Venice Commission: All the draft changes to the Romanian Criminal Code should be reconsidered

Aurel Dragan 19/10/2018 | 17:50

The Venice Commission expressed concern in its opinion adopted Friday on the draft amendments to the Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code in Romania, stressing that the changes seriously affect the efficiency of the criminal justice system and the anti-corruption actions.

According to the opinion, the Venice Commission “expresses concern that many of the draft amendments to the Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code in Romania seriously affect the efficiency of the criminal justice system in combating corruption, violent crime and organized crime.”

“The Venice Commission recommends that the Romanian authorities carry out a complete re-evaluation of the amendments to both codes through a full and effective consultation process in order to obtain sound and coherent legislative proposals that benefit from broad support within the Romanian society, taking into account in full compliance with applicable standards and the Constitutional Court’s guidelines,” according to the European Commission for Democracy statement.

The Venice Commission also adopted, with some amendments, the preliminary opinion issued in July on the three draft laws amending the current legislation on the status of judges and prosecutors, on the organization of the judiciary and the functioning of the Superior Council of Magistracy. The opinion shows that these laws would affect the efficiency, quality and independence of the judiciary with negative effects on the fight against corruption. The three laws have already been promulgated and have entered into force.