The need to amend the Justice Laws to strengthen accountability mechanisms, transparency and "re-establish" the citizen at the center of the act of justice were highlighted on Tuesday in the working meeting between the President of the Senate, Mircea Abrudean, and representatives of the civic organizations Declic and Funky Citizens, in the context of the public debates generated by the documentary Recorder on the functioning of the justice system.
"During the discussions requested by Declic and Funky Citizens, civil society representatives presented a series of concerns and concrete proposals, supported by the approximately 200,000 signatures collected through a public petition, regarding the need for specific amendments to the Justice Laws. They emphasized the importance of repositioning the citizen at the center of the justice act and of strengthening accountability and transparency mechanisms. The President of the Senate showed that the signals appearing in the public space are worrying and must be treated with the utmost seriousness, emphasizing that all the aspects presented must be verified institutionally," a Senate statement published on the institution's website states.
Mircea Abrudean emphasized the Senate's openness to an honest and constructive dialogue regarding the analysis of the legislative framework and the necessary decisions following this process.
"What is important is what we do from now on. Our concern is to ensure that we have a functional justice system in which citizens can trust," said Mircea Abrudean, according to the cited source.
At the same time, it was also highlighted that the Justice Laws adopted in 2022 started from "a correct intention and contributed to the establishment of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM), but this does not exclude the need for amendments where practice has shown dysfunctions," the press release reads.
The President of the Senate appreciated the Government's initiative to establish a working group dedicated to analyzing legislation in the field of justice.
"Decisions must be the result of real consultation with professionals in the field and all relevant factors and be adopted within a reasonable time," Mircea Abrudean pointed out.
According to the press release, "The Romanian Senate reaffirms its commitment to strengthening the rule of law, to a functional, credible and citizen-oriented justice system, as well as to continuing the dialogue with civil society and the institutions involved."
The representative of Funky Citizens, Ana Mocanu, conveyed, after the meeting with the President of the Senate, the need for an urgent "return" to the Laws of Justice.
"Both organizations have recognized systemic problems in the Justice system, which transcend the emergencies we now see in the public space, the pressure we are currently facing, following the revelations in the Recorder documentary. Obviously, we are talking about some systematic problems that we have warned about over the years. The signal we receive from the President of the Senate is the recognition, first of all, of these systemic problems. Obviously, we are talking about emergencies, we need a clear return to the Laws of Justice and to (...) talk about a true reform. Secondly, we are talking about a recognition of openness to dialogue. We will wait for the signals coming from the Government working group," said Ana Mocanu, in Parliament.
The representative of the Declic community, Catalina Hopârteanu, stated that an important provision that should be modified refers to the abolition of the Section for Investigating Magistrates.
"We discussed the amendments to the Justice Laws. As indicated in the petition signed by 200,000 people, one of the most important provisions would be the abolition of the SIIJ, that Special Section for investigating magistrates. In fact, that is what I requested today as a first step - that investigations should no longer be blocked. We have seen in recent years that there are zero investigations in the case of magistrates, even for common crimes. It was acknowledged in a way that there were mistakes made with the adoption of these Justice laws in 2022, and the ball is now in Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan's court. That is where the working group will be and our message is that we want things to move quickly, but also transparently and with a real debate", explained Catalina Hopârteanu, in Parliament.
She mentioned that the "pressure in the streets" will continue on Wednesday, with a new protest in front of the Government.
"We will be in front of the Government again with a message: 'Mr. Bolojan, Romania is calling you!'. We will raise some large banners with this message, which will fill Victoriei Square, because the Prime Minister must understand that now is the time to do what he promised, that he has a mandate to change things. We will also request dialogue with President Nicuşor Dan, when he returns from Brussels, because although the holidays are coming, we cannot help but look at the people who have been standing in the streets and protesting in the cold for so many days, at the 200,000 signatories of the Declic and Funky Citizens petitions, at all the people concerned about the problems of the Justice system. We were told that an attempt will be made to finalize this working group as soon as possible, to which civil society was also invited, but probably the horizon of "The time will be January to assume a draft law," Hopârteanu added.
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