In a report on Romania published today, the Group of States against Corruption of the Council of Europe (GRECO) expresses serious concern about certain aspects of the laws on the status of judges and prosecutors, on the judicial organisation and on the Superior Council of Magistracy recently adopted by Parliament as well as on draft amendments to the criminal legislation.
GRECO has prepared this report following a decision at its December 2017 plenary meeting to carry out an extraordinary urgent evaluation of judicial reforms in Romania considering they could imply serious violations of anti-corruption standards.
The report notes that the amendments to the three laws on the judiciay adopted by the Parliament in December 2017 do not contain some of the most controversial proposals presented initially in the summer. However, GRECO is concerned about their potential impact, including for the staff structure in the courts and prosecution services. Despite the importance and wide scope of these reforms, their impact was not properly assessed, and the legislative process was also questionable.
