The First Episode in the Romanian Rule of Law Saga: Joined Cases C-83/19, C-127/19, C-195/19, C-291/19, C-355/19 and C-397/19, Asociaţia ‘Forumul Judecătorilor din România, and their follow-up at the national level

*Assistant Professor, Centre for Judicial Cooperation at the European University Institute, and Director of the Centre for Migration Studies, Faculty of Law, Masaryk University. This paper has received funding under the TRust, Independence, Impartiality and Accountability of judges and arbitrators safeguarding the rule of Law under the EU Charter (TRIIAL) Project led by the Centre for Judicial Cooperation at the European University Institute. The Project was funded by the European Commission Directorate General for Justice and Consumers under Grant Agreement No. 853832. The content of the article represents the views of the authors and is their sole responsibility. The European Commission is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained. The authors are grateful to Gabor Halmai, Nicole Lazzerini, Viorica Viță, the team members of the Judicial Studies Centre at Masaryk University, and the anonymous reviewers for their useful comments on previous versions of this article. **Prof.univ.dr., Law Faculty, West University of Timisoara.