RomânăAlthough the accession to the European Union has been a powerful ally for the internal fight against corruption and weak rule of law, it is now clear that the external pressure for change is not enough and there is a need for more active citizens, implicated in the public decision. The democratic derailments are not specific to Romania, but are widely spread in the region, in countries that have been forced to skip steps in a natural process of transition from communism to democracy and to access the European Union, that has been seen as a mechanism that will prevent the return to communism. In the accessing process, the verification of the Copenhagen criteria in practice was not a thorough process, but rather a goodwill demonstration.
Not by chance, after the political and constitutional crisis in Hungary and Romania, within the European Union was formed an opinion trend that asks for the introduction of mechanisms that will permit the sanctioning of the transgressors. It has been acknowledged that the suspension of the voting right of a state member is a difficult sanction to apply and that the EU needs other milestones that would permit a swift action. Any mechanism that would be implemented without the signalling of the national issues would be futile. And in order to signal deviations there is need for the consolidation of the active citizenship, monitoring public institutions and services, constructing a social and professional consciousness that will condemn abuse and the violations of the norms.
Therefore, we aim to offer a better understanding to the youth – to those who work in the judiciary or in adjacent branches – on the foundations of rule of law, to explain that this is the basis for future development of a democratic country and to show what happens when derailments occur. The scope of the conferences is to underline the role of rule of law in a democratic state and for the fight against populism, extremism and instability.
EFOR in partnership with Rule of Law Program South East Europe, Konrad-Adenauer- Stiftung and Liderjust will organize a number of five conferences all around the country opened to law students and professionals on topics such as democratic principles, rule of law separation of powers and mechanisms needed to create and consolidate the institutional balance.
We will also organize a closing event in Bucharest by using a non-formal method such a world cafe or the open space method in order to disseminate the results of the project and to identify partners for future initiatives on this topic.
Locations and dates
Iasi – 2nd October
Constanta – 14th October
Timisoara – 22nd October
Craiova – 5th November
Cluj Napoca – 13rd November
Bucuresti – 9th December (Anticorruption Day)
This program is implemented with the financial support of Rule of Law Program South East Europe, Konrad-Adenauer- Stiftung. Supported in part by a grant from the Open Society Foundations. Partner: Liderjust