The Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) established on Wednesday that there is no legal conflict of a constitutional nature between state powers following the adoption of the government emergency ordinance for the modification of the Criminal Codes.

CCR President Valer Dorneanu announced at the end of the Wednesday meeting that it was found that there is no conflict neither between the judicial authority and the Government, nor between Parliament and the Government.

“In respect to the nature of the conflict between Parliament and Government it has been said that in this case the Government assumed a legislating power not stated in the Constitution and exaggerated in using the emergency ordinance. It is true that, according to the separation of powers principle, Parliament is the one having the legislating sovereignty and the competence to issue primary organic laws. The Government usually hasn’t such a competence. Exceptionally, however, even under the Constitution (…), the Government can be delegated by the legislature to issue simple or emergency ordinances. (…) In this respect, there is not conflict, because the Government has acted legally within its competence area of issuing ordinances,” the CCR head said.

Previously, he had pointed out that the repeal of GEO No 13/2017 could not stop the ongoing constitutional process.

“Several times, the Constitutional Court has pronounced even in respect to some conflicts notified by the former Ponta Government. Dropping or repealing a normative act cannot stop us from its constitutional process. Therefore, the GEO 13 abrogation has no relevance. This abrogation can have consequences tomorrow, when we judge the ordinance constitutionality,” Dorneanu maintained.

The CCR President underscored that not any conflict between authorities meets the condition of a legal conflict of a constitutional nature, but only when a side or the sides assume powers, duties, competencies in the activity area of the other authority or when an authority declines its competence, doesn’t exercise its role, according to its duties, or refuses to fulfill its role.

The Constitutional Court of Romania has discussed the requests of President Klaus Iohannis and Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM) head Mariana Ghena, on finding a conflict between state powers following the adoption of the government emergency ordinance for the modification of the Criminal Codes.</s>The President of the Senate, Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, decided to notify the Constitutional Court in order to find the existence of a judicial conflict of a constitutional nature between the Government of Romania and the Public Ministry, through the National Anticorruption Directorate . "The President of the Senate, Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, decided to notify the Constitutional Court of Romania [CCR], based on the provisions of art.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Nine O'Clock.</s>President of the Senate notifyed the Constitutional Court on a judicial conflict between the Government and DNA

Thursday, February 9, 2017 Share

The President of the Senate, Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, decided to notify the Constitutional Court in order to find the existence of a judicial conflict of a constitutional nature between the Government of Romania and the Public Ministry, through the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA).



"The President of the Senate, Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, decided to notify the Constitutional Court of Romania [CCR], based on the provisions of art. 146 let. e) in the Constitution of Romania, in order to find the existence of a judicial conflict of a constitutional nature between the Government of Romania, on the one hand, the Public Ministry, through the National Anticorruption Directorate, a structure of the judicial authority, on the other hand. The judicial conflict of a constitutional nature which the President of the Senate brings into CCR's attention was generated by the DNA prosecutors' demarches, consisting of investigating the circumstances in which the draft of the Emergency Ordinance referring to amendment and addition of the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure was drawn up, which created institutional blockings," shows a press release of the Senate, sent on Wednesday.



Calin Popescu-Tariceanu believes that, proceeding on investigating the opportuneness, circumstances, and context of drawing up the normative act, "representatives of the Public Ministry usurped some of the Government's competencies, through the Justice Ministry, which led to the appearance of the current judicial conflict of a constitutional nature, in the sense of the CCR decisions."



"GEO No. 13/2017 approaches a topic of criminal policy of the Romanian state, or the measures of criminal policy are found exclusively in the competency of Parliament and Government, other public authorities, including the judicial authority, can express points of views on this matter, can and must be consulted, but cannot have the interference power, discretionary interference, including criminal investigation, nor of Parliament's structures, nor the Government's structures," the notification sent to the CCR mentions.



At the end of the notification addressed to the CCR, the President of the Senate requests that decision on which the Court will be pronounced unblock the conflict, "ruling that, in the future, the prosecution bodies cannot investigate the opportunneness of drawing up normative acts."</s>National Union of Judges in Romania (UNJR) publicly demands to the Chief-Prosecutor of the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA), Laura Codruta Kovesi, as well as to the opinion leaders, to cease pressure on the Constitutional Court before deciding on the constitutionality of the abuse of office provided by the Law no.78/2000, shows a press release issued by UNJR.

“DNA Chief-Prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi’s statements according to which a CCR decision on the abuse of office in a different way than the one supported by DNA would be ‘a cessation of the anticorruption fight in Romania’ and ‘a signal that the Romanian state gives: «That’s it, we had enough fight against corruption, we don’t have to fight against corruption anymore, we don’t have to investigate this kind of deeds anymore»”, is a form of pressure on the Constitutional Court which is inconsistent with the magistrate status and with the principle of separation of powers.

As a result of the expansion of this kind of messages through the opinion-makers and the media, citizens have begun to make petitions “to ask CCR to decide in the way that DNA wants”, which is “an inconsistency with the democratic framework” mentions the UNJR press release.

National Union of Judges in Romania also expresses its concern about abandoning the rule of law and establishing the totalitarian Justice:

“Asking Constitutional Court to set aside Constitution and not to examine the case submitted to it through the primacy of the Constitution, simply means to abandon the rule of law and to restore the totalitarian Justice made in the public square, not according to the law, but to the people’s will, claim the judges.

(…) Romania is a constitutional democracy, and anyone who asserts, directly or indirectly, that anticorruption fight allows the violation of the Constitution, undermines the rule of law and sabotages the legitimacy of the fight against corruption itself.”

“We are very concerned about the fact that people are more and more inoculated with the idea that, by the decisions it takes, Constitutional Court would become an enemy of the anticorruption fight, an enemy of the people. (…) In each state where there was an attempt to breach rule of law, the first attacked institution was the Constitutional Court, exactly because its fundamental role it plays in a democracy” stated Judge Dana Girbovan (photo), UNJR President.

National Union of Judges reiterates the call, also made in the past, to the members of the three powers and to the press, to immediately cease any kind of pressure on the Constitutional Court ad to respect the supremacy of the Constitution in a state of law.
President of the Senate Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu notifies the Constitutional Court claiming a judicial conflict of a constitutional nature between the Government of Romania and the Public Ministry, through the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA).