Justice Minister Sends Timmermans Letter Presenting Judicial Decree

“I sent First-Vicepresident Timmermans a letter in which I presented him the decree which amends judicial bills. For the moment, I only sent the letter and I will give you further details later. The Superior Council of the Magistracy should see about its own problems, its own attributions,” said Toader when asked about widespread criticism received by the decree.

The European Commission official said on Tuesday, after the measure was announced, that he was not informed in advance about a new emergency decree amending Romanian judicial bills.

Prime Minister Viorica Dancila also said that she will meet with Timmermans in Madrid, to explain the reasons for adopting the decree.

The act was criticized by Romania’s main prosecutors’ offices, but also by top judicial watchdog CSM’s Prosecutors’ Section and by National Union of Romanian Judges. The institutions accused that its provisions might block the agencies’ activities and infringe on the principle of separating the careers of judges and prosecutors.

Toader announced the decree on Tuesday and presented several of its amendments, mainly regarding the criteria for appointing top prosecutors.

In addition, the bill contains several changes to the contest for admission into the National Institute of Magistracy (INM) and the attributions of the Supreme Court’s Section for Investigating Judicial Offences (SIIJ) chief-prosecutor, and blocks delegations into chief prosecutor roles

The decree amends the procedure for appointing top prosecutors, with candidacies to be reviewed by the plenary of the country’s top judicial watchdog, the Superior Council of the Magistracy (CSM), instead of the institution’s Prosecutors’ Section, as was the case until now.

It also extends the eligibility criteria for top prosecutor offices to judges who have previously been prosecutors, instead of only prosecutors who are active at the time of the nomination.