Ombusdsman requests state of emergency declaration over coronavirus

The Ombudsman asks the President of Romania to declare state of emergency over the coronavirus, and Parliament to approve it.

"The Ombudsman, in their capacity as constitutional guarantor of fundamental rights and freedoms, having considered the administrative measures adopted in the past days in efforts to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus, requests the President of Romania to declare the state of emergency, and the Parliament of Romania to approve it in accordance with Article 93 paragraphs (1) and (2) of the Constitution of Romania," the institution said in a release on Thursday.

The Ombudsman said that "they do not question the timeliness of the measures taken so far, or the need to restrict certain rights, but this is the mandatory thing to do, as provided by the fundamental law in exceptional cases".

"These are the exigencies of the rule of law, where rights and freedoms cannot be restricted otherwise but under the terms of Article 53 of the Constitution of Romania. Romania has relevant legislation, specifically OUG No. 1/1999, and the provisions of this regulation must be duly observed," the cited source said.