Romanian Intelligence Service Controls the “LEGALITY IN THE MAKING OF JUSTICE”
A New Attribution of the Romanian Intelligence

Transparency International Romania expresses its profound concern with regards to the events that ignited the recent press declarations on the activities performed by the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) at Piatra Neamţ.

According to the press release issued by the Romanian Association of Magistrates (AMR) at the end of last week, the General Assembly of the judges at the Neamţ Tribunal sent a message regarding the pressures justice is submitted to in Romania, to the European Commission’s Directorate General for Justice, Freedom and Security, the European Parliament and the Council of Europe. According to the same source, the same day the message was published, an intelligence employee came at the Tribunal premises and requested data concerning the judges endeavours, reserving the right to require additional information.

As a result, on Friday, May 29th, the Intelligence Service specified that the actions the AMR mentioned had occured more than two weeks ago, and that they were tendentiously and completely out of line presented, and also that the Neamţ County Direction of the Intelligence Service has officially pursued the clarification of the aspects reported by the AMR. On this occasion, the Intelligence Service called attention to the fact that “the protection of justice, including through the examination of the information connected to the possible effects to its independence, is also within the institution’s attributions, which in this particular case, have been exercised with professionalism and transparency”.

In light of these declarations, Transparency International Romania would like to remind that, according to the article 1 of the Law no. 14/1992 regarding the organising and functioning of the Romanian Intelligence Service, the latter is the state body specialised in the information regarding Romania’s national security, and organises and carries on activities in order to collect, examine and valorise information necessary to acknowledge, prevent and counteract any actions defined by the law as threats to Romania’s national security (article 2 of the same law).

Considering these legal provisions and, at the same time, faithful to the same principle of transparency appealed to by the Intelligence Services in the press declaration issued, as well as the professed availability to clarify any misunderstanding in this situation, Transparency International Romania requests that, based on the conclusions of the internal investigation of the Intelligence Services, the SRI explains how the public message of the Neamţ Tribunal endangers Romania’s national security, the constitutional order and the rule of law, as well as clarifying which values have been protected on the occasion of the control pursued at the Neamţ Tribunal.

SRI’s line of intimidating the magistrates in view of their public declarations and expressed opinions points to the level of degradation of the democratic standards and rule of law values. Thus, in a transparent, unreserved manner, the road was open for the intelligence operations within the judiciary.

Transparency International Romania

Victor Alistar, Executive Director