Secretary General Jagland urges Bucharest to rethink reform of the judiciary

Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland has today sent a letter to the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, urging the authorities to seek the expertise of the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission (European Commission for Democracy through Law) regarding the legislative reforms on the judiciary adopted this week by the Romanian Parliament.

The adopted legal texts concern the Superior Council of Magistracy, the status of judges and prosecutors and the judicial organization.

Secretary General Jagland said “an opinion of the Venice Commission would provide clarity on the compatibility of these texts with fundamental rule of law standards.” “It would be complementary to the urgent assessment of these texts which is being prepared by the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) in the light of anti-corruption standards.”

Link to the Secretary General’s letter

Source: Council of Europe

By

Robert Williams

Editor in Chief