After Călin Georgescu announced that he is attacking the annulment of the presidential elections at the ECHR, comes the surprise statement of the lawyer who will support his case before the European court.
Călin Georgescu’s lawyer submitted the file to the ECHR on December 16. Photo by Inquam Octav Ganea
Călin Georgescu continues to be the man of surprises. The lawyer who will represent him at the ECHR, Maria Vasii, known in Romania for having defended no less famous characters such as Cristian Cioacă, Liviu Dragnea or ÎPS Teodosie, announced that the file was submitted as early as December 16, simultaneously with the court action in country.
“This approach was started on December 16, we applied for the emergency procedure, the Court received this examination for us in the emergency procedure and, as such, informed us that by the end of January we will have a decision. We don’t know if it will be a favorable one or not”, said lawyer Maria Vasii on Realitatea TV.
According to her, the action filed on December 16 received the number 37327/24 and the European Court announced that the file will be analyzed “as soon as possible during January 2025”, thus confirming the seriousness of the situation and the need for an urgent solution, by which to avoid throwing the political situation into chaos.
We remind you that Romania is facing an unprecedented situation after, four days after validating the first round of the presidential elections, the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) reversed its decision, following the declassification of documents from the CSAT, and decided that the electoral process for the election of the president be restarted practically from scratch, starting with the collection of signatures.
The only court that can appeal the decision of the Constitutional Court of Romania is the ECHR, to which Călin Georgescu has now turned, requesting the resumption of the elections from the 2nd round, in which he had qualified from first place.
We present you fragments of his motivation to the ECHR.
“Irreparable harm:
The suspension of the electoral process and the invalidation of votes irremediably affects the rights of the applicant and Romanian citizens, guaranteed by Art. 3, Protocol no. 1 of the Convention.
Political and social crisis:
The electoral vacuum created by the CCR decision undermines political stability and public confidence in the rule of law, causing social protests and risks of internal instability.
Urgency of the situation:
The second round of the presidential elections was supposed to take place on December 8, 2024. The indefinite postponement of the electoral process affects the democratic rights of citizens and generates the risk of the perpetuation of undemocratic practices.
Impossibility of exercising domestic remedies:
The decisions of the CCR are final and generally binding, and the Romanian legislation does not provide an internal mechanism for contesting them, violating Article 13 of the Convention (the right to an effective appeal).”
Direct impact on fundamental rights:
The CCR’s decision annulled the ongoing electoral process, violating the fundamental rights of voters and candidates, including the applicant’s right to run.
The constitutional crisis:
The lack of a democratically elected president creates a vacuum of legitimacy, endangering institutional stability and the principles of the rule of law.
Social reactions:
Protest gestures, such as the destruction of identity documents, reflect a profound loss of citizens’ trust in the democratic process.
Risk of undemocratic precedent:
Delaying the resolution of the case could perpetuate similar practices, affecting democratic standards in other member states.” Călin Georgescu explains his request to the ECHR.
“It is essential that decisions that directly influence the electoral process and the democratic fate of a nation be subjected to rigorous analysis. The judges who issued the decision regarding the annulment of the elections will have to, at the appropriate time, answer before the competent European courts”, said Călin Georgescu for Q Magazine.
