Romanian President, Government argue over emergency ordinance on Criminal Code

“This simply can not be done”, President Klaus Iohannis said on Thursday, December 13, commenting on the senior ruling party - PSD’s plans to enact the Criminal Codes by emergency ordinance. There is a Constitutional Court ruling that the Government can’t amend a law that is under the parliamentary endorsement procedures, he argued, according to local News.ro. The Social Democratic Party previously announced plans to amend the Criminal Codes by emergency ordinance, after the Constitutional Court rejected some of the provisions included in a law the Parliament voted earlier this year for changing the Criminal Code. Only the provisions cleared by the Constitutional Court as in line with the Constitution will be enacted by emergency ordinance, in order to speed up the enactment process, justice minister Tudorel Toader explained. This would be a short-cut after the Constitutional Court invalidated a number of texts of the Criminal Code sending back the bills to lawmakers for revision. In response to President Iohannis, minister Toader replied that the Constitutional Court’s ruling does not apply in this specific case because the emergency ordinance would not replace specific regulations (as in the case invoked by Iohannis) but amend existing ones. Toader also argued that the Criminal Codes must be amended in line with the recommendations drafted by the Constitutional Court. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Presidency.ro)