Justice Minister: Criminal Code Project Was Drafted Within Limits Of EU Directives

“The Justice Ministry drafted the bill project for amending the Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code to correlate them with Constitutional Court decisions and transpose EU directives on extended confiscation and strengthening the presumption of innocence. The project was elaborated within these limits!” the minister said in a Facebook post on Friday.

Romania’s Constitutional Court ruled on Thursday that 31 provisions from a bill amending the country’s Criminal Code were unconstitutional, following challenges made by President Klaus Iohannis, opposition parties and the Supreme Court.

Among the controversial stipulations which were declared unconstitutional was one which modifies the definition of abuse of office, restricting the eligibility of the offence to acts committed in self-interest or in the interest of close relatives. The new definition had been proposed by the Justice Ministry.

The Court also declared a provision which would make the offense not applicable for Parliament or Government unconstitutional.

As a consequence of the ruling, the bill will be returned to the Parliament to amend the unconstitutional provisions.