutional Court to look at the justice laws

    Constitutional Court to look at the justice laws

    Plans to
    amend the justice laws have already sparked new street protests this year in
    Romania. The amendments, initiated by the leftist ruling coalition formed by
    the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, have
    been criticised by the right-wing opposition, civil society and some of the
    magistrates, who say they aim to place the judiciary under political control.
    Three pieces of legislation, on the status of magistrates, on judicial
    organisation, and on the functioning of the Supreme Council of Magistracy, were
    immediately challenged before the Constitutional Court by the National Liberal
    Party, the main opposition party, and the High Court of Cassation and Justice.

    Claimants say the three laws violate the Constitution and are confusing. On
    Tuesday, the Constitutional Court accepted some of the complaints having to do
    with the law on the status of magistrates and asked for a redefinition of the
    concepts of judicial error, bad faith and grave negligence that appear in
    the provisions on magistrates’ accountability. The president of the
    Constitutional Court Valer Dorneanu said the court postponed for the 13th
    of February a discussion of the complaints against the law on the functioning
    of the Supreme Council of Magistracy.

    Valer Dorneanu: The
    court has not admitted some of the complaints that were insufficiently
    motivated. It has admitted a series of complaints, including some against the
    section of the law dealing with the accountability of magistrates, and has
    requested a redefinition of the notions of ‘judicial error’, ‘bad faith’ and
    ‘grave negligence’.


    Valer Dorneanu
    also says the Court has admitted the complaints against the provisions dealing
    with the role of the president of the country in the appointment of chief
    prosecutors, complaints that seek to achieve a clearer division of roles
    between the president and the Constitutional Court. President Klaus Iohannis,
    who attended the Supreme Council of Magistracy’s first meeting this year, also
    criticised the way in which the new justice laws were passed. He was hoping at
    the time that the laws would be improved and that the Constitutional Court
    judges would analyse them with professionalism and objectivity.

    The amendments
    to the justice laws have also caused concern at the top of the European Union.
    A week ago, the European Commission voiced its concern about the recent
    developments in Romania and called on Parliament to reconsider the changes to
    the justice laws. According to the Commission, the independence of the judicial
    system and its ability to fight corruption efficiently are the cornerstones of
    a strong Romania within the European Union. (translated by Cristina Mateescu)

  • Divergences regarding the justice legislation

    Divergences regarding the justice legislation

    The bill amending the justice laws in Romania keeps raising controversy, also after the recent talks in Brussels, where the line minister Tudorel Toader had several meetings on the matter, including with the First Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans. The three major laws that govern the functioning of the judiciary, namely the one regulating the status of judges and prosecutors, of the Higher Council of Magistracy and judicial organization, have to be put in line with the Constitutional Court’s decision. Therefore, it was the Higher Council’s turn to give an opinion on the matter, and, as everybody had expected, the council voted against the package bill.



    The Council’s opinion, however, is only advisory, and parliamentarians do not have to take it into consideration. During the debates, members of the Higher Council of Magistracy said they would like to have a more real and more transparent dialogue with the members of parliament, for the justice laws package to help magistrates, all the more so as progress and change are needed in the field. “A debate with a predictable outcome” was Tudorel Toader’s reaction after the Council made public its opinion.



    Obviously unhappy with the debates’ outcome, Toader accused some of the magistrates of having used a ‘double language’ and of rejecting proposals coming from their own body. Even so, he voiced his conviction that the parliamentarians who make up the specialized committee will take into account the Council’s advice. So far, the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) and the General Prosecutor’s Office have voiced their opposition to the bill, just like the Romanian Prosecutors’ Association and the Judges’ Forum.



    In turn, Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis has also criticized the bill. He believes that some of the provisions it includes are good, opportune and necessary, but others have been slashed and trimmed, referring mainly to the threshold used to define abuse of office. According to the current form of the bill, the president maintains the responsibility to appoint the heads of the prosecutor’s offices, although, at first, that prerogative had been removed, but he would no longer be able to revoke them. Also, the bill provides for the setting up of a directorate whose role would be to investigate the magistrates subordinated to the General Prosecutor, which would translate into lesser responsibilities for the National Anticorruption Directorate.



    As regards the Judicial Inspection Corps, according to the new law it would be subordinated to a newly established National Council for Judges and Prosecutors Integrity. As compared to the initial version submitted by the Justice Ministry, the current bill has been slightly changed by Parliament.


    (Translated by Mihaela Ignatescu)