UPDATE Court rules criminal code amendments unconstitutional

The Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) on Monday sustained constitutionality objections filed by the opposition Save Romania Union (USR), National Liberal Party (PNL) and President Klaus Iohannis over Parliament's amendments to the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure, CCR officials have told AGERPRES. The sources say Parliament failed to bring provisions in the Criminal Codes in line with CCR rulings. According to them, on July 11, constitutional judges closed debates on these objections, but delayed a final ruling. It was the seventh time that the case was postponed. The objections regard Law for amending and supplementing Law 286/2009 on the Criminal Code, as well as Law 78/2000 on the prevention and punishment of corruption acts, and the Law amending and supplementing Law 135/2010 on the Code of Criminal Procedure, as well as amending Law 304/2004 on the organisation of the judiciary. AGERPRES (RO - author: Mihai Stoica, editor: Andreea Rotaru; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Adina Panaitescu)