On the basis of a report by Bernd Fabritius (Germany, EPP/CD) on “New threats to the rule of law in Council of Europe member States: selected examples”, the Legal Affairs Committee today expressed concern about some recent developments which put at risk respect for the rule of law, and, in particular, the independence of the judiciary and the principle of the separation of powers in five member States – Bulgaria, Poland, the Republic of Moldova, Romania and Turkey.
In a resolution adopted today at a meeting in Paris, the Legal Affairs Committee stresses that there are tendencies to limit the independence of the judiciary made through attempts to politicize the judicial councils and the courts, mainly in Bulgaria, Poland and Turkey. Other threats include the massive revocation of judges and prosecutors (Turkey) or attempts to do so (Poland) and tendencies to limit the legislative power of the parliament (the Republic of Moldova, Romania and Turkey), the resolution says. Moreover, corruption, which is a major challenge to the rule of law, remains a wide-spread phenomenon in Bulgaria, the Republic of Moldova and Romania.
The report by Mr Fabritius will be discussed during the PACE plenary session in Strasbourg (9-13 October 2017).
