Dozens of civic organizations and newsrooms condemn the “black list” made by the CSM: “A black stain on the credibility and independence of the judiciary”
“It is an unacceptable public stigmatization and incompatible with the rule of law”, 75 newsrooms and NGOs send, on Friday, in an open letter, signed by HotNews as well, in which they condemn what they call the abuse of authority of the Section for Judges of the SCM and attempts to censor and intimidate the media and civil society.
The move comes after the Superior Council of Magistracy accused, in a 70-page document, several publications and organizations, as well as politicians, of running a campaign to discredit the judiciary.
In the document that the CSM says has the support of 3,580 judges, natural persons, but also media institutions and organizations are nominated. But the Forum of Judges disputed this “black list”, says that “a quasi-unanimous support is unrealistically presented”.
“The document names those who document and report institutional problems and presents them as participants in a conspiracy, a “smear campaign” or a “hybrid attack”. The media institutions and NGOs explicitly indicated by the CSM document are: Recorder, G4Media, PressHub, Free Europe, Declic Community, Coruptia ucide, Funky Citizens, ExpertForum. To these are added individuals, especially politicians. But the document explicitly targets all those who criticizes the justice system”, reads the open letter signed, among others, by the Center for Independent Journalism, ActiveWatch, ApTI – Association for Technology and Internet, ExpertForum, Context.ro, Rise Project and Ethical Media Alliance.
The organizations that signed the letter strongly support the independence of the judiciary and reject any document that confuses legitimate criticism with subversion of justice and that suggests that it is part of a “hybrid attack”.
The signatories state that it is surprising how most members of the judges' section of the CSM do not distinguish between legitimate criticism of the media, NGOs or ordinary citizens regarding the administration of justice and an alleged violation of legal boundaries.
“The competence of the CSM to defend the independence of the judiciary cannot be used to aggregate some opinions, journalistic investigations, civic positions and posts on social networks in a general narrative of collective culpability,” the open letter also states.
Also, the signatories point out that although the judges claim that the “decision” takes into account freedom of expression, it did not analyze whether the information presented falls within the limits of the guaranteed right, and “the alleged radiograph is, rather, an accusatory compilation”.
“In fact, the document demonstrates a poor understanding of the pillars on which a democratic state is based and issues a conspiratorial narrative, in which journalists who do their work in the public interest are presented as actors in a smear campaign, and the democratic levers available to civil society for interaction with state institutions (petitions, participation in public consultations) are presented as attempts to weaken and capture the judicial power”, it is further stated in the open letter also published by ActiveWatch.
The newsrooms and organizations also say that the “judgment” sends a signal of discouragement to the media, civil society, experts, lawyers and citizens who participate in the debate about the judicial system and calls into question any possible process in which media institutions, NGOs and nominated individuals are involved.
“The document published by the Section for Judges of the CSM also misses the chance to formulate a credible and balanced response against the criticisms received in the aforementioned journalistic materials. Instead, it chooses to portray a few newsrooms and a part of civil society as guilty for the problems of justice and society as a whole. To the extent that the mentioned newsrooms, organizations or individuals will later become parties to litigation before the courts, the question can legitimately be raised whether the judges called to solve those cases also apparently offers the guarantees of objectivity and independence required by the right to a fair trial”, underlines the signatories.
They appreciate that the seriousness of this “decision” is amplified by the fact that the Section for Judges of the CSM presents it as an expression of a position assumed at the level of the body of judges.
“In this way, the perception is created that the judiciary no longer acts exclusively as a neutral guarantor of fundamental rights, but also as an institutional actor concerned with protecting its own interests,” the signatories of the open letter also said, appreciating that the document is “a black mark on the credibility and independence of the judiciary and the role of this important power.”
And Corruption Kills denounced in another public letter the “black list” drawn up by the section for judges at the CSM “being a profoundly undemocratic, abusive and incompatible approach with the principles of public dialogue in a democratic society”.
