At the hearing of 29 June 2021, the Constitutional Court, in the context of the review of constitutionality of Parliament’s Resolutions, unanimously upheld the referral made by the Parliamentary Groups of the Democrat Social Party of the Senate and the Chambers of Deputies and found unconstitutional Resolution No 36/2021 of the Parliament of Romania for removal of Ms Renate Weber from the office of Advocate of the People.
The Court held that the law governing the removal from office, as modality for termination of a mandate, must determine with certainty the cases in which this sanction is applied, must establish the procedure to be followed in the examination of the removal request and following which the competent body may order the removal, and must also provide the right to appeal before an independent and impartial court, therefore the possibility of the person removed from office to challenge the measure for removal from office, under the terms of Article 21 of the Constitution on free access to justice.
However, as it is based on legal provisions that do not ensure the guarantees of independence of the Advocate of the People in relation to other public authorities, provisions interpreted by Parliament in a meaning different to that resulting from their normative content, Resolution No 36/2021 of the Parliament of Romania for removal of Ms Renate Weber from the office of Advocate of the People infringes the constitutional provisions contained in Article 1 (3) and (5), which enshrine the principle of the rule of law, the principle of legality and the principle of supremacy of the Basic Law, as well as the provisions of Article 9 (2) of Law No 35/1997 on the organisation and functioning of the institution of the Advocate of the People.
The Court found that, since the instrument of removal is unconstitutional, it ceases to produce legal effects. Consequently, on the grounds of Article 147 (4) of the Constitution, which enshrines the generally binding, effective for the future, nature of Constitutional Court’s decisions, the Court mentions that, as from the date of publication of its decision in the Official Gazette of Romania, Ms Renate Weber is to resume her office as Advocate of the People and is to exercise her constitutional mandate for which she has been appointed by Resolution No 18/2019 of the Parliament of Romania, published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, No 524 of 26 June 2019.
The decision is final and generally binding.
The arguments set out in the grounds for the decision of the Constitutional Court will be set out in the decision, which will be published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I.
External Relations, Press and Protocol Department of the Constitutional Court