NEW CHAIRMAN OF THE HIGHER COUNCIL OF MAGISTRATES, VIRGIL ANDREIEŞ: "Prosecutors must be free from the control of the Ministry of Justice"

The new chairman of the Higher Council of Magistrates (CSM), Virgil Andreieş, stated on Friday, during a press conference, that attorneys have to escape the supervision of the Ministry of Justice in order to be independent.

Virgil Andreieş explained: "I do not feel that it is advisable right now to change the procedure for appointing prosecutors in the General Prosecutor"s Office, DNA and DIICOT (Department to Counter International Organized Crime and Terrorism). On principle however, I agree that prosecutors must have the same guarantees concerning their freedom to act and their impartiality that judges have".

Virgil Andreieş stated that this means that, "when the time is right, prosecutors should escape the authority of the Minister of Justice, and the same procedure that applies to the High Court of Final Appeal and Justice should apply for the appointment leadership of the Prosecutors" Offices of the High Court of Final Appeal and Justice, the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) and DIICOT".

The leader of the CSM explained: "There are two institutions which are on the same level, and if we want the prosecutors to have a standing similar to that of judges, we must have similar appointment procedure, meaning a nomination from the CSM and appointment by the president of the republic. But I repeat, the time is not yet right for this".

Andreieş further added that, at the moment, the most important goal remains "the lifting of the European monitoring of the judicial system".