There will be no staff restructuring at the Justice Ministry and its subordinate structures, as they are facing a personnel deficit, however, financial discipline will be imposed, Justice Minister Radu Marinescu told AGERPRES in an interview.

'The Justice Ministry will contribute to the effort of financial responsibility. The Justice Ministry will try to respect the budget it will receive. I don't think staff restructuring will be considered, because, on the one hand, within the ministry itself, the departments and services are largely understaffed, but they are operating and we ensure that they function properly. At the ministry's leadership level, we are working with two of the five secretaries of state in the scheme, and we do not intend to request any additional staff, so that we keep within financial discipline and rigor. Regarding the subordinate structures, such as the National Administration of Penitentiaries, ANABI and Citizenship, we estimate that no staff restructuring can be considered there either, as their staffing schemes are also incomplete,' says Radu Marinescu in the interview.

The Justice minister also mentioned that prosecutors are working on several cases opened following the annulment of the presidential elections, concerning extremist and legionary activities, electoral campaign funding, citizen votes influencing and cyberattacks targeting electoral infrastructure. Investigations are ongoing, and checks might be carried out abroad as well.

Regarding manipulations on the TikTok network during the electoral campaign, Radu Marinescu says that there is an investigation at the European Commission level, and the decisions made by the Commission will be implemented in Romania.

On the other hand, the Justice minister believes that any possible regulation of expression on social media needs to be carefully assessed to respect citizens' right to free speech.

Regarding the publication of evidence based on which the Constitutional Court annulled the presidential elections, Radu Marinescu says that several cases have been opened by the prosecutors concerning the way the electoral campaign was conducted, and publishing this evidence would compromise 'the discovery of the truth with legal relevance.'

In respect to the Venice Commission's report, the minister noted that it 'represents a comparative constitutional law analysis, which addresses a situation at the European level. It does not constitute a specific critique of the Romanian Constitutional Court's decision.' Marinescu added.

'The Venice Commission mentions twice that it does not analyse the decision of the Romanian Constitutional Court itself, but only the necessary measures and steps to ensure that the annulment of the elections takes place in a democratic state, with maximum guarantees for electoral rights, citizens' ability to challenge electoral results, and what procedural mechanisms should be established and functional. Based on this analysis, recommendations are made, and, of course, Romania, as a state that respects the 'rule of law,' will carefully analyse these recommendations and consider how electoral legislation may need to be amended,' said the minister.

In the interview, Radu Marinescu also discusses the priorities of his mandate, including the digitisation of courts, including through the use of Artificial Intelligence, continued investments in penitentiaries, lowering stamp duties, and addressing the personnel deficit.

Among his priorities, the minister also mentioned the 'normal and efficient functioning of justice, managing our resources responsibly to achieve the goal I mentioned earlier, namely a justice system for citizens that instills trust. Along these lines, we will identify and have already identified several solutions to ensure the speed of judicial procedures, avoiding situations that public opinion has highlighted, such as the expiration of criminal cases due to prescription.'

He also mentioned the adoption of normative acts to fulfill all the milestones needed to access the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

'We aim to fulfill all milestones to join the OECD, and we have some normative acts that need to be adopted. We are continuously working to achieve this and, of course, to preserve all the positive results Romania has had in the 'rule of law' mechanism, transcending the last recommendations made to us, so that justice in Romania is equal to that of the most esteemed, legally speaking, countries in Europe,' Marinescu further said. AGERPRES (RO - author: Eusebi Manolache, editor: Georgiana Tanasescu; EN - editor: Adina Panaitescu)