Reality wins again in court against CNA. The file, with the same judge who also won the case for the TV station / A CNA chief describes how the trial unfolded: “I declare myself stunned”

The Bucharest Court of Appeal decided on Wednesday to suspend the decision of the National Audiovisual Council of May 27, by which the Realitatea Plus station was obliged to interrupt its broadcast for three hours. The court's decision is not final, but it is enforceable and was taken one day before the date on which the TV channel was obliged to implement the CNA sanction.

• The company that holds the Realitatea Plus license opened two lawsuits against the same CNA sanction
• One of the files reached the same judge who in April suspended the CNA decision regarding the lifting of the Realitatea Plus license.
• “It's a decision that raises serious questions,” CNA vice-president Valentin Jucan told HotNews.

On May 27, CNA announced the sanctioning of Realitatea Plus, for violating audiovisual norms, with the obligation of the television station to broadcast – on Thursday, June 4, 2026 – for 3 hours, between 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m., only the text of the sanctioning decision.

One day after the CNA decision, on May 28, the company PGH Media Invest SRL filed an action before the Bucharest Court of Appeal requesting the suspension of the execution of the CNA decision.

On May 29, PGH Media Invest files a second action demanding both the suspension and annulment of the CNA decision.

The two files were assigned to different departments.

The first file, in which Realitatea requested the suspension of the sanction, was assigned to the Xth Section, to the same judge, Roxana Elena Stanciu, who in April suspended the CNA's decision regarding the lifting of the license of the Realitatea TV station.

The second file reached the IX Administrative and Fiscal Litigation Section, where the cases in which the CNA's decisions are contested are frequently judged.

Both cases received a first court date for the same day: June 3.

At the first trial, scheduled for Wednesday at 9 a.m. at the Ninth Section of the CAB, the judge adjourned the trial until Thursday at 8:30 a.m., “in order to draft the decision whose suspension is requested,” according to the court minutes.

A few hours later, the second trial opened by Realitatea against the CNA, regarding the suspension of the May 27 decision, had its deadline.

“Everything was judged in just one hour”

Present at the trial, the vice-president of CNA, Valentin Jucan, explained to the HotNews audience how the trial unfolded, declaring himself “stunned”.

Within just an hour, the court resolved both the request to recuse the judge and the request for suspension.

“At 1:30 p.m., the second suspension process took place. We requested, in a form similar to the one in the morning file, an adjournment just to finish drafting our decision. Our request was refused. That was the moment when our lawyer submitted the recusal request. The lady judge continued to administer the documents and hear the parties. Everything ended at 3 p.m., and at 4 p.m. we already had the rejection of our request for recusal, and a few minutes later the decision regarding the suspension of our decision was made even faster than the last time. In just an hour, everything was judged: both the recusal and the suspension. I declare that I have serious questions,” said Valentin Jucan, for HotNews.

On the television's website, the court's decision is announced with the title “Realitatea PLUS, a new victory in court. For the first time, the Bucharest Court of Appeal canceled the CNA's decision to interrupt the broadcast for 3 hours”

The CNA can appeal the court's decision

The decision by which the Bucharest Court of Appeal decided to suspend the CNA decision regarding the interruption of the Realitatea broadcast on June 4 is not final, but it is enforceable. This means that it must be implemented immediately.

CNA has five days, after receiving the court's reasoning, to challenge it.

In the case of the decision regarding the revocation of the license, the Council appealed the decision of the Bucharest Court of Appeal, but the file, which reached the High Court of Cassation and Justice, has not received a hearing until now.

In the last two years, the National Broadcasting Council has been sued 72 times by the company that owns Realitatea Plus. It requested in 69 cases the annulment of some sanctions, but more than half of the cases pending before the Bucharest Court of Appeal were suspended after the court decided to refer the matter to the Constitutional Court, at the request of the television station, to determine whether the Audiovisual Law is constitutional.