The Romanian President finally promulgated the law repealing Article 276
On Wednesday, President Traian Basescu promulgated the law repealing Article 276 in the Penal Code regarding pressures on the justice system, after initially sending it back to the Parliament, and, subsequently, after its adoption in the same form, attacking it at the Constitutional Court.
The reason why Traian Basescu promulgated the law is that he no longer had any means to attack it, after the CCR rejected his complaint.
President Traian Basescu attacked, in early October at the Constitutional Court, the law repealing Article 276 of the Penal Code regarding pressures on the justice system, on the grounds of judicial independence, pointing out that there are cases of “furious campaigns against magistrates”, “villainous statements of people from vans”. In the notification towards the Constitutional Court, the Head of State shows that this law is unconstitutional because it is contrary to Articles 1, 30 and 124 of the Constitution.
Any person who, during the course of legal proceedings, makes false public statements related to the committing of a crime or a serious misconduct regarding the handling of the case by the judges or prosecutors, with the purpose of influencing or intimidating, shall be punished with imprisonment from 3 months to 1 year or with a fine
article 276, repealed