Justice Minister Alina Gorgiu presented the government with a report on the fugitive phenomenon on Thursday, which shows that more than 2,600 people have been brought to Romania since 2020, most of them on the basis of European arrest warrants. She said there are three countries for which we no longer register any refusals to transfer because of prison conditions or other conditions cited by fugitives.

Alina Gorghiu said on Thursday that she made a report on the issue of refugees at the government meeting.

• “The Ministry presented this report on the number of persons under international investigation brought to Romania as a result of the efforts of three bodies involved in this process: the courts, the Ministry of Justice and the Center for International Police Cooperation.
• From 2020 until now, 2,607 people have been brought to Romania for international prosecution. Of these, 2,547 were brought under European arrest warrants. And the rest – through the extradition procedure.
• The difference between the European arrest warrant is that it is issued for fugitives from the territory of the European Union, unlike extradition, which operates in countries outside the European framework.
• This year, from January 1 to October 10, 621 people were brought to the country, 17 of them were extradited and 604 were issued a European arrest warrant. – said Alina Gorghiu at the end of the Government meeting.

Gorghiu: When considering extradition requests, courts in various countries require us to show the conditions of imprisonment

She reported that at the moment, 1,845 extradited or surrendered persons are serving their sentences in Romanian penitentiary institutions, which is equivalent to 7.82% of the total number of 23,590 people deprived of liberty in penitentiary institutions.

• “I also make the following relevant clarification to see the active role of the Ministry of Justice through the ANP regarding this phenomenon of fugitives: of the 1,845 persons from Romanian prisons who had the status of fugitives, 880 were brought to the country thanks to the guarantees provided by the Ministry of Justice through the ANP , regarding the conditions of detention that will be provided to persons subject to this type of procedure.
• You will ask me why I gave these guarantees. The courts, when considering extradition or European arrest warrant requests, in various countries, require the ANP through the Ministry of Justice to show what conditions exist in Romanian penitentiary institutions, as it is known that a significant number of fugitives refer to the fact that in Romanian penitentiary institutions treated less than the European level to the standard required at the European level, so in 2020 ANP decided to expand the minimum guaranteed space of 3 square meters for all performance modes, regardless of whether we are talking about open, closed, maximum security level for all persons who will be transferred to Romania in the process of international judicial cooperation.”, Gorgiou said.

Germany, Great Britain and Sweden no longer refuse to extradite fugitives

The Minister of Justice also cited three examples of countries that no longer refuse to extradite fugitives because of prison conditions.

• “As a result of this judicial cooperation in criminal cases with countries both in the EU and outside the EU, I want to make it clear that there are countries for which we no longer register any refusals of extradition due to prison conditions or other circumstances. conditions And I will give you examples: Germany, Great Britain, Sweden,” she said.

Romania wants to conclude extradition treaties with 13 non-EU countries / Negotiations with Canada and Mexico have begun

The justice minister also spoke on Thursday about extradition treaties with non-EU countries.

• “I started the steps with Canada after the discussion I had with the president of the Canadian Senate and with the institutions there; with Mexico, we have almost finished negotiating an extradition treaty, and there are other countries with which we are having bilateral discussions to improve the legal framework for extradition.
• I just want to clarify one thing: there is an extradition treaty between Romania and Canada that dates back to 1893! Therefore, we also discussed with the Ministry of Justice of Canada, and an agreement in principle was reached to start negotiations.
• Also, in the future, we are considering the possibility of concluding bilateral agreements with a number of 13 countries, about which this situation is presented to the Government in a report.” Alina Gorghiu also said.

The Minister of Justice announced that on Thursday the government passed a bill that provides for an additional penalty of up to 3 years in prison for those who do not surrender to custody within 7 days of conviction, a project that will be introduced in an emergency procedure in the legislature. The project is aimed at deterring fugitives.