JusMin Toader: I'd like CVM to be confined to its scope without being exported to other mechanisms

Justice Minister Tudorel Toader said on Thursday at a meeting with a delegation of the European Commission assessing Romania's progress with judiciary reform and the fight against corruption under the Co-operation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) that he would like the CVM to be confined to its intended scope without being exported to other categories of mechanisms, adding that the objective of the incumbent Romanian Government programmes remains to lift the CVM before the country takes over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union.

"We appreciate the openness to constructive dialogue and cooperation that both the members of the evaluation delegation and the highest level representatives of the European Commission have displayed, and I want to assure you of the same openness for dialogue on the part of Romania's Ministry of Justice and the Government. I would like the CVM to be confined to its intended scope and objectives, without being exported to other categories of mechanisms. Our objective and the governance programme remain lifting the CVM before Romania takes over the presidency of the Council of the European Union," Toader is quoted as saying in a press statement released issued by the Justice Ministry on Thursday.

Toader also underlined the constructive nature of the meetings in Brussels, Strasbourg and Bucharest with high-ranking officials of the European Commission and with members of the European Parliament.

The statement says that on Thursday morning a first meeting was held at the Ministry of Justice with the delegation of the evaluation mission, which was attended by Minister Tudorel Toader, Secretary of State Marieta Safta and Sebastian Costea, personal adviser to the minister, together with a technical delegation of the ministry.

The evaluation delegation, headed by Julien Mousnier, head of the Citizens' and Security Unit of the European Commission's Secretariat General, was made up of Jeanne De Jaegher, Maria Arsene from the Commission's Secretariat-General, Ingo Weustenfeld of DG JUST and Irina Stefuriuc of DG HOME.

"The meeting briefly presented the status of the 12 benchmarks in the progress report published on November 15, 2017, focusing on well-known themes, such as the process of reconciling the laws of justice with the Constitutional Court's rulings, the work and the results of the Strategic Management Board and related bodies, the latest development in the implementation and monitoring of the 2015-2020 Development Strategy, and the progress made with a series of recommendations already recognised by the European Commission, notably on the work of the National Agency for the Administration of Impounded Assets and the PREVENT system."

A second meeting with the delegation of the evaluation mission discussed the amendments to Romania's Criminal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure.

The Ministry of Justice says that discussed at this inter-organizasional were Romania's progress with recommendations 3 and 4 in the CVM progress report, amendments to the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure and the legislative process, underlining the importance of an inclusive process of consultation comprising all stakeholders.

"The Ministry of Justice submitted to the Government, which approved in 2017, two bills amending the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure, as well as other provisions in the criminal field, which are now with the Joint Special Committee of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate on Systematisation, Unification and Ensuring Legislative Stability in the Field of Justice. One bill aims to transpose EU directives, and it is essential that Parliament adopt it in an urgent manner to avoid an infringement procedure. The other bill regards getting the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure in line with the relevant rulings of the Constitutional Court," Toader is further quoted in the statement.

According to the source, the representatives of the Romanian judiciary presented their approaches of the two bills. At the same time, they voiced concern over a series of proposals in the public space, at the same time with their willingness to participate constructively in the parliamentary debates. AGERPRES (RO - author: Mihai Stoica, editor: Claudia Stanescu; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Adina Panaitescu)