Justice Minister Toni Gogu has announced that the government is working on changes to the Code of Criminal Procedure, with a focus on pretrial detention, the reasoning behind security measures, and the real use of alternatives to prison arrest. According to the official version, one of the pillars of this plan is the return of electronic monitoring, which is intended to be functional in March 2027.
The government speaks of reviewing security measures
Gogu made the statements at a roundtable on security measures, the unifying decision of the Supreme Court, and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. According to him, the recommendations of the Council of Europe are being used directly in the work on revising the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The minister said that this process is examining the criteria for pretrial detention, the individualized reasoning of the measure, the genuine consideration of less restrictive measures, and access to the materials on which the request for a security measure is based.
Focus on alternatives to prison arrest
According to the minister, the reform aims to preserve the balance between the state’s capacity to investigate and prosecute, on the one hand, and guarantees for due process and personal liberty, on the other.
In essence, the government is acknowledging that alternatives to arrest have no real value if they are not supported by instruments that work in practice. This is precisely where the promise to restore electronic monitoring is linked.
Electronic monitoring, declared target for March 2027
Gogu said that funding has been secured for 2027 and that the goal is for the electronic monitoring system to be operational in March of that year.
According to him, the scheme will be supported by trained staff, clear response protocols, and reporting for the court and the prosecution, as well as by strengthening the capacities of the Probation Service.
The institutional boundary between government and the courts
The minister also stressed that the Ministry of Justice has no role in decisions on security measures in specific cases, presenting executive intervention as limited to the legal framework and supporting infrastructure.
According to Gogu, the goal is for the law to be clearer and for alternatives to arrest to become applicable and credible for the courts, without undermining the independence of judicial decision-making.
The minister’s statements place at the center a debatable issue in the criminal justice system: how real alternative measures are today and how often pretrial detention is used beyond the standard of last resort.
For the moment, the government has presented objectives and deadlines. The real test remains the concrete changes to the law and the practical functioning of the instruments now being promised.