The FILIA Centre and the eLiberare Association sent an open letter on Wednesday, 21 October, to the justice minister, backed by more than 190 organisations and people from academia. They ask for Law no. 53/2026 to be applied, not for a new law.

The law is already in force. The signatories say its effects depend on putting it into practice. The six-month deadline for risk-assessment and risk-management tools falls on 26 October 2026. The deadline for a single methodology for collecting data already expired in July.

Those who sign ask four things: adoption, on time, of the risk tools in domestic-violence and violence-against-women cases; finishing first the data methodology, comparable across police, prosecutors and courts; consulting NGOs and experts when those tools are drafted; a working meeting for a concrete calendar.

In the statement the signatories write that at least 97 women have been killed in Romania since the beginning of 2025. The figure is theirs, not an official count from the ministry. They add that in many cases the victims had asked for help or had protection orders. “Some of these crimes could have been prevented” is the letter’s argument, not a finding of a court.

The full text is on FILIA’s site. The statement was carried by AGERPRES. G4Media reported the same appeal. These sources do not contain a reply from the justice minister.

The letter does not promulgate, delay or rewrite Law 53/2026. It asks that the deadlines in the law be kept. It is a civic appeal, not an act of Parliament.

Image: Presamj, Ministry of Justice headquarters, 17 Apolodor Street, Bucharest, 6 April 2016, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; the building, not a photograph of the 21 October 2026 letter.

Sources consulted: 190 organisations ask the justice minister to apply femicide-prevention measures - G4Media; Press release - FILIA Centre - AGERPRES, 21 October 2026.