Magistrates from all Romanian cities stage protest on the steps of the Bucharest Court of Appeal

Tens of magistrates countrywide protested on the steps of the Bucharest Court of Appeal on Sunday against the latest amendments on the criminal codes and against the justice laws. The protesting magistrates accuse Justice Minister Tudorel Toader he is not preoccupied with the conditions necessary to the act of justice.

“To an independent justice”, “Respect for justice is not optional”, “Respect for the Venice Commission’s opinion” were some of the slogans on the placards waved by the magistrates.

The protesters were discontent with the amendments operated on the justice laws and on the criminal codes, the extension of the Judicial Inspectorate’s mandates by emergency ordinance, with the ignoring of the Venice Commission’s recommendations and also with the evaluation of the Prosecutor General, Augustin Lazar.

PG sends message for the protesting magistrates: They are compelled to defend the justice independence

Prosecutor General Augustin Lazar has sent a message to the magistrates who protested on Sunday, underlining that the young magistrates have reached the professionalism level that allows them to resist external pressures and that prosecutors and judges are compelled to defend the justice independence.