The Ombudsman, Victor Ciorbea, announced on Wednesday, that he will analyse President Klaus Iohannis’ arguments regarding the possibility of challenging the GEO with the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) with respect to the amendments of the Criminal Codes, stating that the decision will be taken as soon as possible.
” The President mentioned a decision from 2013 of the CCR, because the legal texts are the ones mentioned this morning. We will seriously analyse the arguments presented by the President and will try to take a decision in the shortest time. (…) If we read the law, this is what it says, that if there are CCR decisions that make exception to this legal provision, we analyse them and see what we can do,” Ciorbea declared after the meeting with president Klaus Iohannis.
President Klaus Johannis stated on Wednesday that the Ombudsman may refer the matter of the GEO to CCR, on the amendment of the Criminal Codes, showing that there is a precedent in 2013 in the case of challenging such a normative act.
„I know that it has been circulated earlier this morning in this area that the Ombudsman cannot intervene because certain articles are still not in force. Together with the jurists with the Presidential Administration we searched for documents and found [something]. There is a precedent of October 2013 when the Ombudsman then challenged a GEO on insolvency, on 9 October, although it was supposed to come into force on 25 October, and the CCR at that time decided that the notification is correct. Therefore without any kind of problem and using this precedent this emergency ordinance can be challenged,” Iohannis said after he met Ombudsman Victor Ciorbea.
The Head of State showed that he put these data at the Ombudsman’s disposal, showing that he promised to analyse the situation „with celerity.”
„My hope is that until tomorrow or maybe the day after tomorrow he will make the right decision and notify the CCR,” Iohannis said.
