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President Klaus Iohannis said on Tuesday that the Justice laws bill drafted by Justice Minister Stelian Ion has not been debated, something that does not correspond to the "coalition's intention".
The president was asked about the introduction of a compliant opinion from the Superior Council of Magistrates (CSM) when appointing chief prosecutors.
"The introduction of the compliant opinion is given notice to the minister and not to the president, it is a detail that has not been well explained publicly. The president is not bound by any compliant or non-compliant opinion, according to the Romanian Constitution. If the CSM opinion becomes compliant, then the CSM will be able to reject the minister's proposal, but it will not be able to reject the president. (...) These issues are in the draft phase, they will be discussed, they will enter Parliament, they will enter the parliamentary debate and after that we will see in what form they will end up. Obviously I do not think that the duties of the President of Romania should be diminished and consequently, personally, I do not agree with this variant, but I do not know whether it will remain or not in the bill," Iohannis said at the Cotroceni presidential Palace.
He stressed that this issue needs to be discussed well, as should the whole bill.
"There was a public debate on a bill that was worked on while Minister Predoiu was at the Ministry of Justice. That bill of Minister Predoiu was widely discussed in various formats. The bill elaborated by Minister Stelian Ion was not debated in these formats, but was sent directly to the CSM for approval, something that does not correspond to the intention of the coalition or the spirit of the law, hence the coalition set up a committee of parliamentarians who together with the minister, of course, and other authorities, will analyze these proposals. It is clear that there was some dissatisfaction in the coalition because they were not consulted, something that has been corrected in the meantime," Iohannis said.
