The Romanian Senate passed on May 11 a bill that modified the Penal Code and the Penal Procedure Code.

According to the amendment, the prosecutors will only be able to arrest someone preventively only if they have solid clues that that person has broken the penal law. So far, prosecutors could make arrests on “reasonable suspicions” that someone had broken the law.

The senators who initiated this bill said that since the Penal Code was modified, on February 1, 2014, the preventive arrest has become a rule, especially in corruption cases, when, in fact, this measure should be exceptional, reports local Mediafax.

The anticorruption prosecutors have arrested some high profile politicians in the past year, including former ministers and members of the Parliament. In recent months, however, the Senate and the Deputies Chamber have rejected the prosecutors’ requests to arrest several other MPs.

The Senate approved the changes to the Penal Code with 88 votes for and 26 against. The Deputies Chamber will have the final vote on this bill.

editor@romania-insider.com