Marinescu appeals to magistrates: Call a spade a spade. It is not enough to accuse, you must prove it

Minister Radu Marinescu claims that he has not received any complaints regarding the problems in the justice system highlighted in the Recorder documentary.

„The issues raised in the Recorder documentary, concerning specific abuses against certain judges or prosecutors, were clearly not discussed at the time when we formed that coalition. Since I have been minister, I have never received any complaints from any magistrate at the Ministry of Justice informing me that they were victims of abuse or persecution because they think differently, have a certain vision, or expose the dysfunctions of the system. I have not even received any complaints from magistrates telling me about dysfunctions, so that I could have such concrete evidence,” Marinescu told RFI.

When the presenter remarked that magistrates were afraid of reprisals and that the press had been writing about political-judicial collusion in recent years, the Minister of Justice replied: „That’s right, there has been talk of abuses in the justice system for a long time, and there was talk of abuses even when the justice system was not run by the current people who are… I would like to put an end to all abuses. I don’t know if they were afraid or not.”

He asks magistrates to have the courage to call a spade a spade

„My direct message to magistrates is: if you have irremovability, according to the law, if you have the courage to judge difficult cases, important cases, and you must have it, because that is the role of the magistrate in a state governed by the rule of law, then you must certainly also have the courage to call a spade a spade, to come up with concrete evidence, because magistrates and lawyers know very well that it is not enough to accuse, but you must also prove, come up with concrete evidence. I ask them to come up with all the concrete evidence so that we can know it and resolve everything that needs to be resolved in the justice system,” said the minister.

When asked where magistrates should submit these reports, Radu Marinescu stated: „I speak for the Ministry of Justice. Magistrates who have knowledge of crimes should contact the criminal investigation authorities. Magistrates who have knowledge of abuses should report them, and they can report them publicly, of course, to the bodies that investigate these disciplinary matters, which is the Judicial Inspection, an independent body, according to the law and to us, as the Ministry of Justice, if they wish to bring them to our attention, so that we can then be a voice supporting the fight against such abuses.”