Radio România Internațional

Tag: abuse of office

November 26, 2023 UPDATE

Kyiv. Romania has assumed a role of utmost importance in ensuring the transit of Ukrainian grain to international markets and remains in solidarity with that country, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said on Saturday, in an online intervention at the Kyiv Summit on world food security. More than 60% of the total Ukrainian exports of agricultural products were made through the transport corridors in Romania, the head of the Bucharest government also said, and in the next period an increase in the transport capacity would follow, with the direct support of the international partners and the European Union. Ciolacu condemned in the strongest terms the illegal and unjustified attacks by Russia in Ukraine, which constitute war crimes, as well as the Russian bombings near the border with Romania, which affect the infrastructure necessary for the transport of grain to international markets.

Abuse of office. The legal Committee of the Romanian Senate must react by Wednesday to the National Anticorruption Directorates request for the prosecution of the former Prime Minister, Liberal Senator Florin Cîțu. Former Health Ministers Vlad Voiculescu and Ioana Mihăilă, members of the Save Romania Union, are also accused of abuse of office, and president Klaus Iohannis would have to green-light the lifting of their immunity. Prosecutors say the three purchased 52 million doses more than necessary, causing a prejudice of 1 billion EUR. The vaccines were purchased at a very difficult time during the pandemic, dominated by uncertainty regarding the evolution of the virus, the availability of mass-production of vaccines and the need for re-vaccination, Vlad Voiculescu explained. The former Health Minister blamed Florin Cîțu for taking the final decision, and in turn the former Liberal Prime Minister said that every decision made during his mandate was in good faith and in compliance with the law. The President of the Save Romania Union, Catalin Drula, claims that the case against Vlad Voiculescu is an alarming evidence of how state institutions are used against the political opposition, given that elections are due next year. In turn, the Liberal Justice Minister Alina Gorghiu has criticized the accusations brought by the leader of SRU.

Gaza. Two hostages with dual citizenship, Israeli and Romanian, residing in Israel, are among those released from the Gaza Strip, the Romanian MFA announced on Sunday. Thus, currently, four people with dual citizenship, Israeli and Romanian, are still hostages in the Gaza Strip, a context in which the ministry reiterates the need to release all hostages from Gaza. At the same time, the MFA welcomes the diplomatic efforts of the USA, the State of Qatar and the Arab Republic of Egypt for the release of the hostages from the Gaza Strip. The Embassy of Romania in Tel Aviv and the Consulate General of Romania in Haifa stay in contact with the Israeli authorities.

Vehicles. The Romanian state offers the biggest subsidies in the European Union for the purchase of electric and hybrid cars, the state secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests, Bogdan Balanişcu, said on Friday. These are vouchers that can reach over 10,000 euros, benefiting those Romanian citizens who want to buy an electric car. It is a way to remove 250 thousand cars from the streets and to stop the pollution that these old cars create, the official explained. According to the latest data provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, approximately 8,000 vehicles with zero CO2 emissions were registered in Romania in the first semester of 2023. This past summer, there were some 33 thousand electric vehicles and 154 thousand hybrid vehicles registered in Romania.

Counterfeit. The Romanian Customs Authority will carry out, next month, the “Pinocchio” operation, consisting of extensive controls on the traffic of counterfeit toys. Statistics show that at the end of the year, more than a third of the counterfeit goods that enter Romania are imported to be sold around Christmas. The authorities draw attention to the fact that these products, although they are often valued below the price of the original products, disappoint primarily due to their lower quality and non-compliance with standards.

Gaudeamus. The Gaudeamus Radio Romania book fair, the longest-running event of its kind in the country, closed its doors on Sunday in Bucharest. The Gaudeamus trophies, by public vote, went, in order, to the publishing houses Humanitas, Litera and Polirom. The most coveted book, also determined by the publics vote, was More like the past, by Ana Blandiana, and the Education Award went to the Publishing House of the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest. The Excellence Award, awarded by a jury, went to Vellant Publishing for the quality of its presence at the fair and for the long line of literature and arts books, published in refined graphic conditions and for its always attractive stand at the fair. Tens of thousands of people visited the Gaudeamus Book Fair over the course of a week.

Handball. Romanian womens national handball team won, on Saturday, in Bistrita (north), the Carpathian Trophy, after defeating Austria with a score of 41-35, in the last match of the competition. Previously, Romania won against Switzerland 33-28 and Portugal with 32-22. The tournament in Bistrita was a final check before participating in the World Championship in Denmark, Norway and Sweden (November 29-December 17), where Romania will play in Group E. The Romanians will face Chile on December 1, Serbia on December 3 and Denmark on December 5. The top 3 will qualify for the main groups and then, from those, the top two are bound for the quarter-finals. The national team aims to rank among the first 7 places, in order to be able to participate in the pre-Olympic tournament. Romania is the only team that has participated in all 26 editions of the Womens Handball World Championship. (MI)

