CCR decision a serious and dangerous regress
Former Minister of Justice Ana Birchall said on Thursday that the decision of the Constitutional Court to eliminate the public character of wealth and interest statements is ‘a serious and dangerous regress’, mentioning that the Ministry of Justice has the obligation to come urgently with a legislative proposal to correct this situation by a clear regulation.
‘The honest Romanians are again humiliated. That’s how the thief hides. This is how wealth is washed. Years are left without teeth. Transparency disappears. The decision of the Constitutional Court to eliminate the public character of declarations of wealth and interests is a serious and dangerous regress. This decision strikes directly in transparency, in public control and in the activity of the National Integrity Agency, which remains practically without the essential tools for preventing and sanctioning corruption. More serious, this decision also disappears the obligation to declare the assets of the husband, wife or children – an obvious breach, which allows the hiding assets through interposed and makes it impossible to verify the real conflicts and incompatibilities. It is, practically, an open invitation to conceal the assets, under the protection of the law ‘, wrote on Facebook Ana Birchall, who is a resigning presidential adviser, whose mandate will end on June 30.
She argued that ‘it is not the first time to try to undermine the years and eliminate transparency’.
‘In 2019, as a Minister of Justice, I took heavy fights with some CSM members led by Lia Savonea and all the attacks, with all the harassment at me I did not leave and defended the interest of the honest Romanians categorically blocking an legislative initiative that followed the same purpose: weakening the regime of statements. I said then – and I repeat it firmly today: transparency in public office is not optional! It is an essential pillar of a state of real law, « added Birchall.
According to her, the CCR decision does not only affect the anti -corruption struggle within the country, but ‘seriously compromise the image and credibility of Romania in the European and International Union’.
‘In the current context, in which the allocation of European funds is conditioned by the respect of the rule of law, Romania risks sanctions, suspending financing and marginalization at European level. Moreover, the road to Romania can be severely affected to the OECD! What confidence can our partners have when, instead of strengthening the integrity, do we legalize the opacity? ‘, The former minister said.
She showed that the Ministry of Justice has the obligation to come urgently with a legislative proposal that corrects this situation through a clear regulation, a code of transparency, which will restore the public, complete and verifiable character of wealth statements-including family members.
‘Protect years. Protect the public interest. Do not protect organized corruption and thief! Because, in the end, it is a fundamental choice: either we build a rule of law, based on integrity and responsibility, or we accept that Romania will be captured by an organized corruption, institutionally protected and fueled by the silence of those who should act. I choose the rule of law. Whoever has nothing to hide has no reason to be afraid of transparency ‘, she said.
Birchall claimed that ‘Romania is no longer allowed to be left to an organized, institutional protected corruption, in which the thief hides under robes, immunities or functions’.
‘We cannot build the future on the ruins of public trust. It is time for honest Romanians not to stay away. We must say it: we are tired of hidden privileges, laws made to protect those who steal and decisions that serve clushes, not citizens. Romania must be removed from the hands of those who want to hold it in the dark! Whoever has nothing to hide has no reason to be afraid of transparency. But whoever fears transparency has nothing to do in public functions. It is time to distinguish those who serve the state from those who only use it. Whoever wants a Romania in which corruptions hide their assets, and institutions become a shield for the thief to continue silent. Whoever wants a straight, free and worthy country has to get up now. Not tomorrow. Now, Birchall wrote.
She also claimed that this decision is not only a mistake, but it is a resistance test for democracy.
‘And if we do not pass it, Romania risks falling permanently into the hands of an oligarch that has learned to steal with the law in hand. I blocked this attack in 2019 and I will not be silent now, although I am convinced that I will be marginalized and attacked. But I rely on you! It takes all those who believe in the law, in truth and in honest Romania. The moment of truth has arrived: Romania either rises and breaks the chain of institutionalized corruption, or will remain kneeling under the boot that suffocates it. There is no middle way. It arrives with the lie and protecting the privileges! Whoever wants a correct country has to say stop, not tomorrow. Now, Birchall said.
The Constitutional Court on Thursday decided that the statements of wealth and interests will no longer be published on the website of the National Integrity Agency, nor on the online pages of other public institutions, and these statements no longer have to include the revenues and goods of the spouses and children.
According to a statement sent on Thursday, with a majority of votes, the RCC declared unconstitutional art.3 paragraph (2) of Law no. 176/2010, with the following content: ‘The declarations of wealth are prepared on their own responsibility and include the rights and obligations of the declarant, of the spouse, as well as of the children in the maintenance, according to the annex. 1 ‘.
As a result of this decision, which is final, the statements of wealth that are submitted to the National Integrity Agency no longer have to include the goods of the spouses and children.
