Romania had not been able to keep up the momentum of reform it had established by mid-2009, the European Commission (EC) report on justice published today (Tues) said.
The report claimed that few results had been seen and the justice system had been struggling to survive with staff shortages: "Only limited results can be demonstrated in judicial reform, while no effective improvement can be noted for the difficult human resourcing situation in the judiciary, and the capacity of the judicial system has been put under further strain by net staff losses".
The report also highlighted that parliamentary discussion of the draft civil and criminal procedure codes had been delayed by election campaigns last year.
As far as the fight against corruption was concerned, the EC report said "continued delays in high-level corruption trials, together with inconsistent and lenient penalties imposed by courts, continue to present important challenges for Romania".
The EC recommended that Romania "intensify efforts" to adopt and implement new criminal and civil procedures codes.
It also said that Romania must ensure "a more transparent, and efficient judicial process," continue the process of "non-partisan investigation of allegations of high-level corruption" and continue the fight against corruption at the local-government level.
Romania has been under the EC's supervision due to weaknesses in the justice system and the fight against corruption after its accession to the European Union on 1 January 2007.
Romanian Times
