A panel of judges of Romania’s High Court of Cassation and Justice (ICCJ) suspended its cases and asked the ICCJ leading body (Sectiile Unite) to decide whether the new panels formed in 2019 are entitled to judge the cases handled by other panels in 2018.

All the cases judged by panels formed in January 2019, mostly involving high-profile politicians, were suspended and deferred for February 4, local Hotnews.ro reported.

The uncertainty is generated by a ruling by the magistrates’ body CSM as regards the non-transferability of cases from one panel to another, partly conflicting the Constitutional Court (CC) ruling on annual formation of random panels.

The procedural complications started in October, when the Government objected to existing panels of judges at ICCJ reportedly in order to prevent a negative sentence against the leader of the ruling coalition, Liviu Dragnea. The Constitutional Court sustained the Government’s position and new panels were formed and will be changed randomly on a yearly basis. However, a ruling given by CSM in December based on general practice stipulates the handling of a case by only one panel of judges up to the end.

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editor@romania-insider.com

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