Recorder: Magistrates who refused to appear in the documentary gave us shocking testimonies/ A real earthquake would occur in the system
Journalists from the Recorder reported, through a post on Facebook, that many of the magistrates they spoke to for the “Captured Justice” investigation refused to appear but offered, off the record, “shocking testimonies” that could cause an earthquake in the judicial system, if these magistrates had the courage to make these things public.
The Recorder team that documented the investigation for a year and a half say there are things that could quickly help to at least partially fix the problems in the judicial system. The most important thing would be that the magistrates who spoke to journalists during the investigation, but did not accept the publication of their testimonies, have the courage to make public the things they know.
“During the documentation of the last year and a half, I spoke with dozens of magistrates, but very few of them agreed to appear in the documentary. Those who refused, however, gave us shocking testimonies from within the system, which we could not publish because their condition was to remain off the record. If the magistrates who have such testimonies would have the courage to make them public, there would be a real earthquake in the justice system,” the post says.
What can the president do
“Captured Justice”. In a Recorder investigation, several judges and prosecutors, former heads of the DNA and the CSM, describe how the files are prolonged so that the accused can escape / “We ended up reinventing the law” / The Vanghelie, Burci and Popoviciu cases
It is also mentioned that the General Prosecutor's Office can investigate the legality of the administrative decisions taken by the Court of Appeal by which magistrates who tried high corruption cases were removed from the trial panels, provided that this is done, according to the law, “exceptionally, for objective reasons”.
Thirdly, “The Judicial Inspectorate has duties in verifying the activity of the courts and could self-report following the information presented in the Recorder documentary. Bearing in mind that in recent years this institution has disciplinary investigated magistrates even for expressing opinions on Facebook, it would be difficult to understand how they could not investigate magistrates who changed the composition of some court panels without having objective reasons.”
What politicians from various parties say about the Recorder documentary “Captured Justice”
Also, the Recorder journalists remind that the president can attend the meetings of the SCM, and when he does, he presides over the meetings. In this situation, the head of state can ask for explanations regarding the decisions of recent years, such as: the secondment of some judges who were to pronounce sentences in high corruption cases, decisions to exclude some judges from the judiciary which were later overturned by the High Court, the refusal to appoint prosecutors to investigate the acts of the magistrates.
At the same time, the possibility of the Parliament to modify the legislation in such a way as to change the “pyramidal organization” of the judicial system is mentioned.
Recorder also evokes the message of the president Nicușor Dan who encouraged the magistrates to speak. “It remains to be seen if the encouragement and assurances from the country's president are stronger for them or if the fear of those who rule the justice system with an iron hand is stronger,” says the Recorder's post.
