Ex-PM Ciolos’s new party to block potential GEO on amnesty and pardon in court

Former technocrat PM Dacian Ciolos will block any Government’s emergency ordinance on amnesty and pardon in court.

He announced that his newly established party, PLUS, will file an application in court for suspension of any administrative act that might be drafted by the Government in order to amend the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code in the view  of adopting a provision related to amnesty and pardon.

“PLUS is submitting today to the Bucharest Court of Appeal an application asking for the suspension of any administrative acts that might lead to the amending of the criminal codes to introduce the idea of amnesty and pardon. The law stipulates that as long as there are other draft laws to amend the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code in Parliament, the Government should not have the right to issue an emergency ordinance to amend those laws“, Dacian Ciolos said.

He argued that “a GEO on amnesty and pardon can be harmful to the rule of law and can risk affecting some values and ethics in Romania. Such a GEO would mean to forgive people who have made mistakes and who must serve prison time, but it would also risk that politicians get away with criminal sentences“.