Romania’s justice minister offered his resignation Thursday after failing to put forward a controversial measure pushed by the ruling party — but which Brussels warned would violate EU rule of law standards.
The leader of the ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD), Liviu Dragnea, wanted Justice Minister Tudorel Toader to issue an emergency decree on the criminal code that was expected to reduce the statute of limitations for multiple offenses. Dragnea and other party members argued the decree was needed to bring the penal code in line with a recent Constitutional Court decision.
POLITICO reports “Critics argued it would be used to benefit Dragnea, who was sentenced to jail last year in a case involving fake jobs for party workers, which he has appealed.
The European Commission has warned against the emergency decree, and along with the U.S., Germany, France and nine other countries urged Romania earlier this month not to pass emergency laws that risked weakening the country’s justice system and its ability to fight corruption.
The PSD officially withdrew its political support for Toader on Wednesday after he declared there was no emergency for him to issue such a decree, prompting him to offer his resignation to the prime minister on Thursday.”
Via POLITICO
