Council of Europe’s anticorruption body adopts new report on Romania

The Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), the Council of Europe’s anticorruption body, adopted its report after the Ad Hoc evaluation of the justice reform in Romania. A GRECO delegation visited Romania on February 21-22 to assess the impact of the proposed justice law changes on the local judiciary system. In light of the report, GRECO requested the head of delegation of Romania to submit a written up-date on the state of the proposed reforms concerning the justice system (including on institutional aspects and criminal law/procedure) at the next GRECO plenary meeting, on June 18-22, local Adevarul reported. GRECO also asked the Romanian authorities to authorize as soon as possible the publication of the report. Justice minister Tudorel Toader said he received the report and authorized its publishing but that the final decision belongs to the Government. According to a Council of Europe official quoted by local newspaper Adevarul, the GRECO report criticizes the new justice laws. One of the biggest problems signaled in the report is the imminence of a huge personnel crisis in the judiciary system. editor@romania-insider.com