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The Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) upheld on Wednesday President Klaus Iohannis's challenge to the Law on the management of ports and waterways, ruling that the act is unconstitutional, told Agerpres.
According to a press release sent by the CCR to AGERPRES, the constitutional judges, by majority vote, admitted the challenge filed by the President of Romania and ruled as unconstitutional the Law on the approval of the Emergency Government Ordinance 160/2020 for the amendment and completion of Government Ordinance 22/1999 on the management of ports and waterways, the use of naval transport infrastructures belonging to the public domain, as well as the carrying out of naval transport activities in ports and on inland waterways, as well as for the completion of art. 25 paragraph (1) in Competition Law 21/1996.
"Essentially, the Court held that Parliament's intervention in the review procedure of the law requested by the President of Romania was carried out by exceeding the limits of the review request, and the legislative solution that Parliament opted for denotes a new political will, expressing a different vision than the contained in the initially adopted law. Such a situation is equivalent to the de novo creation of a legal provision, in a way that eludes the constitutional framework, evading the democratic mechanisms that ensure, in the spirit of Article 1 paragraph (4) of the Basic Law, the separation of powers in the state, but also balance and mutual control, by disregarding the provisions of Article 77 paragraph (2) of the Basic Law, which gives the President of Romania the right to request the re-examination of the law submitted for promulgation," the release states.
At the end of last year, the head of state filed with CCR a constitutional challenge on the normative act, after it had been re-examined by Parliament at his request. "Parliament changed the conditions regarding the selection of the members of the governing bodies, adopting a law with a different content from the initial form and, as a consequence, a new legislative solution not considered by the request for re-examination," explained Iohannis, in the challenge filed with CCR.
The president had requested the re-examination on the grounds that unclear terminology is used in some provisions regarding the fields of study and, considering the importance, role and duties of the members of the governing bodies of port administration, it is necessary to mention them expressly in the eligibility requirements.
In the request for re-examination, the president indicates the impact of the new conditions and the reduction of some requirements regarding professional experience.
