JusMin signs draft to disband special section for investigating magistrates

Justice minister Stelian Ion has signed the draft bill to disband the Special Section for Investigating Magistrates (SIIJ) one day after the Superior Council of Magistracy had given a negative opinion to the bill on disbanding the controversial section.

“The CSM opinion is advisory and I decided to give the go-ahead to the draft law. Dismantling the Special Section for Investigating Magistrates is normalisation. The existence of such section would mean an acknowledgment that there is a widespread criminality phenomenon among magistrates, which is not true.

SIIJ is a totally inefficient body, it cannot handle all problems across all courts and had around 6,000 ongoing files. It sent to court two indictments per year on the average, very few, and not for corruption deeds. We have to have institutions to solve the issue of corruption within judiciary. Over RON 17 million spent since the sections has been set up, with very poor results,” Justice minister said.

Stelian argued that the aim of this section was to “put pressure on the honest magistrates, who did their job”. “We say unimaginable anomalies, European high ranking clerks being investigated, attempts to stop certain persons from getting a certain European job, through documents that judges declared illegal later on, CSM magistrates’ being summoned in order to be intimidated”, the minister added.

The draft bill will go the the Government for adoption and then in Parliament.