Venice Commission delegation visits Romania

International experts in international law are to publish a report in October on Romanias revised justice laws.

Roxana Vasile, 13.06.2018, 13:26

A delegation of
the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe’s advisory body on constitutional
matters, was in Bucharest for two days. Its agenda was extremely busy. The
international experts met representatives of many important state institutions,
including the president Klaus Iohannis, the Justice Ministry, the High Court of
Cassation and Justice, the Constitutional Court, the Prosecutor’s General
office, the National Anticorruption Directorate, the Superior Council of
Magistracy and Parliament, as well as judges and prosecutors associations and
civil organisations.

The president of
the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council
of Europe had requested the opinion of the Venice Commission on three draft
laws on judicial organisation, on the Superior Council of
Magistracy and on the statute of judges and prosecutors. For two days, the
experts from the Venice Commission heard completely opposing views, which have
been dividing the power and the opposition in Romania, and implicitly, society
in general. Based on the data gathered, they will draft a preliminary report in
July and a final one in October.

The
president of the special parliamentary committee that oversaw the revision of
the justice laws, the Social Democrat Florin Iordache, believes the report will
not alter the substance of the laws in their amended form:

The
clarifications they received and the material we have provided and which solves
many of the untruths that have circulated will help the representatives of the
Venice Commission, both in their preliminary opinion and the final opinion expected
in autumn, to make the best observations and note that three justice laws are
in keeping with both the opinions expressed by the Commission and the rulings
of the Constitutional Court.

The
Liberals, in opposition, are, however, sceptical that the ruling coalition made
up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats
will take into account the final report of the Venice Commission, given the
stage of the revision process. Liberal senator Alina Gorghiu:

The
revision is in its final stage and it will be quite difficult to work so fast
so as to be able to publish the report within a timeframe that allows the
country in question, Romania, to take it into account.

The
right-wing opposition, part of the media and a number of civic organisations
have said that, by amending the three laws in such haste, the government
coalition is trying to put an end to the fight against corruption and place
magistrates at its orders. The power, on the other hand, says the laws in
question had not been revised for a long time and that justice is not free from
abuses and violations of the rule of law. They also speak about the existence
of an illegitimate, subterranean structure they call the parallel state which
they say paralyses state institutions and influences magistrates’ decisions.