Romania's Attorney General Augustin Lazar said on Tuesday that the Justice Ministry's proposal on the days to be subtracted from the prison sentences in the case of convicts who write scientific works in prison is a reasonable one. "I find the Justice Ministry's proposal reasonable. Compared with the way in which the provisions were previously interpreted or with what happened I don't think the sentence should be cut by more than 20 days," Lazar said upon exiting the offices of the Supreme Council of Magistrates (CSM).
CSM Vice President Luminita Palade said the 20 days represent a maximum number that can be granted for a scientific work, regardless of the number of days it takes to write the work in question. "The only difference between the Justice Ministry and the CSM starts from the fact that each work has a 20-day deduction from the sentence regardless of the number of works. (...) There are differing opinions starting from different interpretations of the same issue," Palade explained.
She pointed out that she does not wish discrimination between physical and intellectual work in prison. At a plenary session on Tuesday, CSM approved a proposal from the Justice Ministry for a government emergency ordinance on sentence serving, including a clarification that 20 days will be deemed as served for each scientific work done. The CSM opinion is consultative. The Government on Tuesday might adopt the government emergency ordinance modifying the law on sentence serving and detention measures ordered by the judicial bodies at criminal trials.