The relationship between the reserve requirement for magistrates and the freedom of expression in the light of the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights was among the subjects discussed on Thursday by the leadership of the Prosecutor's Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice with ECHR President Guido Raimondi.
According to a release of the Supreme Court Prosecutor's Office, other subjects discussed on the same occasion were rendering operational Protocols Nos. 14 and 16 to the European Convention for the Protection of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms - as a means of streamlining work and for a better interpretation of the Convention, the use of digital instruments for the exchange of case law, the possibility to designate constitutional courts as well as high jurisdictions to issue advisory opinions, justice independence and impartiality, the separation and balance of state powers, the phenomenon of public life juridification.
The major groups of pending cases against Romania (related to detention conditions, violence against children or women) were also identified and presented.
Prosecutor General Augustin Lazar highlighted on this occasion the involvement of national judge Iulia Motoc in organizing the dialogue between the magistrates and other legal professions in the implementation of the national project carried out between 2017-2018 - "Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in the Criminal Investigation Stage", a project aimed at developing responsibility and professionalism in the activity of prosecutors, ensuring the observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with Romania's Constitution, with the provisions of the European Convention for the Protection of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, the procedures of the European Union's Charter of Fundamental Rights, ECHR and CJEU jurisprudence.
"Judge Guido Raimondi noted the cultural dimension of the Public Prosecution Office's activity, the sensitivity of the said institution's magistrates to the issue of human rights, and the willingness to strengthen institutional capacity in order to comply with the Convention, as a better enforcement thereof in the signatory countries is the solution to reducing the number of cases in the Court's dockets," the release said.
The working meeting was also attended by judge Iulia Motoc - Romania's representative to the ECHR, Roderick Liddell - ECHR Chief Registrar, Nicolae Solomon - deputy President of CSM's Prosecutors' Section, CSM members Codrut Olaru and Mihai Cristian Ban, the leadership of the Supreme Court Prosecutor's Office, chief prosecutors of the prosecutor's offices attached to appellate courts and prosecutors of the Prosecutor's Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice.