Justice and the rule of law
More pleas for the consolidation of the rule of law and the continuation of the fight against corruption were made both in Bucharest and Brussels on Tuesday.
Bogdan Matei, 21.02.2018, 13:21
Voiceless tension is reported in Bucharest prior to the promised presentation by Justice Minister Tudorel Toader of a report on the activity of the General Prosecutor’s Office, of the National Anticorruption Directorate and of the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism. Chief prosecutor of the National Anticorruption Directorate, Laura Codruta Kovesi, is in the focus of the media. Some view her as a heroine of the anti-corruption fight, while others, namely politicians in trouble with the law and their media supporters, have turned her into their obsession.
Her critics say that her resignation or dismissal would be the only honourable solution after her subordinated prosecutors allegedly tried to fabricate evidence against leading figures of the Social-Democratic Party, the main party in the ruling coalition for the past six years. Laura Codruta Kovesi’s defenders say that the politicians who got a sentence for corruption acts in a court of first instance are the most vehement critics.
Last week, president Klaus Iohannis called them “offenders”, reiterating his trust in the National Anticorruption Directorate and its chief prosecutor. On Tuesday, he said that for a nation aspiring to a dignified future, the law and independence of those in the service of justice were not negotiable or tradeable. That was the message conveyed by the president to the graduates of the National Institute of Magistracy, whom he assured of his “full support” in the fulfillment of their mission.
President Iohannis went on to say that they took office at a time when the act of justice was publicly questioned by the very persons brought to justice. However, that attempt should not make magistrates break away from the constitutional principles of legality, impartiality and equality — the president concluded. The continuation of the anti-corruption fight and the consolidation of the rule of law in Romania are also a concern of EU officials.
That is exactly what the president of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, told Romanian Prime Minister, Viorica Dancila. He even suggested to Viorica Dancila, who was previously an MEP, that she should come before the European Parliament to present Romania’s projects. The invitation was made after Viorica Dancila had expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that Justice Minister Tudorel Toader had not been allowed to address the European Parliament earlier this month, when he wanted to explain the amendments which the ruling coalition in Romania wanted to make to the justice laws.
These amendments were criticized by the right wing opposition and civil society that claim that they are designed to stop the anti-corruption fight and subordinate the magistrates. Recently, the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk underscored that “the rule of law and irreversible progress in the fight against corruption, in line with the high expectations of Romanian society, remain crucial in ensuring that all Romanian citizens are able to benefit fully from all the opportunities offered by membership of the Union”.
