Romanian PM agrees to remove President from naming chief prosecutors

Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu yesterday told Senate president Calin Popescu Tariceanu that he agreed with removing Romania’s President from the procedure of appoint the chief prosecutors of the country’s main prosecution institutions.

However, Grindeanu said that he did not want the appointments to be handled only by the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM), as proposed by the Senate president in his draft law, reports local Hotnews.ro. Grindeanu has come up with a compromise solution, according to a document sent by the Government to the Parliament.

According to the Government’s proposal, the justice minister should continue nominating the chief prosecutors and will send at least two proposals to the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM). CSM would then make the appointment based on a “transparent procedure”.

Romania’s general prosecutors and the chief prosecutors of the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) and the Directorate for Combatting Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) are currently named by the President based on proposals from the justice minister, which are also validated by the CSM.

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