How does Nicușor Dan want to organize the referendum announced in the judiciary regarding the activity of the CSM
Nicușor Dan and the Superior Council of Magistracy. Collage: Ion Mateș / Hotnews. Photo: Inquam Photos
President Nicușor Dan is considering a postal vote for the magistrates' consultation regarding the activity of the Superior Council of Magistracy (SCM), sources from the Presidential Administration told HotNews.
“Does the Superior Council of Magistrates act in the public interest or does it act in the interest of a group within the judicial system?”, is the question that Nicușor Dan announced that he wants to ask Romanian magistrates. “If they say that the CSM does not represent the public interest, then the CSM will leave immediately,” the president said.
Anuțul was met with criticism from the sections for judges and for prosecutors of the CSM who accused including an interference of the president in the judicial power. Also, a former president of the CCR, Augustin Zegrean, questioned the way the referendum was organized.
Sources in the Presidential Administration told HotNews that a postal vote is being discussed. More precisely, the question should be sent to the court of which the magistrates are a part, and they should vote by mail. Moreover, the vote can be non-nominal, so it cannot be identified how each magistrate voted.
In this version, the Presidential Administration will send this consultation directly through the courts and not through the Superior Council of Magistracy, the sources say.
Nicușor Dan, discussion with the magistrates about the problems in the judiciary
On Monday, for almost 10 hours, the President had discussions with magistrates about the state of justice in Romania. Discussions took place in both public and private formats. They were convened as a result of the revelations in the Recorder documentary “Captured Justice”.
The general state of fear, pressure from the Judicial Inspection, the workload or the lack of personnel are among the problems in the judiciary that the magistrates signaled to President Nicușor Dan during Monday's consultations at the Cotroceni Palace.
VIDEO Discussion marathon in Cotroceni. Nicușor Dan talked for almost 10 hours with the magistrates in several rounds, both publicly and privately
On Tuesday, President Nicușor Dan will have a discussion with Interior Minister Cătălin Predoiu on government issues, but HotNews sources say that justice issues will also be discussed. Predoiu was the Minister of Justice at the appointment in 2022 of the heads of the large prosecutor's offices, among them Marius Voineag at the DNA whom the Recorder showed claimed “control over the files”.
The president's biggest concerns are about people who promote to the High Court of Cassation and Justice, Hotnews sources say. The ÎCCJ is led by Lia Savonea, a magistrate whom the Recorder reported to be behind some controversial appointments at the Bucharest Court of Appeal.
According to the sources, there was no information sent to the president by the services that showed that there were problems of corruption in the judiciary.
“Captured Justice”. In a Recorder investigation, several judges and prosecutors, former heads of the DNA and the CSM, describe how the cases are prolonged so that the accused can escape / “We ended up reinventing the law” / The Vanghelie, Burci and Popoviciu cases
