People’s lawyer Ceslav Panico draws attention to the fact that the pressure comes, among other things, from statements in social networks and from politicians.
“There is a perception that there is excessive public and political pressure on the police, prosecutors and judges, from different tribunes, especially in social networks. And then all three institutions, and sometimes even penal enforcement officers – this is again my perception – are more focused on what the public will say than on a specific case. Here we should work, among other things, to encourage the independence of these institutions,” the ombudsman said.
Ian Feldman, chairman of the Equality Council, illustrated how “televised justice” manifests itself in practice:
“Televised justice is not only when judges are discussed. When a person is brought to court with a lot of noise and noise, and all this is filmed on cameras, it is psychologically more difficult to say ‘take off the handcuffs and let them go home’. Judges should be absolutely independent in their decisions in an ideal world – that’s what we are striving for.
Facts and figures
Sometimes public statements by politicians are perceived by the public as interference in the judicial process. Grigore Novac, chairman of the parliamentary commission for human rights and interethnic relations, gives such an example:
“It’s not even about handcuffs. On one program it was said by one of the MPs: ‘This year there will be sentences.’ It’s a mystery to me where such predictions come from. Perhaps he has powers of prediction, but in my opinion this is a serious problem.”
The discussions took place within the framework of parliamentary hearings on the protection of the right to freedom and personal inviolability in the use of preventive measures. According to the data presented, preventive measures in the form of arrest are used more and more often, the majority of prosecutors’ requests are satisfied, while alternative measures are used less and less frequently.
According to the Superior Council of Magistracy, there were 1,510 motions for provisional arrest in 2023, 1,840 in 2024 and 2,198 in 2025. Of these, 1,393 (92.2%) were granted in 2023, 1,707 (92.7%) in 2024, and 2,058 (93.6%) in 2025.
