Romanian president Nicușor Dan made his first official visit to a meeting of the Supreme Council of Magistracy (CSM) on Thursday, September 3, but his 10-minute attendance produced little of the substantive debate on the judiciary he had promised earlier this year, with CSM members largely remaining silent, according to Hotnews.ro.

The visit was particularly notable because Dan had promised in January to engage more actively with the judiciary and discuss its problems with magistrates.

CSM member Lia Savonea, head of the High Court of Cassation and Justice (ICCJ), also attended the meeting. During the presidential campaign, Dan had criticised Savonea and informally asked her not to participate in the selection process for the ICCJ's top position.

Asked by Hotnews.ro why the other CSM members had remained silent during the president's intervention, CSM vice-president Bogdan Staicu, the only magistrate who spoke directly to Dan, replied: "I am not qualified to interpret" his colleagues' gesture.

Dan used the brief meeting mainly to ask about the appointment of prosecutors to the department investigating crimes committed by magistrates (SIIJ) and the workload of the unit. He received little concrete information and no substantive reaction from CSM members to his remarks.

"Can you tell us what the flow of cases is, how many are pending, and what has happened in recent years?" Dan asked chief prosecutor Cristina Chiriac. She replied that some prosecutors were currently handling 40-50 files involving alleged crimes committed by magistrates, describing this as a very large workload that was affecting the unit's efficiency.

The atmosphere at the meeting was reportedly "glacial", with magistrates visibly reserved in their interaction with the president, according to two CSM sources cited by Hotnews.ro. Dan appeared to notice the lack of engagement.

"Are there any other interventions?" he eventually asked after a brief comment from CSM vice-president Bogdan Staicu on the SIIJ. "If there are any, then I will let you discuss and vote," Dan said, before standing up and leaving the meeting after barely ten minutes.

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Presidency.ro)