Constitutional Court postpones for November 28 debates on House notification regarding 2016 protocol concluded by Prosecutor General’s Office and SRI

On Wednesday, the Constitutional Court postponed its debates on the House Speaker’s notification regarding a conflict of a constitutional nature between Parliament and the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice (PICCJ) generated by the latter’s conclusion of a secret protocol with the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) in 2016. The concerned parties had until October 22 to send their points of view to the Court. A new meeting will focus on this topic on November 28. The notification was lodged with the Constitutional Court on October 8, being signed by House Deputy Speaker Florin Iordache, to whom House Speaker Liviu Dragnea had delegated his prerogatives on the same day. On August 24, Darius Valcov, aide to Premier Viorica Dancila, published on his Facebook page a protocol that the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice (PICCJ) and the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) had signed on 7 December 2016. The day after, Justice Minister Tudorel Toader announced on Facebook the start of the legal procedure to evaluate the managerial activity of Prosecutor General Augustin Lazar. In response, the Prosecutor General stated that the protocols are a false topic and all aspects of interest concerning this topic were brought to the knowledge of the Superior Council of the Magistracy and the Justice Ministry. On September 25, House lawmaker Florin Iordache (PSD) stated that the protocols that the PICCJ concluded with the SRI are inadmissible, and Parliament is very clearly thinking of notifying the CCR about a juridical conflict of a constitutional nature. “By signing these protocols, the Prosecutor General added to the Criminal Procedure Code and transformed the SRI into a criminal prosecution body. We are analysing whether this is a constitutional conflict and whether it is necessary to notify the Constitutional Court,” Florin Iordache was stating. On Monday, the Romania Initiative civic movement notified the PICCJ about a possible criminal conflict of interest in the case concerning House Speaker Liviu Dragnea’s decision to delegate his prerogatives to Florin Iordache and the latter’s notification lodged with the Constitutional Court regarding the existence of protocols of collaboration between the prosecutor’s offices and the SRI, which, according to the organisation, could be used as a pretext to revise court sentences or to eliminate evidence from criminal dossiers.

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