President Iohannis at CSM: I call on you to support implementation of Venice Commission, CVM, GRECO recommendations

President Klaus Iohannis on Tuesday called on the members of the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM) to "effectively" support the implementation of the Venice Commission, Co-operation and verification Mechanism (CVM) and Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO) recommendations. 

"I call on you to effectively implement the Venice Commission, CVM, GRECO recommendations, in view of aligning the current legislation with the European standards, and I also want to specify this here, because I saw how some of my statements regarding the nature of these recommendations and opinions were interpreted, so I want this to be clear: the recommendations made by the European institutions are not optional, however, they cannot be implemented as long as they are not transposed into the internal legislation. According to Article 148 of the Constitution, alongside Parliament, the Government and Romania's President, the CSM has the mission to participate in the process of transposition into the internal legislation of these opinions and recommendations. This is one of the most important ways by which the judiciary system can contribute to the strengthening of the European journey of Romania," said Iohannis at the CSM headquarters. 

The head of the state underscored that independent Justice is the fundamental guarantee for maintaining social balance. 

He added that, 30 years after the fall of the communist regime, the justice system in Romania made "huge" progress not just at legislative and institutional level, but also at a deeper level of society. 

"The wide participation in the referendum and its result shows that, anytime when there is an attempt to a break from the democratic values, Romanians react, forcing the decision-makers to reconnect with the aspirations of the society. Without unity around the fundamental values, our democracy risks to become a fragile one. Which is why we, the constitutional authorities, have the duty to respond to this mission and rise to the level of these expectations," explained President Iohannis.