Romania’s High Court of Cassation and Justice, the country’s top judicial authority, has overturned a controversial decision made by a judge from the Ploiești Court of Appeal that sought to invalidate the Constitutional Court’s December 6, 2024, ruling to annul the results of the presidential election.
The high court’s decision came in response to appeals filed by both the Constitutional Court and the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Ploiești Court of Appeal, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.
The appeals challenged the earlier ruling that deemed the Constitutional Court’s annulment of the November election invalid.
In response to the developments, Romania’s Superior Council of Magistracy — the body responsible for supervising judges and prosecutors — announced that the Judicial Inspection will initiate an investigation to determine whether the Ploiești judge in question committed a disciplinary violation by issuing the contested ruling.
Despite the legal challenges, preparations for the new presidential election, scheduled for May 4 (first round) and May 18 (second round), are continuing as planned.
Over 130 similar lawsuits attempting to overturn the Constitutional Court’s December decision were filed in Romanian appellate courts between April 8 and 17. Courts have ruled on about half of those cases so far, all of which have been dismissed.
Romania held the first round of its presidential election on November 24, 2024. Nationalist candidate Călin Georgescu secured the most votes. However, on December 6, the Constitutional Court annulled the results and ordered the election to be rerun. That ruling followed the declassification of intelligence documents by Romanian security services, which revealed serious concerns: Georgescu had allegedly received illegal financing for his campaign; there had been cyberattacks on the digital infrastructure used in the electoral process; and the Russian Federation was purportedly involved in unspecified “hybrid actions” against the country.
Following the Constitutional Court’s ruling, the Romanian government accepted the decision and scheduled repeat elections for May 2025. On January 17, the High Court of Cassation and Justice also rejected Georgescu’s request to resume the interrupted election process. He was barred from running in the upcoming re-election.
By Tamilla Hasanova
Source: caliber.az
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