Parliament ignored CCR considerations; legislative process on adoption of law on financing political parties still on

Romania's Constitutional Court on Thursday admitted the notification filed by PNL (National Liberal Party) and USR (Save Romania Union) with respect to the modification of Law no. 334/2006 concerning the financing of the political parties's activity and electoral campaigns, finding that the Parliament went against the considerations held in a previous resolution of the Court, in the sense that the legislative process related to the adoption of this law did not actually stopped, but continued with the initiation of re-examinations procedure.

On Thursday, the plenary sitting of the Constitutional Court, as part of the control before promulgation procedures, ruled that the constitutionality challenge related to the Law on the modification and completion of the Law no. 336/2006 regarding the financing of the political parties' activity and electoral campaigns, formulated by 80 MPs belonging to the parliamentary group of the PNL and the parliamentary group of USR.

After deliberations, the Court unanimously admitted the challenge and found that the Law no. 336/2006 regarding the financing of the political parties' activity and electoral campaigns is unconstitutional.

"In pronouncing this solution, the Court found that there was a violation of the article 147 paragraph (4) of the Constitution, as, in adopting the examined law, the Parliament went against the considerations held in paragraph 59 of the Resolution No. 718 of November 8 2017, (...), in the sense that the legislative process for the adoption of this law did not actually stop, but it continued with the initiation of the re-examination procedures. This, however, is a procedures that is initiated de jure under the article 147 paragraph (2) of the Fundamental law, in the context in which the Constitutional Court finds that some provisions of a law are unconstitutional, before the promulgation, and not the law, in its entirety. Or, by means of the Decision 718 of November 8 2017, the Court found that the Law on the modification and completion of the Law no. 334/2006 regarding the financing of the activity of the political parties and the electoral campaigns was unconstitutional in its entirety," specifies a release of the Constitutional Court sent to AGERPRES.

The decision is final and mandatory and it shall be communicated to the President of Romania, the speakers of the two Chambers of Parliament and the Prime Minister.