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| - Romania's highest court ruled on Wednesday said that fines handed out by police during the current state of emergency are not legal, in a move criticised by the government. Romania declared a state of emergency in mid-March to try to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. And since then, some 300,000 people have been fined for violating the lockdown restrictions. In April, the government then increased the possible fine for breaking the confinement rules from 100 lei (20 euros, $21) to 2,000 lei (414 euros, $447), drawing heavy criticism in a country where the net average monthly wage is just 660 euros. But the Constitutional Court said that an article of a 1999 law covering fines applicable during a state of emergency was unclear and that police were handing out the penalties "arbitrarily". Prime minister Ludovic Orban expressed "shock" at the court ruling which he said was "paramount to inviting people to break the law." Romania has 14,107 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus so far and 864 deaths. President Klaus Iohannis recently announced that the state of emergency would be lifted on May 15, when restrictions on movement would end, but face masks would be mandatory on public transport and in other enclosed public spaces. ii/spm
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