Supreme Court postpones again Liviu Dragnea’s fictitious hiring file for February 18

The High Court of Cassation and Justice (Romania’s Supreme Court) has ruled on Monday to postpone the trial where PSD chairman Liviu Dragnea has been sentenced to 3 years and a half in prison in a first court, the so-called the Teleorman fictitious hiring file. The decision comes after the Constitutional Court’s ruling on the five-judge panels.

The discussion comes after the Judges Section within the Superior Council of Magistracy has decided in December last year that all files assigned to the 5-judge panels that month from the Supreme Court should be tried in 2019 as well. Under these circumstances, these files, Dragnea’s included, have not been included in the drawing in early 2019. That’s why the joint sections will decide who is going to judge the files, considering the continuity principle is applied only in the cases where evidence had been managed, while no evidence had been managed in 2018 in Dragnea’s case.

„In my view, it would be an inadmissible request, but the court has decided that, and we’ll see what happens on January 31. Obviously, in my opinion, this panel has been illegally constituted, the drawing has been legal and the randomisation has been fair,” said Dragnea’s lawyer, Flavia Teodosiu.

Following the December drawing, Dragnea’s file is pending at Panel 2, which consists of judges Enceanu Simona Daniela, Rog Tatiana Lucia, Rus Alexandra Iuliana, Mera Luciana, Popa Rodica Aida.

The Social Democrat chairman’s file has been postponed five times so far.