CVM Report: European Commission recommends Romania to immediately suspend justice laws’. Timmermans, presenting the CVM report: In the recent months, we saw a regrettable regress related to amending the Laws on Justice, the magistrates’ independence and the fight against corruption

The European Commission on Tuesday recommended Romania in the Report on the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) to immediately suspend the implementation of the justice laws and subsequent emergency ordinances and revise them by fully taking into account the recommendations in the CVM as well as those formulated by the Venice Commission and the Council of Europe’s group of states against corruption (GRECO). Moreover, Brussels recommends Romania to immediately suspend all ongoing appointments and dismissal procedures for senior prosecutors. The European Commission also recommends the relaunch of the appointment process of the head of the National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA) who must have experience proven in the field of the prosecution of corruption crimes and a clear mandate so that DNA continues to carry out professional, independent and non-biased investigations in the corruption cases. The CVM Report also recommends the Superior Council of Magistrates (CSM) to immediately appoint an interim leading team of the Judicial Inspection and appoint within three months, by contest, a new leadership of this institution. In addition, the EC urges the observance of the negative opinions of the CSM related to the appointment or removal from office of some prosecutors with leading positions until a new legislative framework comes into force, in accordance with the recommendation No.1 of January 2017. Likewise, the EC recommends the freezing of the entry into force of the amendments proposed to be brought to the Criminal Code and to the Criminal Procedure Code, as well as the relaunch of the revision process of the CP and CPP by fully considering the need to assure these codes’ compatibility with the EU law and the international instruments in the matter of combating corruption, alongside the recommendations formulated in the CVM and with the Venice Commission’s opinion. The EC notes in the CVM Report’s conclusions that the enforcement of the amended justice laws, the pressure at the independence of the judicial system, in general, and at the National Anti-corruption Directorate, in particular, as well as a series of other measures that undermine the efforts of combating corruption, have had as effect the annulment of the progresses or the questioning of their irreversible character.   Timmermans, presenting the CVM report: In the recent months, we saw a regrettable regress related to amending the Laws on Justice, the magistrates’ independence and the fight against corruption   The First Vice President of EC Frans Timmermans stated on Tuesday, presenting the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) report, that in the recent months Romania has registered a regrettable regress related to amending the Laws on Justice, the magistrates’ independence and the fight against corruption. He said that there are eight measures that must be adopted. In the report published on Tuesday, European Commission recommends the immediate suspension of the implementation of the Laws on Justice and of the subsequent emergency ordinances, the immediate suspension of all the appointment and dismissal ongoing proceedings related to prosecutors holding key positions, the observance of all the negative opinions of the Superior Council of Magistracy regarding the appointment or the dismissal of the prosecutors holding leading positions, the freezing of the entry into force of the proposed amendments to the Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code and the resumption of the revision process. “Although certain steps have been made in order to implement the recommendations, the events in the recent months, in some cases, have even reversed the progress achieved in the recent years. We see forms of regress that are truly regrettable. We’re talking particularly about the amendments to the Laws on Justice, the magistrates’ independence and the fight against corruption”, Timmermans stated. He mentioned that, in the opinion of the European Commission, there are eight measures that must be adopted. The First Vice-President of the European Commission also insisted on respecting the independence of the press. Timmermans stated that the Government must review the laws and the ordinances on Justice and observe the recommendations of the European Commission (EC), and suspend the attempts to remove the high-level prosecutors. “In the last 12 months, we have seen very little progress and even regress in Romania. We are in a marathon, and it would be a pity for the marathon runner to give up the last hundred meters”, Timmermans also said. “The problem we have is that things not only slowed lately, but they even regressed, but you shouldn’t be discouraged. What makes me happy is that there is a very strong trend in the society that pushes this evolution”, the EC official pointed out.   During the last twelve months since the report was published in November 2107, Romania has adopted certain measures to implement the recommendations made in the January 2017 report. Yet, the assessment of the January 2017 report was always conditioned by avoiding to register regress which put under question the progress achieved in the last 10 years. The entry into force of the amended Laws on Justice, the pressure on the independence of the judiciary, in general, and particularly on the National Anticorruption Directorate, as well as other measures undermining the efforts to fight against corruption, led to the annulment of the progress or questioning its irreversible nature. The Commission also noticed that wider factors, from outside the scope of CVM, have an impact on registering progress in the reform of Justice and fight against corruption. In this regard, the report points out that the existence of free and pluralistic media has an important role to play in holding liable the political decision-makers for their actions, for instance in revealing certain corruption cases. “Therefore, the 12 recommendations made in the January 2017 report are no longer enough in order to allow the observance of the orientation indicated by the President Jean-Claude Juncker at the beginning of his term, to end CVM by the end of the term of the current Commission. Consequently, in the report published today, there are eight additional recommendations designed to remedy the current situation. To this end, there will be needed for the key institutions...

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