GP Lazar: Nothing from what I said suggests I want to put justice above state powers

The General Prosecutor of Romania, Augustin Lazar, on Sunday evening specified that nothing from the message he had posted on Facebook a couple of hours before suggested he wants to put justice above the state powers or beyond them, and that the Minister of Justice, Tudorel Toader, quoted his words out of context, in order to be able to make his accusations.

"The Minister of Justice is misinterpreting the message that I posted on the Internet on September 16, referring to competencies, which message had at its core the principle of equilibrium and separation of state powers, while he took some of my words out of context, in order to be able to make his accusations.

The General Prosecutor also said that the message he sent "underscores that an independent justice is capable through its institutions and by exercising its prerogatives within a constitutional framework, alongside the other state powers, to ensure an equilibrium of the state powers, based on a mutual control between powers, in the best interest of the society and in maintaining the rule of law."

Lazar also mentioned that nothing from his message showed his alleged intention to place justice beyond the state powers.

"So there is nothing in there that suggests my alleged intention to place justice beyond the state powers and above it, or to outstrip the constitutional framework, or that suggests the existence of a juridical conflict between the state powers, which, of course, is the Constitutional Court's jurisdiction," Augustin Lazar wrote.

He stated that the principles in his message are also to be found in the Charter of Rome (as adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the European Council, based on the Opinion no. 9 of 2014 of the Consultative Council of European Prosecutors) and also in the explanatory note, which underscored that the prosecutors must accomplish their tasks without any pressure or interference from the outside, according to the principle of separation of state powers. AGERPRES (RO - editor: Nona Jalba, EN - author: Cristina Zaharia, editor: Adina Panaitescu)