Gogu: Review of Criminal Procedure Code on Security Measures; Council of Europe Recommendations Becoming Reform

Justice Minister Toni Gogu announced today that the Council of Europe’s recommendations on pretrial detention are directly feeding the work started on reviewing the Code of Criminal Procedure, with a focus on strengthening guarantees for personal liberty and the real functioning of alternatives to jail arrest. Speaking at the roundtable dedicated to security measures, the High Court’s unifying decision and the case law of the ECtHR, Gogu stressed that work with the Council of Europe is moving from recommendations to the reform process.

“Our work with the Council of Europe does not end with the document we discuss today. Its recommendations are directly feeding the work we have started on reviewing the Code of Criminal Procedure,” the minister declared.

According to Gogu, in this process issues are being examined relating to the criteria for pretrial detention, the individualised reasoning of the measure, the real review of less restrictive measures, access to the materials on which the request for a security measure is based, and the strengthening of alternatives. The minister stressed that the direction of the reform must simultaneously preserve the effectiveness of the criminal justice system and the guarantees of due process and personal liberty.

“The state’s capacity to investigate and prosecute must remain strong. But equally strong must be the guarantees of due process and the protection of personal liberty. One is not gained by weakening the other,” Gogu said.

Alongside legal changes, the Ministry of Justice is working on restoring electronic monitoring as one of the instruments that give courts a real opportunity to apply alternative measures. Gogu said the necessary funding has been secured for 2027 and that the objective is for the electronic monitoring system to be operational in March 2027.

“An alternative that the state does not genuinely offer is not an alternative. This is the executive’s responsibility, not the court’s,” the minister declared.

The system is expected to be supported by trained personnel, clear protocols for response and reporting to the court and the prosecution, and the strengthening of the Probation Service’s capacities. The minister also underlined the institutional boundary between the executive and the judiciary, stressing that the Ministry of Justice has no role in deciding what security measure should be set in a concrete case.

“The High Court has clarified the standard. We are working so that the legal framework also supports it, and we are building electronic monitoring and strengthening the Probation Service so that alternatives are real and reliable. Clearer law. Real alternatives. Institutions that function. This is the part that falls to us,” Gogu concluded.