The Government has adopted an emergency ordinance on Wednesday for the establishment of the special section for investigation of magistrates, stipulated in the amendments to the Law 304/2004 on judiciary organization.
Justice Minister Tudorel Toader announced that the Emergency Ordinance was adopted in the context in which “Law 207 amending Law 304/2004 on Judiciary Organization has come into force on July 23,” ziare.com reports.
“We have considered necessary to promote this emergency ordinance, because as of October 23 the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) has no competence, by the law, to investigate these offenses, and the newly established section, on paper, without being operational, cannot take over and continue the criminal prosecution. A deadlock would be created, on one hand DNA loses the competence and on the other hand, the section would not become operational,” Minister Tudorel Toader said.
According to some political sources, before the government sitting on Wednesday, the setting up of a committee consisting of three members of the CSM Section for Judges and one of the CSM Prosecutors Section, which is to interview the candidates for the top position with the special investigation section of magistrates and appoint them in office.
“The measure aims accelerating the appointment of some heads in this section,” political sources have explained for ziare.com. The interview is to be done only by letter of intention, not on the basis of management projects. The quoted sources explained that there would be a provision according to which the committee could also operate with 3 members.
The Justice Minister also said that the DNA files in which magistrates are being investigated will be transferred to the Public Ministry. There are approximately 300 files under the DNA investigation involving magistrates.
We remind that the Plenum of the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM) adopted, on September 19, the regulations of the special section for investigating the crimes in the justice system, a sitting attended by the Minister of Justice Tudorel Toader and the by Prosecutor General Augustin Lazar.