UNJR President Girbovan, on the Secret protocol between SRI and Prosecutor General’s Office: Stunning, it breaches constitutional norms

The chairman of the National Union of Judges (UNJR), Dana Girbovan, has reacted to the protocol released on Friday, between the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) and the Prosecutor’s general Office. She claims it breaches the constitutional norms and some issues are absolutely stunning.

“The protocol signed in 2009 is breaching the constitutional and international norms regarding the rule of law, democracy, separation of powers, justice independence and observing the human rights. This is the conclusion after reading the protocol. The gravity is stunning for anyone, with minimum law studies and elementary notions about the rule of law,” Dana Girbovan wrote on Facebook.

The magistrate believes the protocol had extended the SRI competence in terms of criminal investigation, even beyond the ones the former Securitate had.

“Even worse, in communism, the Securitate had a limited area of crimes, under the law, the ones related to national security. Through this secret protocol, the SRI area in criminal investigation has become actually unlimited. (…) The protocol empowers SRI over prosecutors in the criminal investigation allows a larger involvement into the case even than the hierarchically superior prosecutor,” Dana Girbovan also wrote.

The Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) has posted on Friday the Protocol on Collaboration with the Prosecutor General’s Office upon the High Court of Cassation and Justice (ICCJ – Supreme Court) regarding the fulfilment of their national security tasks, on its website.

On March 16, Justice Minister Tudorel Toader announced that he would ask for declassification, by the Public Ministry and DNA, of the protocols concluded with the SRI, antena3.ro reports.

Subsequently, SRI Director, Eduard Hellvig, expressed his willingness to declassify the protocol. The announcement was made on March 19 by the chairman of the SRI Parliamentary Committee for SRI activity overseeing, Claudiu Manda.

The document sets out how and when SRI Officers could assist the prosecutors in the field of information protection, but also when the intelligence officers could supervise and investigate for the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA).