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General Prosecutor's Office : recent amendments brought to the criminal codes are seriously deviating from the EU Directive's meaning
The General Prosecutor's Office says that the recent amendments brought to the criminal codes (Criminal Code, Criminal Procedure Code, ed. n.) at the special parliamentary Committee will slow down or even clog the investigations in certain situations, and the amendments proposed are seriously deviating from the EU Directive's meaning.
"The amendments proposed with a view to transpose (EU) Directive 2016/343 of the European Parliament and the Council of 09.03.2016 regarding the enhancement of certain aspects of the the presumption of innocence and the right to be present at one's trial within the criminal procedures are seriously deviating from the Directive's meaning, having negative consequences upon the criminal proceedings. The obligation to transpose the Directive is a pretext to alter the criminal process's architecture, in the sense of making it more difficult for the criminal prosecution to be ineffective. Only this the introduction of certain texts tat are in contradiction with both the relevant European standards and the internal provisions, validated by the Constitutional Court, could be explained," says the release by the General Prosecutor's Office sent on Thursday.
"The adoption of these amendments will also lead to a limitation of the prosecutor's in fulfilling their priority attributions in criminal matter, as well as in accomplishing their constitutional role to represent, in the judicial activity, the general interests of the society and defend the rule of law, the citizens' fundamental rights and freedoms," the GPO release adds.
In the opinion of the General Prosecutor's Office, some amendments to the criminal legislation: the limitation of the evidence pool; the removal of corruption, tax evasion, money laundering from the criminal offenses for which the preventive arrest could be disposed as well as of the crimes for which the law provides a up to 5-year or more in jail sentence (id est, the set up of an organised criminal group); the restriction of the prosecutors' quick access to information so that they could act efficiently to discover deeds, all this will wind up into slowing down or clogging the criminal prosecution activity in certain situations.
Moreover, says the General Prosecutor's Office, the meaning of the amendments under debate "indicates an exclusive preoccupation to observing the procedural rights of the defendants and less those of the injured persons," an aspect that violates the principle of an equitable trial.
The National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA) also claims that the modifications and completions that are about to be brought to the Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code will have a "devastating" impact on the criminal investigations, with "indispensable" legal instruments in the hands of the criminal investigation body being removed.
President Klaus Iohannis recommends the Parliament to address with the utmost responsibility the legislative modifications in the justice field, specifying that they will bear effects in the long term.
"From the very beginning, I voiced my skepticism regarding these modifications that I find very broad and accomplished in great haste. I can but recommend the Parliament to address with the utmost responsibility these legislative modifications, because they are going to bear effects on the long term," Iohannis said, ahead of attending the European Council's summit, when asked about the amendments to the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code, given that the Chamber of Deputies has already endorsed the package laws of Justice.
Quizzed whether he intends to address the Parliament, the president said: "Right here, from Brussels I won't say what I intend to do, but certainly we'll have a lot to discuss on this topic."