Embassies of seven European countries in Romania: We call on all parties involved to avoid harming independence of justice

The embassies of Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden to Romania call on "all parties involved" in the justice reform process "to avoid any action that could lead to a weakening of the independence of the judiciary system in Romania and fight against corruption," reads a joint letter of the diplomatic missions to Romania sent to STIRIPESURSE.

"As representatives of Romania's partner countries in the European Union, we wish to reaffirm our affiliation to our common fate with Romania, based on common values and especially on the rule of law," showed the signatories. 

Moreover, they brought to mind the progress Romania made in the field of justice and remarked the "risks" associated with the proposed modifications to the justice laws. 

"We admit that Romania has made significant progress over the last decade in building a path and implementing credible reforms in the field of justice. However, we believe that the recently adopted laws concerning the justice reform, as they are now, as well as the recent modifications brought to the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code, risk to endanger these progresses," mentions the release. 

The representatives of the embassies bring to mind that at the meeting of the Council of December 12 the European Union adopted a series of conclusions related to the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism(CVM) with respect to the reform of the judiciary and fight against corruption in Romania. "These conclusion especially emphasize on "the need for predictability, full transparency and inclusive consultations" with respect to the justice reform, according to the provisions of the report of the European Commission under the CVM. Moreover, the Council requested Romania to avoid any backtrack," the embassies point out. 

Thus, the representatives of the diplomatic missions to Bucharest draw attention on some possible actions that could lead to the "weakening of the independence" of the judiciary. 

"In this context, we call on all the parties involved in the justice reform process to avoid any action that could lead to the weakening of the justice system and the fight against corruption and to ask immediately the necessary approval of the Venice Commission, in order to maintain the independence of the judiciary and keep the overall reform process intact," says the release. 

The embassies invoked the "common European commitment," on this occasion. 

"We trust that all political actors involved will pay the due attention to these legitimate concerns, according to our common European commitment and we remain ready to support Romania in its efforts to reaffirm this commitment," reads the joint release.