The Uncomfortable Chief Justice Paul Florea Was Retired

Paul Florea, Chief Justice of The Supreme Court of Romania (also known as The High Court of Cassation and Justice) has been discarded from his office on the count that he has come to the age of retirement. Starting next week, the highest office in the Romanian judiciary will be occupied by one of the magistrates agreeable to the current administration, which also has the majority within The Supreme Court and The High Magistrate Council.

Paul Florea was appointed Chief Justice by then President Emil Constantinescu in 1998, to the dissatisfaction of the current administration. PSD would have preferred a puppet on this job so went as far as offering Florea to make him an ambassador, hoping to get rid of him. The animosity between Florea and the current administration goes back a long way, as Florea was one of the magistrates who claimed, in 1996, that Ion Iliescu was not legally entitled to run for another presidential term, as he had already had the maximum of two terms permitted by law.

The High Magistrate Council yesterday denied Florea's request to be allowed to complete his current term despite having come to the age of retirement (70). Although Florea's term expires in 2006, The Council invoked the new Constitution, which prevents judges from completing their term on the bench if they come to the age of retirement.

Florea's critical views of the current administration plus the authority of the high office he occupies have turned him into one of the most uncomfortable men to PSD. One example is the arrest of Judge Andreea Ciuca. At that time, Florea said the prosecutors who had issued the arrest warrant were not as independent as they should be and insinuated that political influences were at play. As a matter of fact, his argument, based on European law, has been in the meantime accepted by Parliament upon modifying The Criminal Code in the sense that only a judge, who is (supposed to be) independent can issue arrest or search warrants.

Florea also advocated the irremovability of Supreme Court justices, or simply put, their life-time appointment to the bench. Florea believes that the temporal limitation of the magistrates' term makes them dependable on political factors and therefore influences their rulings. Florea was also one of those who lobbied for the renunciation to the so-called "appellate review in annulment" in civil cases (a prerogative of the Attorney General), which has caused Romania many losses in The European Court of Human Rights.