Abolition of SIIJ, amending Laws of Justice, discussed by Predoiu with French ambassador

The Minister of Justice, Catalin Predoiu, met on Monday with Laurence Auer, the French Ambassador to Romania, in which context they discussed, among other things, the abolition of the Justice Crimes Investigation Section (SIIJ), amending the Laws of Justice and the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure.According to a press release sent on Monday, Minister Predoiu reiterated his support for the objectives of the current French presidency of the EU Council, in particular combating hate speech, dialogue between the constitutional courts and the CJEU, modernization of the judiciary and protection of the environment through criminal law. He also confirmed his participation in the Informal Meeting of Ministers of Justice, scheduled for 4 February in Lille."The two officials appreciated the good cooperation between the two states in both civil and criminal matters, but stressed the need to strengthen the activity of the joint investigation teams, especially in organized crime cases. The Minister of Justice recalled that he agreed on a bilateral meeting with the French counterpart in Paris in March to discuss issues of interest to the judiciary in both states, such as the digitalisation of the judiciary, the fight against corruption and organized crime, the protection of victims of crime, but also France's support for a correct evaluation of the field results obtained by Romania over the years within the CVM, in the perspective of Romania's entry in a single monitoring, together with all other EU member states, within the Rule of Law Mechanism," the press release informs.Also, according to the quoted source, the topics on the agenda of the Ministry of Justice, relevant from the perspective of CVM, were addressed: the abolition of the SIIJ, the amendment of the Laws of Justice, the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure."The French presidency comes at a key-time when the Ministry of Justice resumes and accelerates judicial reforms, primarily on urgent and unresolved projects in 2021, namely the abolition of the SIIJ, the adoption of justice laws and amendments to the new Criminal Codes. The French presidency's priorities are of great interest to the Romanian Ministry of Justice, we will continue our intense cooperation in the cross-border fight against organized crime and trafficking in human beings, including the protection of victims. I welcome the French concern and initiative in the field of combating hate speech, xenophobia and anti-Semitism. Also of great interest to us it is the French initiative to support and organize, through a first conference in Paris in February, the dialogue between the Constitutional Courts and the CJEU, in the context of recent jurisprudence on the interaction between European law and national law, a harmonization of visions being possible, in our opinion, based on a structured and constructive dialogue," said Catalin Predoiu at the end of the meeting. (Photo:https://ro.ambafrance.org/)