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The government understood at the last minute that, after the state of emergency expired, it would not be able to limit the exercise of certain rights and freedoms without a law passed in Parliament. The executive adopted a draft meeting on Monday to prevent and combat the effects of the COVID-19 epidemic after May 15. The project was sent to Parliament for debate and approval as a matter of urgency.
THE LAW CAN BE READ HERE!
The bill takes over most of the provisions of the state of emergency decrees and military ordinances of the past two months. Also, the Emergency Ordinance no. 21 of April 15, 2004 on the National Emergency Management System. This de facto extension of the state of emergency, under the so-called “state of alert”, has a first major problem: neither the bill nor GEO 21/2004 foresee a time limit. Therefore, the rights and freedoms of Romanians could be limited by decisions of the National Committee for Special Emergency Situations, with the consent of the Prime Minister, provided there is a threat of a coronavirus epidemic.
An interesting aspect is that of contraventions. After being “burned” with the fines imposed during the state of emergency, the Government presented in the bill submitted to Parliament only penalties for infractions for employers (art. 61). GEO 21/2004 also does not contain sanctions other than those imposed on the authorities (art. 37). It is not clear how measures targeting people will be imposed, such as restricting travel outside the localities and making the use of protective masks mandatory.
The draft no longer contains provisions related to the suspension of certain time limits or the organization of the activity of the courts and prosecutors, although these are among the most active institutions. Instead, there are numerous provisions that remove bureaucratic obstacles to political appointments (art. 20, 21) and direct and non-transparent public procurement (art. 59).
Even if it was adopted in emergency procedure this week, the bill won’t take effect until next week. The law must remain in Parliament after its adoption to allow any appeal to the RCC. Subsequently, even if it was immediately enacted by the president, the laws take effect only three days after their publication in the Official Gazette. Thus, Romanians will have at least a few days to return to normal before the pandemic.
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