Ec Draft Report: Romania Should Not Politicize Judicial Reform Process

“The Commission invites Romania to move on with its reform process and urges the authorities to implement the recommendations it has made. The Commission will support and monitor progress on this basis next year. Continuous pressure for delivery is needed and the Commission also invited the other Member States to continue assisting Romania and help delivering progress,” the report states.

The EC noted "this report demonstrates that important reform proposals have been tabled by the government and that the positive track record of the prosecution is starting to be complemented by action of the judiciary".

“Romania has regained its reform momentum, building further upon achievements that were already reflected in the July 2008 report of the Commission. However, in order to be able to demonstrate sustained progress, the judicial reform process should not be politicized”, the report notes.

“A consensus must be forged by all actors to allow the judicial system to work independently so that non-partisan investigations into corruption lead to swift and effective decisions. In the view of the Commission, the Mechanism acts as a support tool which needs to be maintained until these reforms are achieved. The Commission will reassess further progress in summer 2010,” the report concluded.

The draft report invites Romania “to ensure that the procedure for allowing criminal investigations of Parliamentarians who are former and current members of the government is applied in a uniform and swift manner by the Romanian Parliament”.

The draft report also invites Romania “to monitor the efficiency of the judiciary system in trials of high level corruption cases”, as well as “to ensure the stability of the legal framework for the fight against high-level corruption including in the context of the new codes”.

The EC invites the Bucharest authorities “to adopt a law removing the automatic suspension of trials when exceptions of unconstitutionality are raised”.

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