Justice Minister Radu Marinescu declared on Thursday, in connection with the protest related to the proposals for the heads of the major prosecutors' offices, that Romania is a country where freedom of expression is recognized.
"Every citizen has the right to express his or her opinion. From my point of view, in justice, any measure must be adopted in a reasonable manner, very carefully substantiated, very serious, apart from emotional manifestations, which, I repeat, are natural, are absolutely normal in a society, but beyond emotions we must take into account the laws, take into account concrete data, evidence, because justice is based on evidence and strict compliance with the institutional mechanism. Everyone was able to see the interviews from the Ministry of Justice, they are extraordinarily transparent, moment by moment they were broadcast publicly, these interviews lasted, on average, I think two hours, questions were asked by the entire committee", said Radu Marinescu, answering journalists' questions on this topic on the occasion of his participation in the presentation of the 2025 activity report of National Penitentiaries Administration (ANP).
He stressed that the proposals for the heads of the major prosecutors' offices are well-founded. "We tried to make some proposals based on the data resulting, not only from these interviews, from the files that are presented by each candidate, a commission that also included prosecutors, so these proposals are, I repeat, motivated, well-founded, submitted to the Supreme Council of Justice, which has an advisory role and, in turn, makes an assessment, will present some conclusions. In the end, the President of Romania, the most representative person in the state architecture, will make a decision," Radu Marinescu said.
Asked whether he would take into account the negative opinions from the Supreme Council of Justice (CSM) for these proposals, he replied that he would take them into account.
"We will take into account (...) concrete factual elements and the law. The law says that the CSM has an advisory role and of course, if it is advisory, we will take into account the opinions expressed there. We are waiting to see the reasons, specifically, because we have sent very broadly motivated proposals to the CSM. We are waiting to see those reasons. If this situation of a negative opinion exists, there was a case of a negative opinion yesterday, then the law provides for a re-interview of the person in question by the Ministry of Justice. We will ask the questions that arise from those retained by the colleagues from the Prosecutor's Department and we will make decisions accordingly", stated Radu Marinescu.
He added that, if the head of state rejects one of the proposals that reached him, the procedure will resume.
"We need the leadership of the major prosecutors' offices and we need to say one more thing, these are the candidates who registered. I said it publicly and everyone said it publicly: as many people as possible should come and register. I appreciate, and I cannot speak otherwise, the determination and the fact that these candidates worked, presented projects, presented themselves, others could have done it too. This is a reality. From those who presented themselves, we all tried to choose the people we considered the most suitable. We will see the point of view of the CSM, of the president", Radu Marinescu said.
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