National Institute of Magistracy

In its second annual EU rule-of-law report released in Brussels on Tuesday, the European Commission looks at the independence and quality of Romania's judiciary, the fight against corruption, media pluralism and media freedom.

Prosecutor General Augustin Lazar tells AGERPRES in a recent interview that the "noise" around the judiciary in Romania must not impress anyone in the justice system, as it is necessary to secure "uncompromised" institutions and a firm rule of law at European level.

President Klaus Iohannis told young magistrates on Tuesday that they chose to practice their profession "at a time when the act of justice is publicly questioned precisely by those who are called to answer before the law."

"You have chosen a job that, perhaps more than any other, is closely linked to the democratic path of the state," he said in a speech at the Cotroceni Palace.

To the prosecutorial corps, the coming into force of the new codes of law had the same significance as the passage of justice legislation had in the summer of 2004, and the reform that started 10 years ago was consolidated under the new codes, bringing justice in Romania in line with the European standards, Romania's Attorney General Tiberiu Nitu said Sunday.