Romanian Senate approves law that changes magistrates’ status

Romania’s Senate approved yesterday the draft law amending the magistrates’ status. The bill, which was also voted by the Chamber of Deputies last week, will enter into force once signed by president Klaus Iohannis, who has the right to send it back to the Parliament for review one time. MPs of the opposition party USR said that they would challenge the bill at the Constitutional Court. On Monday, about 1,000 prosecutors and judges in Bucharest and other cities in Romania protested against the changes to the criminal codes and justice laws. According to the new law, the state is obliged to start legal actions against magistrates who cause damages to the state due to faulty judgements issued in bad faith or due to serious negligence. Two other draft bills will enter the Senate’s debate today after being discussed in the special committee for justice yesterday. These will bring changes to the way the judiciary is organized and establish a new structure that will investigate all offenses committed by magistrates, not just corruption. An USR MP boycotted the committee’s meeting yesterday by playing classical music from a mobile speaker. The special committee in charge of drafting the new justice laws is led by former justice minister Florin Iordache, the same politician who wanted to change the Criminal Code by Emergency Ordinance at the end of January. The proposed changes to the justice laws, which may negatively affect justice independence in Romania, have determined big street protests in recent weeks. editor@romania-insider.com