President Iohannis says aligning justice laws, criminal legislation with European standards is mandatory

President Klaus Iohannis stated on Wednesday that the alignment of the justice laws and criminal legislation with the European standards is mandatory. 

"2018 was marked, in this system, by the amendment of the organisation and functioning laws of the judiciary and criminal legislation, which are still pending. We had a difficult year, with many crossroads for the judiciary of Romania, which, unfortunately, are far from being exhausted. Aligning these normative acts with the European standards is mandatory and will pose a challenge for the next period. As part of this demarche, the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM) will have a particularly important mission which implies, more than ever, the assertion of its constitutional role as a guarantor of the independence of justice. Although we were in a complicated context, the CSM remained a balance factor, managing to act equitably with the actors involved. Please continue with the same determination, be permanently connected to the inner voice of the system that strongly advocates the need to defend and strengthen the independence of the judges' and prosecutors' activity, but also of the entire judicial system," President Iohannis stated in the plenary sitting of the CSM. 

He underscored that "the isolation" and "division" of the magistrates' body doesn't lead to anything productive. 

The head of state showed that his presence at the CSM sitting represents "an institutional encouragement," in the context in which the CSM plenary chooses its new leadership on Wednesday, namely the new president and vice-president. Moreover, Iohannis congratulated the current CSM leadership, who reached the end of tenure. 

"It was a difficult year. I congratulate you all for the balance which you managed to maintain in the system," President Iohannis concluded.