Romanian Courts, Prosecutors Get New Blow From the Government
- Cabinet passes bill that prevents interim prosecutor mandates
- Officials warn that the changes will block their activity
Liviu Dragnea, center, in Bucharest on Dec. 16, 2018.
Photographer: Daniel Mihailescu/AFP via Getty Images
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Romania’s government moved to hamstring the country’s anti-corruption office and threaten the judicial independence with a decree that may weaken the fight against graft and halt investigations.
The move triggered a new warning about democratic backsliding from the European Union as the bloc battles efforts by governments, including those in Poland and Hungary, to subject courts to more political control. Romania’s case is fueled by the ruling Social Democratic Party’s fight to ease convictions that have put scores of its members behind bars and blocked its leader, Liviu Dragnea, from becoming prime minister.