VIDEO The head of CAB accuses a “political interference” in the Judiciary: “The President divided the judges into good and bad”

The President of the Bucharest Court of Appeal (CAB), Liana Arsenie, said on Wednesday, in an interview with Euronews, that President Nicușor Dan's statements regarding the judicial system represent an interference in the work of judges and reproached him for dividing judges “into good and bad”. Arsenie questioned the legality and procedure of the referendum among the magistrates on the topic of the CSM activity announced by the leader from Cotroceni.

“We have a political decision-maker who divides the body of judges into good and bad, of good faith and bad faith, into abusers and abused. And we stick to the idea of a political decision-maker: Mr. President Nicușor Dan divided the judges. And on this basis came the invitation of his lordship to write about the problems in the judiciary. When a politician, no matter who he is, makes such evaluations of the judge, this is an interference in the activity of the judges. No I'm making accusations, but I'm stating some facts and I'm referring to some legal provisions according to which we carry out our activity”, declared Liana Arsenie.

Liana Arsenie stated that she has “never” discussed with the president Nicușor Dan, but that she wants a meeting to present him with the problems in the justice system.

“My need to participate in a meeting with the president comes from the responsibility I have by virtue of my position, because everything that has been stated in the public space, lately, has nothing to do with me, as much as it has to do with the institution I lead. When we anathematize a system, the justice system, or the activity of the judges of the Bucharest Court of Appeal, we need to discuss applied, based on facts and evidence”, said Liana Arsenie.

Criticism regarding the idea of ​​a referendum on the CSM

The CAB president said that she did not know “what is the legal text” that would allow the organization of the referendum announced by Nicușor Dan among the magistrates and raised questions regarding the procedure and the transparency of the counting of the results.

“In management, there is a principle of authority and responsibility. Who has authority and responsibility… How do we take responsibility for the results that we have accounted for? Who accounts for these results? How is the transparency and legality of the procedure ensured? At this moment we do not have these data, but I think that President Dan also thought of a procedure that would respect all the democratic conditions and that would also ensure the related framework,” said the head of the Bucharest Court of Appeal.

Asked how he would answer the question “Does the Superior Council of Magistracy act in the public interest or in the interest of a group within the judicial system?”, Arsenie said: “The CSM obviously acts in the public interest.”

About the accusations of judge Raluca Moroșanu: “She was my colleague from the panel. Her statements, obviously tendentious”

Liana Arsenie stated that the statements made by judge Raluca Moroșanu in the documentary broadcast by Recorder surprised her “extremely unpleasantly” and she categorized them as “obviously tendentious and devoid of any trace of truth”

“As for Mrs. Judge Moroșanu, she was a colleague of mine and I confess that her reaction shocked me, surprised me extremely unpleasantly because the statements were obviously tendentious and devoid of any trace of truth. We were colleagues, I think for a year, during which we did not have even a disagreement, not even a discussion, in the sense that I want to defend the criminals or that I am gentle with criminals.

She was also my deputy, because at that time I was the president of the first criminal section and she was my deputy, for the position of president. Does anyone think that a judge cannot go to his former panel colleague and tell him: Madam President, Liana, as he would have liked, there are some things with which I do not agree.

On the other hand, how can we believe that a judge (…) who can write a sentencing decision for 15-20 years, does not have the ability to tell a colleague, even if he exercises a leadership position, that he does not agree with certain measures?”, said the head of the CAB.

Moreover, the head of the CAB categorized the accusations against her, filed anonymously by some magistrates at the urging of President Nicușor Dan, as “a setback for the democratic society”.

“These anonymous psychological masses, in my opinion, represent a setback for democratic society. Why? A civilized and mature society means the transition from chaos to rules, it means the transition from emotions and instinct to reason. It means the transition from anonymous to responsibility. Responsibility is the measure of the maturity of each of us (…) “I have not had any discussion with these colleagues (those who have publicly assumed the accusations). It is still in the same key of psychological manipulation. Using words strong, without evidence, which in the collective mind, give rise to some transgenerational dramas, such as fear, fear, abandonment, lack of support. We obviously also have characters who build this image of abuse and which arouses emotion, because they have not awakened reason. It was not accompanied by evidence,” said Arsenie.