February 3 (SeeNews) - Romania's ombudsman Victor Ciorbea on Friday challenged in court the government decree that decriminalises some corruption offences.
Ciorbea was asked to do so by president Klaus Iohannis and by prosecutor general Augustin Lazar, who have also challenged the decree in the Constitutional Court (CCR).
Initially, Ciorbea said he cannot challenge the decree because it was not enforced completely: some of the provisions in the decree entered into force on Tuesday night when it was hastily published in Romania's official gazette, and some will take effect in 10-days time after promulgation.
According to the ombudsman, the hasty approval of the decree was unconstitutional as the change to legislation did not meet the requirement of urgency in order to be justified.
"There are certain cases in which such decrees can be adopted," Ciorbea said in a televised statement.
Romania's Superior Council of Magistracy, CSM, was the first to challenge the decree that sparked the biggest protests in Romania since the fall of communism in 1989.
CCR president Valer Dorneanu said in a separate televised statement that the court will collect all challenges and will respond in due time. Extremely reserved, Dorneanu said that his position does not allow him to make public statements on sensitive issues such as the possible pressure from ongoing street protests against the decree that could set free officials jailed for corruption.
"We have the sole pressure of the the Constitution and the law, and also the obligation to respect both," the head of Romania's top court said.
Friday's move by Ciorbea is surprising given the fact that at the beginning of January he asked the Constitutional Court to overturn a law banning convicted officials from being part of the country's government.
The ombudsman moved to get the law repealed just days after the legislation prevented Liviu Dragnea, leader of election winner Social Democrat Party (PSD), from becoming prime minister. Dragnea was issued a two-year suspended jail sentence in April 2016 for a referendum fraud in 2012.
Dragnea can potentially benefit from the decree, as he is currently on trial on charges of abuse of office that has led to a loss of 108,000 lei to the state.
The emergency decree decriminalises several offences and makes abuse of office punishable by a jail term only if the offence has resulted in a loss of more than 200,000 lei ($47,500/44,000 euro).
Some 220,000 people gathered all over Romania and abroad for a third day running on Thursday to protest against the decree seen as an attempt to weaken the fight against corruption and help politicians avoid criminal prosecution on graft charges.
(1 euro = 4.5337 lei)