Romanian MPs adopt bill on Constitutional Court judges’ immunity

The Chamber of Deputies adopted yesterday a draft law that increases the immunity of Romania’s Constitutional Court (CCR) judges. The bill provides that the CCR judges can’t be prosecuted, detained or arrested without the approval of two-thirds of the CCR members, reports local News.ro. Currently, the Constitutional Court’s judges can be arrested and indicted with the approval of the Parliament’s permanent bureau or the Presidency. The CCR members currently have no say when one of their colleagues is prosecuted. Slavoliub Adnagi, the MP who promoted this initiative explained that the bill would help remove any attempt to exert pressure on the Constitutional Court judges. The increased immunity for CCR judges comes after the Constitutional Court has made several important decisions related to the controversial emergency ordinance to change the Criminal Code (OUG 13). CCR ruled that the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) exceeded its attributions when starting an investigation on the circumstances in which the Government adopted this ordinance. The ordinance, which would have weakened the fight against corruption, was repealed after massive street protests. editor@romania-insider.com