#Romanian Judges Forum Association

"Judges Join Growing Chorus of Criticism of Commission Report on Romania”,[1]  published in EU Reporter 11th February, has resulted in the Forum requesting a right to reply. They wish to state that:

"The Romanian Judges Forum Association did not sign the letter sent by the Romanian Magistrates Association and the Romanian Prosecutors Association and there is no connection between the Romanian Judges Forum Association and the Romanian Magistrates Association, as it is mistakenly suggested in the article.

The Romanian Judges Forum Association did not challenge and did not criticise the conclusions of the European Commission report within the CVM, nor the manner in which this report was drafted, as this association is fully convinced that the monitoring and evaluating activity is carried out with professionalism and impartiality.

Regarding the content of the article and the presentation of the opinion of the two associations (the Romanian Magistrates Association and the Romanian Prosecutors Association) as being representative for Romanian magistrates, we draw attention to the fact that the Romanian Judges Forum Association, the Association for the Defence of the Statute of Prosecutors and the Initiative for Justice Association have taken and are constantly taking public stand almost daily against the damaging changes brought to the justice system in its whole, through the changes to the judiciary laws and through the propositions of changing the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code.

Romanian magistrates have expressed their disagreement with these changes, an eloquent example being the fact that, besides the rejection by the majority of the general assemblies of courts and prosecutors’ offices of these proposed changes, approximately 4000 judges and prosecutors (out of a total of approximately 6800) signed the letter criticising the changes brought to the laws organising the judiciary, an aspect written in the Venice Commission opinions[2] and in the European Commission[3] and GRECO reports.[4] "

The Romanian Judges’ Forum Association

Judge Dragoș Călin, co-president

Judge Anca Codreanu, co-president

[1] https://www.eureporter.co/frontpage/2019/02/11/judges-join-growing-chorus-of-criticism-of-commission-report-on-romania/

[2] https://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/documents/?pdf=CDL-AD(2018)017-e

[3] https://ec.europa.eu/info/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/effective-justice/rule-law/assistance-bulgaria-and-romania-under-cvm/reports-progress-bulgaria-and-romania_ro

[4] https://rm.coe.int/ad-hoc-report-on-romania-rule-34-adopted-by-greco-at-its-79th-plenary-/16807b7717

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