The Ministry of Justice proposes a threshold of 9,000 lei for discrimination of abuses in the service, in a draft approved on Wednesday, with a threshold of 250,000 lei, the draft must reach the Chamber of Deputies. The project that revives GEO 13 left the Ministry of Justice to align the Criminal Code with the rulings of the RCS, the ministry led by Catalin Preda did not set a threshold as required by the Constitutional Court.

The Ministry of Justice reacted on Wednesday evening, after more than half a day after the draft senate, with the vote of PSD, PNL and UDMR senators.

The Ministry of Justice recalls the decision of the Constitutional Court, which required the establishment of a value threshold for discrimination of abuse in the service, without setting a limit.

The ministry, led by Katalin Preda, says that for the debate in the Chamber of Deputies on the draft law on the threshold level of the crime of abuse of office, it will support the adoption by the deputies of the threshold of 9,000 lei.

We present the full press release of the Ministry of Justice:

• “1. In connection with the crime of abuse of official position provided for in Article 297 of the Criminal Code, the decision of the Constitutional Court of Romania No. 392/2017 provides:
• a) paragraph 55 – “(…) The court, being obliged to interpret a legal provision in the sense of causing consequences and, thus, to give constitutional meaning [a se vedea în acest sens Decizia nr. 223 din 13 martie 2012]considers it necessary to establish the threshold of damage and the circumstances of the damage caused by the commission of the act, elements according to which criminal liability should be assessed”;
• b) paragraph 56 – “(…) The court emphasizes that the legislator is obliged to regulate the threshold of the value of the damage and the intensity of the damage or the legitimate interest arising from the commission of the act, in the criminal regulations regarding the crime of abuse of office, its passive nature led to the emergence of situations of inconsistency and instability, which contradicts the principle of security of legal relations in its component regarding the clarity and predictability of the law.”
• 2. In the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Romania or in the conclusions of the Venice Commission, there is no specific reference to the economic or financial value of such a threshold value of the crime related to abuse of office.
• 3. for debate in the Chamber of Deputies regarding the draft law on the threshold level of the crime of abuse of office, provided for in Art. 297 of the Criminal Code, the Ministry of Justice will support the adoption by the Chamber of Deputies of the threshold of 9,000 lei.”

It will be recalled that the Senate adopted a draft of amendments to the Criminal Code, which set the qualifying threshold for abuse and official negligence. More precisely, if the damage is less than 250,000 lei, i.e. 50,000 euros, then there is no crime. This was provided for by Law No. 13, which brought hundreds of thousands of people to the streets, only then the threshold was 200,000 lei.

The amendment providing for such an amount belongs to the PSD, PNL and UDMR and was included in the draft law, which was adopted on Wednesday by 78 votes to 25.

The amendment tabled by the coalition parliamentarians refers to the bill tabled by the Government, which did not provide for a price threshold, but only specified that malfeasance and official negligence are the failure of a public servant to comply with a law, order or regulation. an emergency situation that has caused damage or injury to a person.