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Romania will take the first step towards freedom on Friday: it will change the state of emergency with the state of alert. But the first step towards normality comes in a field of legislative vacuum. Alertness is regulated by an emergency ordinance adopted by the Nastase government in 2004. The parents of the ordinance were Ion Rus (Minister of the Interior), Gabriel Oprea (Minister of Administration) and Dan Ioan Popescu (Minister of Economy) . The emergency ordinance of the time of Adrian Năstase (GEO 21/2004) was questioned in the Constitutional Court just a few days ago by the Ombudsman, Renate Weber, a former ALDE MEP. So after 16 years, we find out if the ordinance is constitutional or not.
According to sources at the Victoria Palace, the Orban government hopes that the ordinance will be rejected by the RCC. Expectations are well founded. Last week, the Court ruled that the fines imposed during the state of emergency were unconstitutional. The increase in fines for citizens who do not respect isolation was also imposed by an emergency ordinance in early April. However, the Court ruled that citizens’ rights (free movement, for example) cannot be restricted by an emergency ordinance, but by an organic law adopted by Parliament. The organic law is adopted by an absolute majority: 50% + 1 of the total number of parliamentarians. “Since the Court rejected the GEO on freedom of movement, it will probably also reject the 2004 GEO on alertness, because these are also rights restricted by an emergency ordinance, not by law,” liberal sources say. true
CCR will debate the notification of the Ombudsman on Wednesday. If GEO 21/2004 is rejected, as the entire political class expects, the Orban government remains without a legal basis to impose a state of alert. So on Thursday night, the state of emergency expires, and on Friday there is a legislative gap. Basically, Romania returns to normal, taking advantage of the lack of a law. In desperation, the Executive sent Parliament a bill on Monday detailing the measures of the state of alert. In other words, the government signed into law the 2004 emergency ordinance, with some additions.
Negotiation instead of the law
However, from a legal point of view, it is impossible for the government’s initiative to become law until Thursday night, when the presidential decree on the state of emergency expires. Hacked by PSD, the bill passed to the Senate on Tuesday, and on Wednesday it will be quickly adopted by the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making forum. But any bill, after its passage, must remain in Parliament for two more days, during which time a political party can notify the RCC. The state of emergency law will certainly not be challenged in court, but the two-day deadline must be respected. There are no exceptions
Therefore, the law adopted on Wednesday will be sent to Cotroceni on Friday for enactment. Exactly the first day of “parole”. The president will immediately sign the decree and the law will reach the Official Gazette. But here too there is a temporary barrier. According to the Constitution, any law comes into force three days after its publication in the Official Gazette. There are no exceptions. Therefore, the state of emergency law will take effect no later than next Monday. What happens from Friday to Monday? “It just came to our attention then. If the 2004 GEO fails the RCC, there will be no legal alert on Friday. The law passed by Parliament should have appeared in the Official Gazette no later than Monday night. So the deadline It has already been overcome, “explains lawyer Elenina Nicuţ.
From Friday to Monday, Romania will cross a legislative desert. There will be no sanctions for violating the rules to combat the pandemic. Each citizen will choose whether or not to wear a mask, respect social distance, without being touched by the state’s coercive arm. In conclusion, each citizen will govern himself from Friday to Monday. In the absence of a law, Romania will implement the Swedish model, based on freedom and individual responsibility, for a weekend.
In the event that GEO 14/2004 is unlikely to pass the Court filter, the Orban Government may impose decisions based on the regulatory act of 16 years ago. Meanwhile, the law started on Monday by the Executive will also take effect.
Iohannis could change his mind
There’s only one way for the state to impose restrictions beginning Friday. “President Klaus Iohannis can extend the state of emergency for a few days, so that the law on the state of alert takes effect. That there is this legal overlap. But politically speaking, it would mean contradicting himself. The president has already announced that he will not extend the decree about the state of emergency, so it created certain expectations among the population, “says Elenina Nicut.
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