President Nicușor Dan announced on Sunday, December 21, that he will create a referendum dedicated to magistrates, in which they will have to answer the question: “Does the Superior Council of Magistracy act in the public interest or does it act in the interest of a group within the judicial system?”.
The head of state held a press statement, after announcing that he had received from the magistrates hundreds of pages of relevant materials on judicial issues, before the consultations scheduled for Monday.
The conclusion of these referrals, Nicușor Dan emphasizes, is that there is a category of magistrates, members of the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM) and court management, who do not act in the public interest.
“The conclusion of these referrals, the majority of themis that there is a category of magistrates, members of the SCM, management of the courts, who do not act in the public interest, but in the interest of a group they constitute and that the professional activity of the magistrate is dependent on the often discretionary action of this group of people and then including the promotions to the High Court were made on criteria of obedience, not on criteria of professionalism.
There are two types of problems: problems that come from the law and, in my opinion, if we want to discuss the laws of justice, it will be a short discussion. We need to focus on issues that are recurring: who is part of the governing boards of the courts and how delegations, secondments are made, should be much more precisely formulated“, he declares.
The head of state states that the existing referrals represent accusations to be verified, a process that will take time, but he warned that “the situation we are in is serious.”
“And, in view of this situation, which I consider to be serious, I will initiate in January, immediately after the holidays, a referendum within the Corps of Magistrates with a single question: “Does the Superior Council of Magistrates act in the public interest or does it act in the interest of a group within the judicial system?”
And, if the magistrates, as a whole, will say that yes, the Superior Council of Magistracy is acting in the public interest, we will continue the legislative discussions and everything I said earlier”, the president conveyed.
Last but not least, the president of Romania declared that if the magistrates, in the majority of them, will say that the CSM does not represent the public interest, but the interests of the guild, then the members of the council will leave immediately.
