The Blueprint Group for judiciary reforms, comprised of civil society organizations, said on Monday it was withdrawing from the process of drafting a new Criminal Code, noting their participation was baseless in a procedure that legalizes the unlawful which goes against their mission for constructive, transparent and evidence-based policy building.
“The main reason for our withdrawal from the process are the September 6 amendments to the Criminal Code proposed by the Government. The procedure of their adoption and the content of these amendments in the three key sections related to the fight against corruption go entirely against the rule of law. The amendments were made by circumventing the group that is working on the new Criminal Code, without consulting it and the experts, as well as without prior analysis and assessment of the need for this. In such a situation, we have witnessed a brazen misuse of the so-called EU flag, the European law and the penal policies,” said the Blueprint Group.
