The President of the Constitutional Court, Simina Tănăsescu, says she is not considering resigning after the criticism sparked by the unannounced meeting she had on Friday with interim Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, just three days before the Constitutional Court was set to resume discussions on the Integrity Law.
In an interview given Monday evening to Recorder, the head of the Constitutional Court explained that the discussion with Bolojan focused exclusively on the space needs of the Constitutional Court and once again denied that any case pending before the institution was addressed.
The meeting, which took place in the office of the Senate President, Mircea Abrudean, has prompted criticism and requests for explanations, including from important institutions within the judicial system.
What she says she discussed with Bolojan
Simina Tănăsescu claims that the meeting took place after the Government approved, on the same day, a decision regarding the allocation of additional spaces.
The Constitutional Court needed administrative rooms, and the Court's chief says she asked the General Secretariat of the Government if the institution could receive one or two offices in a multi-story building.
"Some issues can be resolved through document exchange, through correspondence, others can be resolved by phone, but these aspects, related to offices, where and how, for these, you really need to discuss," explained Tănăsescu, as quoted by HotNews.
She says she did not explicitly request a meeting with Bolojan, but that a discussion was necessary to see if the Constitutional Court could receive additional spaces for its activities.
Why the meeting was not announced
Asked why the meeting was not made public beforehand, the President of the Constitutional Court cited the very short time between the Government meeting and the discussion with the Prime Minister.
"Between the end of the government meeting and the moment the meeting took place, I don't even know if more than an hour had passed, an hour and something. Physically, I didn't have time to announce," said Simina Tănăsescu.
Asked if the meeting could have been postponed, given that the Constitutional Court was set to rule on important cases just three days later, Tănăsescu admitted that it was "a legitimate question."
However, she explained that the issue of spaces faced by the Court had been ongoing for about a year and had become "extremely acute" at the beginning of August. Furthermore, the Government's decision regarding the allocation of spaces had been adopted on the same day as the meeting.
"We did not discuss anything related to cases"
The head of the Constitutional Court once again rejects any connection between the meeting with the Prime Minister and the cases the Court was about to judge.
"I don't think anyone can imagine that a discussion regarding the Court's cases can be held outside the legal framework - or, at least, my imagination cannot go that far. We did not discuss anything related to cases," she stated.
Asked if, following the controversies, she is considering resigning from the leadership of the Constitutional Court, Tănăsescu replied briefly: "I have never considered it."
The meeting that sparked controversy
The meeting between Simina Tănăsescu and Ilie Bolojan took place on Friday in the office of Senate President Mircea Abrudean and became controversial especially due to the timing: just three days before the Constitutional Court was to resume discussions on the Integrity Law.
The Constitutional Court subsequently stated that the discussion focused solely on "administrative aspects related to the headquarters of the Constitutional Court" and that no cases pending were addressed.
However, the explanations did not stop the criticism. The Superior Council of Magistracy requested public clarifications, and the High Court of Cassation and Justice had an even harsher reaction. The supreme court argued that such a meeting, in the context of important cases pending before the Constitutional Court, could undermine public confidence in judicial independence and stated that "the responsibility of the position entails assuming the consequences."
On Monday, Ilie Bolojan dismissed the criticisms and maintained that "often, an attempt is made to make a mountain out of a molehill". The interim Prime Minister stated that the meeting focused on administrative issues and that such discussions between representatives of institutions are natural when concrete issues need to be resolved.
Also on Monday, following the controversy surrounding the meeting, Simina Tănăsescu stepped down from the role of reporting judge in the case regarding the Integrity Law, with constitutional judge Csaba Asztalos taking her place.