October 22 (SeeNews) - The Venice Commission, an advisory body of the Council of Europe, recommended that Romania re-assess draft amendments to the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code.
"The Venice Commission recommends that the Romanian authorities conduct an overall re-assessment of the amendments in both codes through a comprehensive and effective consultation process in order to come up with a solid and coherent legislative proposal benefiting from a broad support within the Romanian society and taking fully into account the applicable standards, and to follow the guidance of the Constitutional Court," the Commssion said in a final opinion on amendments to Romanian laws concerning the judiciary on Friday.
On October 12 Romania's Constitutional Court established that over 60 articles of the draft law amending the Criminal Law Procedure were unconstitutional and is expected to examine the constitutionality of the draft amendments to the Criminal Code later this month, the Venice Commission said.
The Commission underlined that although the public debate has focused on the risk that draft amendments may undermine the fight against corruption, their impact is much wider, as the reform could significantly affect the criminal justice system and its effective and efficient operation, in particular the investigation, prosecution and adjudication of other serious and complex forms of crime.
Also, the Venice Commission criticised the excessive speed and the insufficient transparency of the reform process, especially because there were more than 300 amendments, many of them radically reforming criminal policy. The haste in their adoption had a negative impact on the quality of the legislation, which contains contradictions that could cause legal uncertainty in the future, it added.
The Commission also stressed that a more comprehensive process of discussion with legal practitioners and society at large would have been necessary, in particular taking into account that the amendments were questioned by actors such as the High Court of Cassation and that they were very divisive in Romanian society and institutions.