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Ciolos: the CCR interpretation puts in danger the accession of Romania to the EU and CSM becomes only a secondary actor
The former premier Dacian Ciolos stated on Thursday that the motivation of the decision of the Constitutional Court referring to the dismissa of the head-prosecutor the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) puts in danger the continuation of the fight against corruption and the accession of Romania to the EU as the accession insisted so much on the indepence of justice and now the the Superior Council of Magistrates (CSM) becomes, through the help of the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) ‘a secondary character’.
‘The Constitution thinks that it establishes a balance between the institutions of the state and it is important that this balance not be affected by any other institutions and especially by an institution which role is to defend the constitution, not to affect it’ Ciolos said , in an interview with TVR1.
He said that through the interpretation of the CCR is strengthenend the role of the minister of Justicewho subordinates his prosecutors,going beyond the exercition of administrative authority’.
‘The second thing which worries me is the role of the president which is weakened in the interpretation which the Constitutional Court gives (…). and affects the role of the president: if the president does not decide anymore, and only acts, practically, they give the president of Romania the role of a public servant, who signs any document. This is the balance of the powers?’
Asked about what the president should do following the presentation of the motivation of CCR Ciolos said’ the role of the president is to defend the Constitution’.
At the same time, he supported that the arguments in the CCR decision endanger the accession of Romania to the EU.’ When we speak like in the 90’s about subordination of the public ministry to the ministry of justice,we risk to have a problem.Before accession there was much insistence by the European bodies on the observance of justice independence in Romania, on the role of CSM which now has become a character in the setting’Ciolos said.
Similarly, Ciolos stated that there are suspicions regarding the political influence of some of the members of CCR who own important positions in some political parties.
The former premier said that the present governmental coalition tries to subordinate justice, making reference to the statement of a PSD leader who stated that the meeting of Saturday organised by the social-democrats ‘ is motivated by the fact that they do not control all institutions which should listen to the political majority’.
‘This kind of statements worries in a democracy. The political majority was not voted to cut down the justice laws and start to subordinate institutions’ Ciolos said.
Other reactions to CCR's reasoning on anti-graft head Kovesi's removal from office
National Liberal Party (the Opposition's main party, PNL, ed. n.) leader Ludovic Orban on Thursday asserted that by the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR)'s reasoning regarding the removal from office of the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) head, Laura Codruta Kovesi, the justice independence's constitutional principle is violated.
'In the past months we have been witnesses to the fathering of a toxic majority within the CCR by a law-scolded political clan that has one single target: by using the CCR, to crush the justice independence and put an end to any activity of the prosecutors regarding the high-level anti-corruption fight. Following the CCR reasoning, I've voiced a point of view, and yet in exchange, after analysing the publicly presented today's reasoning. I'm triggering an alarm signal that things are a lot more serious in the motivation than in the decision itself. Practically, through the CCR argument, the constitutional principle of justice's independence is violated, the prosecutors' independence is violated, the prosecutors are turned into agents of the executive power and into menials of the Justice Minister that is politically nominated and can politically control, with the party interests' in mind, the Public Service Office, the prosecutors' offices and the prosecutors,' Orban told a news conference at PNL's seat.
The PNL president also reminded that Romania is still under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, whose reports clearly show the request for the prosecutors' and judiciary's independence, in their entirety.
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Justice Cristi Danilet comments the CCR reasoning saying that an article of the Constitution 'is unearthed', according to which 'the prosecutors do their job under the authority of the Justice Minister', an article that has been there ever since 1991 based on which 'the prosecutors would be subordinated to the minister as we speak.'
'The Justice Minister is the only one that can nominate and the President can reject once, respectively propose the revocation and the President cannot deny it, from now on, but on legality reasons; there is talk of a 'discretionary' right of the minister. I could swear that there is no such thing in the Constitution; I knew that it is only the court that checks the legality; the decision says the President is doing the verification, and even the CCR! It is a decision for the prosecutors; but they say the President is losing any capability to decide upon the appointment/repeal nominations on other positions; truly, I don't know what powers the President of the Republic has from now on. As regards the Kovesi case, there is no deadline to issue the repeal decree; but, they say the President can talk to the minister so the latter withdraw the proposal. I counted the votes: I found 4 to 5, and not 6 to 3,' justice Danilet said in his post on his Facebook page.
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The CCR justice Daniel Morar believes that President Klaus Iohannis and the Justice Minister have exercised their competencies as provided for by the Constitution and the law, without a conflict between the authorities, according to a separate opinion in the case of the CCR's reasoning regarding the refusal of the head of state to follow through the proposal to remove from office the DNA head.
'Each public authority has acted within their attributions and accomplished their attributions in accordance with the Constitution, so that the strife invoked by the Prime Minister regarding the refusal of the President of Romania to follow through the request to remove from office of the DNA head, Mrs Laura Codruta Kovesi, cannot be equated to a judicial conflict of constitutional nature between the Justice Minister, on the one hand, and the President of Romania, on the other hand,' says Daniel Morar in his separate opinion.
According to Morar, the President carried out an assessment of the reasons for the removal from office invoked by the Minister of Justice from the perspective of their legality and firmness, and not from the opportunity of the removal measure.
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The CCR justice Livia Stanciu says in the separate opinion through which she found that there is no conflict between powers in the case of rejecting the DNA's head's removal, Laura Codruta Kovesi that from the analysis of the answer sent by President Klaus Iohannis there results that the latter has carried out an assessment of legality and solidity of the reasons brought about by the Justice Minister.
'We therefore find that both the President of Romania and the Minister of Justice have done their jobs as provided for by the Constitution and the law, without arrogating competencies which, according to the Constitution, belong to other public authorities, or rejecting the fulfillment of certain acts that were part of their constitutional attributions. Each public authority has carried through their attributions in compliance with the provisions of the Constitution, so that in this respect, the conflict conjured up by the Prime Minister regarding the refusal by the President of Romania to remove the DNA's head from office cannot be equated with a constitutional judicial conflict between the Minister of Justice, on the one hand, and the President of Romania, on the other hand,' said the CCR justice Livia Stanciu.