Newly sworn-in Justice Minister Radu Marinescu said on Wednesday that he intends to set firm deadlines for implementing the reforms outlined in the government programme, including the merger of the National Administration of Penitentiaries and the Probation Directorate.
"A short while ago, the handover of responsibilities from interim Justice Minister Catalin Predoiu to me was completed at the Ministry of Justice. We discussed the activities carried out during the interim period, urgent matters and priorities for action, after which I attended a meeting of the ministry's management board. We held detailed discussions with all our colleagues, including the directors of departments within the ministry and its subordinate institutions. I presented all 79 areas of action and measures included in the government programme, and we discussed the responsibilities of each department and unit in implementing the reforms we intend to undertake. We have set firm deadlines for implementing these reforms," Marinescu said, agerpres reports.
The minister went on to announce plans to reorganise the Ministry of Justice to reduce budget expenditure and improve efficiency. He said several significant projects that had been under way when he previously left the ministry could not be continued during the interim period and had stalled.
"I am considering institutional reform, including the project to establish a national agency for the protection of crime victims. We need a unified national mechanism to develop and standardise public policies supporting victims of crime, particularly at a time when crime is increasing in society and our response is absolutely essential. As regards the ministry's institutional reform, we intend to reorganise the Ministry of Justice to achieve significant savings while improving the efficiency of its departments and ensuring a more balanced distribution of staff across its various structures. We also want to reorganise the National Citizenship Authority. It is absolutely essential to reduce the considerable backlog of applications, which we have already made great efforts to bring down, and restore normal processing conditions. To achieve this, we will also carry out an institutional reform of this authority," Marinescu explained.
Another measure he outlined involves reorganising the National Administration of Penitentiaries and the Probation Directorate. He explained that a unified approach is needed to address the social reintegration and rehabilitation of convicted offenders.
The two institutions will therefore be merged into a single national agency or administration responsible for the enforcement of criminal sentences, allowing staff resources to be pooled and expenditure to be reduced.
