Supreme Court President Demands Clarifications On Justice Laws Amendment Bill

Tarcea said the bill failed to obey the procedures regarding law implementation and added there was no transparency, cooperation or dialogue between institutions while the justice ministry was drafting the bill.

The supreme court president added that clarifications on the legal framework for discussions regarding the bill are needed before the discussions actually take place.

The bill includes a series of recommendations, from the president no longer appointing the general prosecutor and the chief anticorruption prosecutor to the politically appointed justice minister taking control of the Judicial Inspection, a special unit within Romania’s Superior Council of Magistracy. The Superior Council of Magistracy is the country’s top watchdog for safeguarding the justice system’s independence.

The new measures have received widespread criticism from analysts, magistrates and both Romanian and foreign officials, who said the amendments would lead to political interference in the justice system and would wipe out Romania’s efforts in the past decade regarding the fight against corruption.