Changes to ​​Justice laws catch speed in Romanian Parliament

The PSD-ALDE draft law amending Law 303/2004 on the Statute for Judges and Prosecutors, the amendments to which were voted by the House of Deputies on Wednesday, was adopted by the plenum of the House on Monday afternoon a solemn session in the memory of late King Michael. The bill is one of the key changes pushed by the governing coalition to Romanian laws on the Judiciary, which have sparked huge criticism as an attempt to subdue it politically.

There were 179 votes „for” and 90 „against”, a vote cast while opposition USR deputies were protesting. The bill goes to the Senate for a deciding vote.

Also, the controversial draft amendment to the law regulating the key body overviewing conflicts of interests, the National Integrity Agency – ANI, was voted on Monday. The amendment, belonging to PSD MP Florin Iordache, by which the interdictions imposed on deputies and senators on the basis of the evaluation reports drawn up by ANI and which found non-compliances with the legal provisions regarding the conflict of interest between 2007 and 2013 will cease to be lawful.

The decision to make the final vote on Monday was made at the meeting from 13:30 in the Chamber of Deputies, at the proposal of PSD.