Famous lawyer turns down Dacian Cioloş and shows how, during his term, repressive institutions were supported instead of basic human rights

Conf. Dr. Radu Chiriţă, lawyer from Cluj, turned down Dacian Cioloş’s invitation to an event – which Raluca Prună and Dragoş Pîslaru are going to attend – regarding juridical topics, which takes place on September 3 2018. In his reply, Radu Chiriţă listed various instances in which, during his term as Prime Minister, Dacian Cioloş didn’t support basic rights and freedoms of Romanian citizens and instead went with various policies through which they were encumbered, “making prosecutors’ job easier”.

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„Esteemed Mr. Cioloş,

Thank you for inviting me to attend the event which will take place under the aegis of your organization, but I have to decline. Aside the fact that due to my busy personal schedule I would find it difficult to come all the way to Bucharest from Cluj just for such an event, there are also other reasons that make me decline the invitation.

Even if I assume everyone does things in good faith, and I have no personal reason to think you would act contrary to general interest, I do believe that this meeting is somewhat of a political manifestation, at least implicitly.

I have no political preference for either Romanian parties or organizations of recent years, and have always made sure not to get involved with either one of them.

Although the values affirmed by your organization, at least in principle, are somewhat close to my own, I’d find it difficult to say I support part of your or your team’s actions or pursuits as far as justice is concerned.

Since I’m not good with these things, I don’t know if your economic, diplomatic, and so on projects are ones that I would resonate with; but as far as justice is concerned, I find that you were wrong on too many occasions – both while you were in charge of Government and later on.

Lawyer Radu Chiriţă refuses Dacian Ciolos, Q Magazine

It’s not my intention to accuse you of anything, but I believe that in the spirit of democracy and freedom – values I strongly believe in – you will probably have to also listen to things that you don’t agree with.

As a lawyer I’ve always fought for the basic human rights of my clients; as a part of civil society, I’ve militated for turning Romania intro a real law-abiding state that puts the protection of basic human rights, freedoms, and the rule of law first, before anything else.

Under these circumstances, I feel that your term as Prime Minister didn’t have a positive impact on the way the justice system works. I also feel that Mrs. Prună was one of the worst Ministers of Justice, most likely ever, since Rodica Stănoiu to this day.

May I remind you that during your term there was an emergency ordinance through which you modified many aspects of the Code of Penal Procedure without any sort of pubic discussion on those matters and, with very few exceptions, without there being any emergency at all.

Part of those modifications were mandatory in order to follow through on the decisions of CCR, but many were adopted when prompted by prosecutor offices and had the effect of diminishing the protection suspects’ rights. I believe that legislation regarding penal trial shouldn’t be adopted so that prosecutors have an easier time with the process, but in order to protect suspects of potential abuse from prosecutors.

Also during your term, the CCR issued decisions which you had the obligation to put into practice within 45 days. Even if some of them weren’t so popular – particularly the one regarding abuse of power – the rule of law demanded you had that obligation, which you failed to fulfill.

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The judicial system has to be liberated from any influence or pressure. It’s something I’ve fought for during the last 15 years at least, putting together conferences on the topic of independence of the system, at a time when nobody wanted to attend such events.

(Also) during your term and that of Mrs. Prună, topics like the SIPA archives or ties between SRI, DIPI, and so on, and the system were side-stepped and remained unresolved. It’s pointless to build mechanisms through which we insure the independence of the justice system in rapport to the executive or legislative, if we allow the existence of potential tools for blackmail – SIPA – or illegal and non-democratic participation of Intelligence in acts of justice. Unfortunately, these issues weren’t just left unresolved, but various public declarations of Mrs. Prună ridiculed and minimized the significance of these aspects, clearly pointing out that SRI’s involvement in penal cases and in the justice system is in fact a positive thing. I personally can’t accept such a stand under any circumstances, and can’t support it by my presence at a meeting where such things won’t be discussed.

At the same time, I didn’t really appreciate your public stand on modifying the so-called laws of justice. I don’t believe that rejecting in bulk, like you did, all modifications made to laws or only accepting those supported by repressive institutions of the state – Ministry of Justice, SRI, and so on – is a fair stand as far as insuring public versus personal well-being.

