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US Ambassador Klemm: We are closely monitoring Parliament's initiative regarding new package of modifications to justice laws
The United States of America are "closely" monitoring Parliament's initiative to present a new package of modifications to be brought to the justice laws, some of them even likely to affect the collaboration existing between the US authorities and the Romanian counterparts in this field, US Ambassador Hans Klemm stated on Tuesday.
He appreciated the initiative of President Klaus Iohannis to send the package to the Venice Commission for consultation. "Again and again, especially last year, I presented very clearly our concerns regarding the first package of justice laws, which are going through different stages of analysis. I believe that the President's decision to send the laws to the Venice Commission for consultation at international level is a very good one," Klemm pointed out.
The US are paying much attention at this time to the new proposals of modifications to the criminal law, he said. "We are now watching as closely as we can Parliament's initiative regarding another package that would respond to the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Romania taken in the past couple of years, with respect to the Criminal procedure Code and the Criminal Code," explained Hans Klemm.
The diplomat also reminded about the US-Romanian cooperation in the judicial field.
"The United States cooperate of an efficient manner with the prosecutors. (...) We want to be sure that these changes won't make it difficult or even impossible for the US authorities in the justice field - agents or prosecutors - to cooperate with their Romanian counterparts," he said.
Asked whether there existed concerns that such a thing could actually happen, Klemm said: "Yes, we are looking into this very carefully."
When asked to mention some precise changes in this context, Klemm said "one example could be the discussion about the kind of evidence that the courts will be able to consider in a criminal case, the type of evidence."
"Because, if it's impossible to consider video monitoring, this would eventually reduce our possibilities of cooperation with the Romanian authorities in the justice field," said the US official during the International Women of Courage Award ceremony organized by the US Embassy to Bucharest.
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The US Embassy in Romania has awarded “Women of Courage” as part of an international initiative to honor women who exemplified exceptional courage and leadership in advocating for human rights, women’s equality, and social progress – often at great personal risk.
The principal honoree was named Elena Calistru, the co-founder of Funky Citizens NGO.
“These last two facts – 40 volunteers and significant personal donations, in a country where the vast majority of people view volunteering as a waste of time and supporting NGOs the job of the government or foreign donors – are perhaps the greatest testament to Calistru’s leadership and her organization’s credibility and unique capacity to create hope and civic engagement in Romania,” said the US ambassador Hans Klemm.
The first award went to chief prosecutor Ioana Albani. She became deputy chief prosecutor of the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism Offences (DIICOT) in June 2016. She was the head of the Cyber Crime Unit within DIICOT for over 13 years, and previously she led the first specialized unit on cybercrime and money laundering within the former Section of the Romanian General Prosecutor’s Office.
The new award was received by Daniela Staicu and Alina Tiplea, the co-founders of MerciCharity, an NGO dedicated to providing basic dental care to impoverished children.
Freelance journalist Paul Rusu has been awarded for her efforts to raise awareness regarding tuberculosis in the health sector. She is currently working to have Parliament adopt a TB-dedicated law that would solve certain issues related to the poverty affecting TB-infected persons and contributing to the spread of the disease.