JusMin Toader: CCR considers Venice Comission standards regardless of the latter being punctually consulted

Minister of Justice Tudorel Toader stated that, in adopting a resolution, the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) refers to the standards of the Venice Commission even when the Commission is not actually consulted about a given case, while he maintains the act of justice should not be "based on curtesy," but it should be based on the law.

"The Venice Commission is not a consultative body, but it establishes, it quantifies the European standards, the high, modern standards of protection of the fundamental rights of the citizens, regardless of the act of justice, political, social act, in all fields. (...) The Commission is basically everywhere, even when it is not, in fact, present, for we continue to refer to the standards they established," Toader said at the Senate on Tuesday.

Asked whether CCR should have set the hearings for justice laws after receiving the answer from the Venice Commission related to these laws, as a matter of curtesy, Toader saying: "The act of justice is not based on curtesy, it is generally based on laws, on the Constitution. The CCR judges, when adopting a resolution, refer to the standards of the Venice Commission, they invoke/evoke the approvals and reports of the Commission, even if the Commission was not in fact inquired in relation to the respective case, considering that in a mathematically identical problem it already answered to a question asked by some of our colleagues from elsewhere, so that the Venice Commissions won't give a different answer, it won't establish a different standard than the previous one. Therefore, the judges do refer to the Commission standards, even if they did not ask for the Commission's approval punctually."

While referring to the increase, of lately, in the number of notifications to the CCR, Toader said: "The fact that a certain topic is addressed to the Court, doesn't mean anything else than the desire of the person to notify the Court, in order for the CCR to check for the constitutional standard."