Revista de Știinţe Politice şi Relaţii Internaţionale (Sep 2023)

FOLOSIREA (IN)ADECVATĂ A PUTERII ÎN SISTEMUL JUDICIAR DIN ROMÂNIA (2017-2023)

  • Andrea Annamaria Chiș

Journal volume & issue
Vol. XX, no. 3
pp. 195 – 228

Abstract

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The judicial system in Romania has become, within a few years, a pyramid-type structure, which can be controlled by a limited number of senior judges and prosecutors, a structure which allows absolute control over the career of every judge and prosecutor, control that can be used to promote certain people over others, or to sanction certain people and protect others for similar behaviour, depending on how they respond or not to commands. This great power has been and can still be used inappropriately without holding those who decide so accountable. Institutions within the judiciary that are supposed to defend the independence of each judge and prosecutor, of the courts and prosecutorial offices and of the judiciary as a whole, have been diverted from their original purpose, being used as instruments of political pressure. There is a growing discrepancy between the regulations and their application, between de iure and de facto independence, the independence perceived by judges and relevant stakeholders (litigants, representatives of the business environment etc.) and the society. Corruption weakens the balance between powers, which is reflected in some of the courts’ judgments, especially in those with a major social impact, influencing the level of trust in the judiciary in particular and in public institutions in general.

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