July 6 (SeeNews) - The Council of Europe advised Romania to wait for the Venice Commission review before going further with reforming the country' s criminal codes.
"I call upon all parties concerned to wait for the Venice Commission’s opinion, and to take it into account, before any further steps are taken to amend Romania’s Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code," Council of Europe secretary general Thorbjorn Jagland said in a statement on Thursday.
The Venice Commission is an advisory body of the Council of Europe, composed of independent experts in the field of constitutional law.
Jagland added that the reform risks contradicting Romania’s international obligations, notably under the Council of Europe Criminal Law Convention on Corruption, as identified by the recent ad hoc report of the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO).
"As a member state of our organisation, Romania is duty-bound to uphold the rule of law. The Council of Europe will continue to pay close attention to the on-going developments in Romania and we stand ready to provide further expertise if needed," Jagland said.
The Venice Commission’s opinion was requested by the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly in a decision on June 28. The opinion is due on October 19.
On Wednesday, Romania's parliament adopted controversial amendments to the criminal code easing punishment for some corruption offences such as abuse of office. The changes were initiated by the leftist ruling coalition comprising left-wing Social Democratic Party (PSD) and its junior partner Liberal-Democrat Alliance (ALDE).
Critics see the new legislation as an attempt to shield corrupt public officials and backtrack on the fight against graft.
Opposition right-wing National Liberal Party (PNL) and centre-right Save Romania Union (USR) said on Thursday in a joint statement that they would challenge the law at the Constitutional Court.
In mid-June, the parliament passed another set of controversial amendments to the criminal codes, sparking protests in Bucharest and other Romanian cities.
At the time, 12 western nations urged Romania not to adopt legislation that could undermine the rule of law and weaken the fight against corruption.
Romania received similar warnings in December last year from seven EU member states which called on Romania's ruling leftist coalition to refrain from any action resulting in weakening of the independence of the judiciary and of the fight against corruption.
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