PSD-ALDE Coalition adopts first set of controversial changes to Justice Laws in Chamber of Deputies

MPs in the Chamber of Deputies adopted on Monday the first set of proposed changes to some of the country’s most important justice laws. The modified regulatory framework for magistrates (law 303/2004) passed in the Chamber and will go to the Senate for debates and any amendments have to be filed by senators before Thursday, with a final vote most likely taking place next Monday.

The regulatory framework for magistrates was the subject of controversy during the last week, as MPs had proposed around 700 amendments which were voted on last Wednesday until close to midnight, in a fast-tracked procedure that avoided debates on each amendment, which made opposition parties and citizens carry out protests both in Parliament’s chambers and on the streets.

The project for changing the ANI (National Integrity Agency) Law was also passed by the Chamber on Monday, and the proposed changes would effectively remove the interdictions previously applied by ANI to deputies and senators who were found to have been in a conflict of interest between 2007 and 2013.

There are two other important laws that PSD-ALDE is attempting to change – 304/2004, the law on judicial organisation, and law 317/2004, the law regarding the Superior Council of Magistrates. These two projects have not yet reached a final vote in either of the Parliament’s Chambers, as they are still going through procedures in the Special Parliamentary Commission.

All the above projects are being modified using an emergency procedure, which has caused opposition parties and activists to question the Coalition’s intentions, claiming that there is no justification for the emergency.

General Prosecutor Augustin Lazar stated on Tuesday that he may consider notifying the Constitutional Court about these changes to the justice laws, but that a decision has not yet been made.