GRECO is worried about the Romanian judiciary

The changes to the laws on the functioning of the Romanian judiciary have caused concern among the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO)

Bogdan Matei, 12.04.2018, 12:52

The perseverance with which the government coalition formed by the leftist Social Democrats and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats is trying to amend the justice laws has led to virulent protests across Romania for more than a year now and are a constant cause for concern among Romanias foreign partners.

On Wednesday, the Group of States against Corruption known as GRECO voiced its profound concern over various aspects of the laws on the status of magistrates, the organisation of the judicial system and the functioning of the Superior Council of Magistracy, all of which have recently been passed by Parliament. GRECO calls on Romania to give up plans to create a new special prosecutors branch meant to investigate offences in the judicial system.

The Groups report also takes note of what it describes as the controversial process to sack the chief of the National Anticorruption Directorate Laura Codruta Kovesi which the justice minister Tudorel Toader initiated in February. GRECO reiterates its recommendation to make the appointment and sacking of prosecutors a transparent process based on objective criteria and to give the Superior Council of Magistracy a bigger role in this procedure.

GRECO also criticises the draft amendments to the criminal legislation that may violate some of Romanias international commitments on combating corruption. On behalf of the ruling coalition in Bucharest, the Social Democrat MP and the chair of the judicial committee in the Chamber of Deputies Eugen Nicolicea says the justice laws do not violate the independence of the magistrates, as demonstrated by the rulings of the Constitutional Court.

Eugen Nicolicea: “If our proposal had contained such as provision, the Court would have declared the law unconstitutional. Most articles were declared constitutional, which means they do not affect the independence of the judges and prosecutors, and the few articles that have been declared unconstitutional have been declared so for different reasons.

From the opposition, the Liberals have said that Bucharest cannot afford to ignore the GRECO report. The leader of the National Liberal Party, Ludovic Orban: “Weve decided to summon the justice minister to appear during the Governments Hour and tell the Senate and the public what he intends to do given the conclusions of the GRECO report, which are obviously linked directly to the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification, and especially to tell us to what extent he is willing to give up supporting the systematic assault conducted by the ruling parties, the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, against the independence of the judiciary and the fight against corruption.

The Public Ministry says GRECO confirms its repeated warnings about the changes to the justice laws, which would threaten the judicial system and the rule of law in Romania.