Romanian president says some proposed changes to Criminal Codes are unacceptable

President Klaus Iohannis doesn’t agree with some of the changes to the Criminal Codes proposed by the ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD), which he called “absolutely unacceptable.” He believes some of these changes are especially made for some people who are now in decision-making positions in the Parliament. In a statement made after a meeting with Italian prime minister Paolo Gentiloni, Iohannis said that while some changes were needed to put the legislation in accordance with decisions of the Constitutional Court and the European law, others are “absolutely unacceptable” and the parliamentary discussion should focus on which of them should remain and which should be taken out. “There is a principle, however, which I believe everyone should understand: it is inadmissible for some changes to be made for some people who are temporarily in decision-making positions right in Parliament,” he added, local News.ro reported. However, he did not give any examples of changes he sees are being wrong. The special parliamentary commission tasked with the justice laws decided on Thursday, April 19, that the general debates on the amendment of the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code should begin on May 2. The opposition said the changes to the Criminal Codes were made “with dedication” to Liviu Dragnea and Calin Popescu Tariceanu, the presidents of the two parties forming the ruling coalition – PSD and ALDE. The projects to change the Criminal Codes were published on Wednesday, April 18, on the website of the special parliamentary commission in charge of the justice laws, which is led by former justice minister Florin Iordache. The proposed changes modify the way criminal investigations are conducted, which would make the prosecutors’ job more difficult. They also give suspects more rights than they currently have. For example, the project to change Romania’s Criminal Procedure Code would limit public information about ongoing investigation and ban showing handcuffed suspects. It would also allow suspects to take part in any hearing in their case, at their request. Hearings should take maximum 6 out of 24 hours. Another big change would also allow convicted criminals a lifeline even after the court rules a final sentence. Thus, if the sentence’s motivation is not signed by all the judges that were part of the ruling, the sentence can be challenged and the case would stand trial again. This would apply retroactively, which means that it would also allow Social Democratic Party (PSD) leader Liviu Dragnea to ask for a retrial in the Referendum case, in which he was sentenced to two years of probation for fraud at the 2012 referendum to suspend President Traian Basescu. The final sentence motivation in Dragnea’s case was not signed by all the judges, as some of them retired. Read more about these changes