The Constitutional Court (CC) does not support the amendment of Article 70 of the Constitution, which refers to the immunity of MPs. The institution disapproved of a relevant bill submitted by MPs of the Party of Action and Solidarity, IPN reports.
CC president Domnica Manole said that Article 70 of the Constitution provides that the MP cannot be detained, arrested, searched, except for cases when the person is caught red-handed, or brought to justice without the Parliament’s consent, after listening to this. This text guarantees personal immunity to the MPs, ensuring their independence, protection from abuses and pressure in the form of threats, deprivation of liberty or legal proceedings.
By the proposal to review the Constitution, the authors suggest that the MP should be able to give up the possibility of being listened to by Parliament and the procedure for Parliament to give its consent to lift his/her immunity for being detained, arrested, searched or brought to justice.
‘The Court held that the bill to amend Article 70 of the Constitution suppresses the guarantees of the right to personal liberty. This way, the bill runs counter to Article 142, paragraph 2 of the Constitution. As the Court reached such a conclusion, it didn’t analyze the compliance of the bill to amend the Constitution with the other fundamental rights to which it refers,” Domnica Manole stated in a press briefing.
The Court’s decision is definitive and cannot be challenged. It takes effect when it is adopted and is published in the Official Gazette.
