Horrified legal chiefs in Romania say European Union-approved reforms have left the “entire” judicial system there “on the verge of collapse”.
In an open letter, four of Romania’s most influential legislative organisations condemned EU-mandated judicial reforms that were negotiated behind closed doors by the EU Commission and the Romanian government.
The four groups’ outrage is aimed at changes to entitlements regarding retirement ages and pensions for judges in Romania.
In light of the claimed 1,100 vacant judicial positions and a deficit of 861 public prosecutors in the country, judicial representatives raged: “The justice system is facing the most severe and prolonged personnel crisis since Romania joined the European Union.”
Such EU-approved reforms will diminish interest in legal careers in Romania, pushing an already-weak justice system into “chaos”, they added. The need for a strong judiciary is especially important in Romania, observers say, it being a country that has historically had problems with crime and corruption, ranking low among EU Member States in corruption indexes.
The manner the reforms were proposed also caused concern. Initially drafted in consultation with the judges’ council earlier this year, they were sent to the Romanian parliament with national Senate approval. However, there was no dialogue regarding any amendments to the draft law.
That changed at the end of April, when the government surprisingly presented a totally altered set of judicial reforms, explicitly stating they were “negotiated and agreed upon by the European Commission”. In effect, judicial officials felt, that meant they had been disbarred from discussing the reforms that specifically concerned them.
The judges claim it is “outrageous” that the EC “not only endorses but actively participates in hidden negotiations with political parties” out of the public eye. To them, it demonstrates the “hypocrisy and irresponsibility of the Commission”.
The furore comes as the EU is sanctioning Hungarian and Polish governments over their rule of law policies. Many among the EU top brass claim that both countries are endangering the independence of their judicial systems, meaning both nations are unable to access hundreds of millions of euros in EU funds.
Speaking to Brussels Signal, German MEP, Markus Buchheit, said: “The European Commission is playing a devious double game and it stinks. It’s incredible that all the top legal and judicial organisations in Romania criticise the European Commission for doing in Romania what they demanded Poland and Hungary not do.”
Ultimately, the status of Romania’s judiciary is not Brussels’ business, the country’s legal chiefs contend. “The status of judges and prosecutors is regulated by the Romanian Constitution, organic laws, and international standards. A politically negotiated agreement between the European Commission and different Romanian political parties can never override these legal norms” they write.
Buchheit believes that any domestic legal system should be an individual country’s consideration only. “Each country should run it’s affairs according to its national constitution, without bullying threats from Brussels,” he said.
