Orban: We back abolition of Special Section, we hope to reach formula agreed by all parties in coalition

Chamber of Deputies' Speaker and National Liberal Party (PNL) leader Ludovic Orban reaffirmed that the party he represents supports the abolition of the Special Section for the Investigation of Justice Crimes (SIIJ) and expressed his hope that a formula agreed in this sense would be found in the coalition. "We are in the procedure of approving the law for the abolition of the Special Section. (...) The position of the PNL is very clear: we support the abolition of the Special Section. Of course, in order to successfully abolish the Special Section, we must agree on a form of abolishing the Section to be voted by the majority coalition. We supported any of the options - the variant adopted by the Government and the variant that was adopted by the Chamber of Deputies, also the variant that we proposed - no incompatibilities to exist - namely a prosecutor cannot investigate a judge in the area of competence and a judge cannot judge a prosecutor in the area of competence. There were several options, I hope we come up with a formula that is supported by all parties in the coalition," Orban said at Parliament. Regarding the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR)'s amendment to the bill, Orban said it would be discussed within the coalition. The Court of Justice of the European Union decided on Tuesday that it is up to the national courts to verify whether the establishment of the Special Section for the Investigation of Justice Crimes (SIIJ), which has the exclusive competence to investigate judges and prosecutors, complies with the requirements of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. AGERPRES (RO - author: Catalin Matei, editor: Mihai Simionescu; EN - author: Bogdan Gabaroi, editor: Adina Panaitescu)