The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on December 15 ruled in favor of judge Cristi Danileţ in his case against Romania and ruled that the Romanian authorities had violated Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights that guarantees freedom of expression, which includes the right to hold opinions and to receive/impart information and ideas without interference by public authorities. 

The judgment delivered by the Grand Chamber of the ECHR is final and binding, Digi24 reported.

The Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM) issued disciplinary sanctions against judge Danileţ after he posted two messages on his Facebook account. His activism for reforms within the judiciary made the sentence seem as if it were aimed at silencing him. ECHR's ruling supports such a scenario.

CSM was headed at that time by Lia Savonea, currently president of the High Court (ICCJ), who is at the core of massive street protests requesting her dismissal as an essential part of a mechanism that, in complicity with politicians, has allegedly developed a system aimed at preventing the prosecution and sentencing of large corruption cases. 

Initially, CSM excluded judge Danileţ from magistracy in 2021, but he won at the national High Court and returned as a judge in 2023. At the beginning of 2024, he retired after 25 years in the magistracy. 

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea)