The referendum within the Corps of Magistrates, if there is no other option, will be by mail vote, according to the intentions of President Nicușor Dan, official sources show. If the head of state’s approach succeeds, the DNA would once again have powers over cases involving corrupt magistrates.
The stake of the referendum (or of the option that will be chosen) is the pressure, as the magistrates stated that, putting the power in the hands of nine people, there will automatically be abuses. The result of the referendum could lead to a package of measures negotiated in the coalition, according to the sources cited.
An essential issue is the elimination of subjectivity in competitions for magistrates, the second issue is the power of the head of the court.
In addition, magistrates should be investigated on the basis of competence, and the current structure – the special section for the investigation of magistrates – would be abolished, which means that the investigation of corrupt magistrates could return to the DNA. It’s a complicated matter though.
The sources from Cotroceni show that the president is aware that it will be difficult to defend this position, because the magistrates will say that they do not want to return to the period when they were threatened by the prosecutors.
Regarding the changes at the CSM, for the president, currently, the change in people is more important than the legislation.
According to the same sources, the president Nicușor Dan believes that, in order to correct the imbalances in the judicial system, it is also necessary to limit the judge to a single mandate at the Judicial Inspection.
According to the sources, the changes to the laws of justice would be made through the parliamentary debate procedure, not by engaging the government’s responsibility, the acceptance of such changes by the governing coalition having chances to be achieved precisely under public pressure.
