RO Constitutional Court clears bill abolishing special prosecution section SIIJ

The Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) rejected the objections filed by the radical party AUR and reformist party USR regarding the law on the abolition of the special section of prosecutors, SIIJ, G4media.ro reported. It rejected the objections with unanimity of votes.

The law will go to President Klaus Iohannis for promulgation.

Earlier, reformist party USR asked CCR to postpone the decision until after the publication of the Venice Commission's opinion. Shortly after CCR's ruling, the Venice Commission issued its draft recommendation, according to G4media.ro.

The Commission's recommendations are in the sense of the requests expressed by USR for the duties of SIIJ to be transferred to the existing anti-corruption bodies DNA and DIICOT.

However, the Commission also issues recommendations for the situation when the Romanian lawmakers endorse the bill under the Government's draft that envisages that a body of prosecutors will be assigned to handle the corruption cases involving magistrates. These magistrates should be selected upon a competitive basis, and they should be dismissed only based on transparent criteria, the Venice Commission recommends.

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