CSM critics of the magistrates' referendum, announced by Nicușor Dan. “As if the Judiciary were to announce a referendum to impeach the president”
Judge Alin Ene, member of the Superior Council of Magistracy / Photo: Alin Ene / Facebook
Judge Alin Ene, a member of the CSM, criticizes the statements of President Nicuşor Dan regarding the organization of a referendum in the Judiciary, stating that they are “absolutely unacceptable in any democratic state”, informs Agerpres.
“Romania – STATUTE OF LAW or NOT? There is no legal basis that would allow the president of the country to organize a 'referendum within the body of magistrates' for the 'departure of the CSM'. To understand more easily the violation of the separation of powers in the state, it is as if the judiciary would organize a national referendum for the dismissal of the President of Romania or for the dissolution of the Parliament”, he wrote on Facebook.
“Blind trust and vain hopes”
He also refers to the small number of magistrates who decided to participate in the discussions in Cotroceni.
“Even if such a consultation were to take place, it would only lead to a new disappointment for the president, already disappointed that out of 885 (not 1,000) signatories of a petition supporting freedom of expression (of which the overwhelming majority are prosecutors and pensioners), only 20 wanted to meet with him. Probably the judicial advisers presented him with that distorted list, as magistrates dissatisfied with the CSM and, from there, blind trust and vain hopes”, said Ene.
According to him, CSM members “leave urgently” only if the General Assemblies decide to revoke them.
“So certainly not when a man wants it, even the President of the country, who has no attribution in the organization and administration of Justice, precisely this being the guarantee of the separation of powers in the state, specific to the rule of law. If we continue on the path of the plebiscite, perhaps we should give up discrimination and treat all the powers of the state in a similar way. So, while a referendum to determine whether the Government, the Parliament and the President of Romania still enjoy the support the people?”, the judge pointed out.
In his opinion, such statements by the head of state are absolutely unacceptable in any democratic state.
“Until then, it should be noted that such statements and approaches are absolutely unacceptable in any democratic state. Of course, they are probably natural in less democratic states, which perhaps we should not set as examples of good practices. So the question is very simple: what future do we want for Romania? Do we want democracy, the rule of law, the EU? Or do we take it in the opposite direction? There is no correct answer. The majority decides, as long as we are still a democracy”, concluded Alin Ene.
Cotroceniul published the summary of the observations of the 250 magistrates who sent emails. “High Severity Observations / System Structural Vulnerabilities”
Nicusor Dan announces a referendum in the body of magistrates
President Nicușor Dan announced yesterday that he received from the magistrates “hundreds of pages of relevant materials about the problems in the judiciary”, before Monday's consultations with their representatives.
“As I promised, I will go through them this weekend, and at the end of Monday I will return with conclusions, after the discussions with those who registered in the audience. Monday's consultations will take place in several rounds of discussions: both with groups of magistrates who want to participate together, and individually, with those who explicitly requested this in the e-mail”, the president wrote on Facebook on Saturday.
Also on Saturday, Nicușor Dan announced that a recent decision of the Constitutional Court gives him the right to refer the CCR regarding a law, for any reasons, including substantive ones, even if the project passed through the re-examination of the Parliament.
And on Sunday, the head of state announced, in a press statement in Cotroceni, that in January he will initiate a referendum within the body of magistrates with a single question: “Does the CSM act in the public interest or does it act in the interest of a group within the judicial system?”.
Regarding tomorrow's discussions with the magistrates in Cotroceni, the president said that “extremely few magistrates” have expressed their intention to come: “I have come up with inappropriate proposals, even my colleagues to pick them up from gas stations so that they will not be seen entering”.
