Romanian ‘influencer’ judge defends Facebook posts at top European rights court 

STRASBOURG, France (CN) — A former judge defended himself at Europe’s top rights court against accusations of inappropriate online behavior, arguing his social media posts were an important part of communicating with the Romanian people.

Romania argued that an earlier decision from a lower chamber of the European Court of Human Rights, which found the country had violated Vasilică-Cristi Danileț’s right to freedom of expression, failed to clarify the standards of decorum for judges.

The since-retired jurist told the Strasbourg-based court his social media helped the Romanian people understand the judiciary and said that the disciplinary actions against him were politically motivated.

“Romania is a post-communist country and has no history of rule of law. As such someone needs to explain this to the people,” Danileț said, addressing the 17 judges in Romanian.

The 49-year-old was censured and had his pay docked over two 2019 posts on his Facebook page, which had more than 50,000 followers, that were critical of the government.

“Now here’s a prosecutor with some blood in his veins, speaking his mind about dangerous prisoners being freed, our leaders’ bad ideas on legislative reform, and judges and prosecutors being lynched!” Danileț wrote, together with a link to an interview with a Romanian prosecutor describing the pressure on the judiciary.

The other post lobbed criticism at politicians for attacking the country’s judicial institutions, including the High Court of Cassation and the Public Prosecutor’s Office. At the time, Danileț was a judge at the Cluj County Court.

“Judges must uphold high standards of behavior both inside and outside of the courtroom,” Romania’s agent Oana-Florentina Ezer told the court. Romania argued that given jurists’ “special position” in society, they couldn’t not expect the same freedom of expression rights as average citizens.

Since 2017 the Romanian government has undertaken a series of judicial reforms that have been widely criticized as democratic backsliding. Similar measures taken against the independent judiciary in Poland and Hungary have fallen foul of European Commission enforcement actions designed to uphold the rule of law.

Danileț appealed the sanctions, ultimately losing before Romania’s highest court. In 2021, he filed a complaint to the European Commission on Human Rights.

Earlier this year, Danileț prevailed. The court found the Romanian government had failed to consider his freedom of expression, concluding that such sanctions would likely have a chilling effect on judges’ speech. The country appealed to the Grand Chamber.

During the hearing, Danileț argued he had the same right to speak his mind in public as any other citizen. Freedom of expression is one of the rights guaranteed by the 1953 European Convention on Human Rights, the treaty that underpins the court’s authority.

"Magistrates have the same rights as any other citizens of the state: the right to speak freely,” one of Danileț’s lawyers, Mihaela Ghirca-Bogdan, said. 

A phrase used in one of his posts — “blood in his veins” — became a point of contention, with Romania arguing that the English translation used at the hearing did not fully convey how vulgar it sounded to Romanian ears.

Danileț contended that even a more crass translation, “having balls,” still should not have warranted disciplinary action.

In an interview with Courthouse News Service following the hearing, Danileț said his social media presence wasn’t a concern until after he and other judges organized protests against changes to judicial regulations.

“Judges and prosecutors in Romania are afraid to speak out, after seeing what happened to me,” he said, after taking selfies with people who attended the hearing.

The complaint was only the first against him. He was disciplined three more times and was once suspended without pay for 18 months.

A decision from the court is expected in 2025. 

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