I was and am not a PSD sympathizer and it’s clear that some of the legislative modifications that this party supports aim to protect people from its ranks, but that doesn’t mean that anything PSD comes up with is wrong by default. With some exceptions, a huge part of the modifications proposed aim to increase the level of protection of basic human rights and freedoms, and for a liberal movement like yours, such a thing should be a priority.

Supporting some modifications and rejecting others would probably affect your image among potential voters, but if you aim to win voters by using slogans and making untrue claims regarding the effect of some legislative modifications, I don’t believe you need either my opinion or that of other members of the justice process. I can’t support a policy that pretty much comes down to jail as many as possible and the prosecutor is always right.

And finally, so I can keep this short, I don’t think that the right stand was to deny the existence of the major issues inside DNA and giving Mrs. Kovesi unconditional support. Perhaps you’re not aware of the real scale of abuse made by this institution, which should have been faultless precisely because of its mission, but I find it hard to believe that you’re not aware of at least part of it. I find it just as hard to believe that your advisors have no idea of at least some of that.

Publicly denying that abuse, supporting the idea that the end – to remove from political life some bad people – justifies the means, claiming that, for instance, prosecutor Negulescu didn’t violate the rights of the Cozma family because these last aren’t palatable company, might earn you some electoral capital, but it’s not the right stand on things.

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Anyone – even the corrupt – has rights that need to be respected.

In equal measure, accepting abuse perpetrated by official institutions is the worst possible mistake. Because in doing so these mistakes will be repeated, and the state as a whole will fail.

I would have had more respect for you if you would have stated that there were abuses of power made by the DNA, that they should be swiftly investigated independently, and that those who covered up via management the wrongdoings there should be removed from office – all of it precisely in order to save the institution and re-establish its credibility, even with the risk of the Cozma family coming out of trial scot-free.

I don’t want to prolong this any more since I’m not entirely convinced that you have the time or inclination to read what I have to say. I only want to assure you that the above-written was stated in good faith, without me being any supporter of PSD, corrupt, or a member of any group. I have or attempt to have the same principles regardless of the situation I face; I promote what is fair and right, whether I stand to lose or gain. But I don’t think that the event you’re hosting is the place to promote such things.

I am available should you want any other opinion or information.

Conf. Dr. Radu Chiriţă

Coordinating lawyer,

SCA Chiriţă & Associates

Str. Tăietura Turcului, nr. 18, Cluj Napoca

Tel: +40364264996

www.chirita-law.com”

, the lawyer wrote to former Prime Minister Dacian Cioloş.

Below is the text of the invitation that he was sent for the September 3 event.

„Esteemed Mr. Chiriţă,

Romania depends upon its professionals. During the time when I led Romania’s Government, I came to realize that public policies can be best developed based on the needs and suggestions made by experienced people in the area in which those policies would be applied. Lawyers are in a special situation: beyond knowledge of legislation, lawyers get to understand – at times better than their clients – how entire sectors of activities function and can point out necessary measures for improving how they function.

A short while back, together with some of the colleagues who were also part of the Government I led, I created a new political party – the Romania Together Movement. We are all specialists who experienced governing for a short time. On that occasion, we understood that things can be changed in Romania when you put public interest before personal interest. That’s the reason why we don’t want to be a political party whose platform would be based exclusively on its own ideas. We don’t claim to hold any absolute truths and have no miraculous solutions. But we are ready to listen and take on recommendations from professionals. And, last but not least, we are open and ready to give honest answers to questions from professionals regarding our plans.

You are one of the leaders in this noble profession. That’s the reason why I would be honored by your attendance to a working breakfast, where we will discuss the vision of the Romania Together Movement for various areas and your suggestions as far as justice, economy, or the rapport between the state and its citizens are concerned. Aside I, in attendance will be Raluca Prună – former Minister of Justice – and Dragoş Pîslaru – former Minister of Work and Social Protection. Other than you, we also invited a small number of fellow lawyers who are part of the bar’s elite.

The working breakfast will happen on September 3 2018, beginning with 12 PM, at the Ghica Palace on Calea Victoriei (access through Nicolae Iorga Street, nr. 1).

I hope to get the chance to meet you, and ask that you confirm your intent to participate at any of these email addresses.

Your friend,

Dacian Cioloş”