Tennis. The Romanian womens tennis team will face the Ukrainian team, away from home, in the qualifications for the final tournament of the Billie Jean King Cup competition, according to the draw made on Sunday in London. The match will take place on April 12-13, 2024. This month, Romania beat Serbia 4-0, in Kraljevo, in the play-off to stay in the World Group of the competition, while Ukraine beat Lithuania 3-1, in Vilnius. Romania and Ukraine have met four times so far, and the Romanians lead 3-1. (MI)

26 November 2023
November 26, 2023

Kyiv. Romania has assumed a role of utmost importance in ensuring the transit of Ukrainian grain to international markets and remains in solidarity with that country, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said on Saturday, in an online intervention at the Kyiv Summit on world food security. More than 60% of the total Ukrainian exports of agricultural products were made through the transport corridors in Romania, the head of the Bucharest government also said, and in the next period an increase in the transport capacity would follow, with the direct support of the international partners and the European Union. Ciolacu condemned in the strongest terms the illegal and unjustified attacks by Russia in Ukraine, which constitute war crimes, as well as the Russian bombings near the border with Romania, which affect the infrastructure necessary for the transport of grain to international markets.

Abuse of office. The legal Committee of the Romanian Senate must react by Wednesday to the National Anticorruption Directorates request for the prosecution of the former Prime Minister, Liberal Senator Florin Cîțu. Former Health Ministers Vlad Voiculescu and Ioana Mihăilă, members of the Save Romania Union, are also accused of abuse of office, and president Klaus Iohannis would have to green-light the lifting of their immunity. Prosecutors say the three purchased 52 million doses more than necessary, causing a prejudice of 1 billion EUR. The vaccines were purchased at a very difficult time during the pandemic, dominated by uncertainty regarding the evolution of the virus, the availability of mass-production of vaccines and the need for re-vaccination, Vlad Voiculescu explained. The former Health Minister blamed Florin Cîțu for taking the final decision, and in turn the former Liberal Prime Minister said that every decision made during his mandate was in good faith and in compliance with the law. The President of the Save Romania Union, Catalin Drula, claims that the case against Vlad Voiculescu is an alarming evidence of how state institutions are used against the political opposition, given that elections are due next year. In turn, the Liberal Justice Minister Alina Gorghiu has criticized the accusations brought by the leader of SRU.

Gaza. Two hostages with dual citizenship, Israeli and Romanian, residing in Israel, are among those released from the Gaza Strip, the Romanian MFA announced today. Thus, currently, four people with dual citizenship, Israeli and Romanian, are still hostages in the Gaza Strip, a context in which the ministry reiterates the need to release all hostages from Gaza. At the same time, the MFA welcomes the diplomatic efforts of the USA, the State of Qatar and the Arab Republic of Egypt for the release of the hostages from the Gaza Strip. The Embassy of Romania in Tel Aviv and the Consulate General of Romania in Haifa stay in contact with the Israeli authorities.

Hostages. A new exchange of Israeli hostages with Palestinian prisoners is planned for today, on the third day of the truce between Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas. Saturdays group of hostages was belatedly released, to the dismay of desperate families, following a dispute between Israelis and Palestinian Islamists over the implementation of the four-day ceasefire. It came into force on Friday, when Hamas released a first group of 24 hostages – 13 Israelis, 10 Thais and a Filipino. In return, Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners. On Saturday evening, the Islamist group released a second group – 13 Israeli hostages and 4 Thai citizens. In turn, the Israeli authorities released another 39 Palestinian people from prisons. The ceasefire agreement should lead to the release of a total of 50 Hamas hostages and 150 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. In addition, every day of the truce, trucks with food, medicine and fuel will enter Gaza. The war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip was triggered by an attack of unprecedented scale and violence committed by Hamas, on October 7, in southern Israel. According to the authorities, 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and about 240 people kidnapped on the day of the attack. In retaliation, Israel has bombed the Gaza Strip ever since, and almost 15,000 people were killed, including over 6,000 children, according to Hamas. At the same time, Israel started a ground operation, in the north of the Gaza Strip, for the total destruction of Hamas.

Vehicles. The Romanian state offers the biggest subsidies in the European Union for the purchase of electric and hybrid cars, the state secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests, Bogdan Balanişcu, said on Friday. These are vouchers that can reach over 10,000 euros, benefiting those Romanian citizens who want to buy an electric car. It is a way to remove 250 thousand cars from the streets and to stop the pollution that these old cars create, the official explained. According to the latest data provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, approximately 8,000 vehicles with zero CO2 emissions were registered in Romania in the first semester of 2023. This past summer, there were some 33 thousand electric vehicles and 154 thousand hybrid vehicles registered in Romania.

Gaudeamus. The Gaudeamus Radio Romania fair, the longest-running event of its kind in the country, is coming to an end. Today is the last day of the 30th edition. As usual for the visitors, the organizers prepared over 100 events for all ages: launches, debates or workshops. Despite the bad weather, the visitors came in large numbers to the fair on Saturday as well. In the central pavilion at Romexpo, in Bucharest, the public was attracted by the editorial offer, but also by the significant price reductions. On an area of thousands of square meters, stands and event spaces have accommodated the nearly 200 participants, who have come with an extremely varied range of editorial products, on different supports, suitable for all ages and fields of interest, music and educational games.

Handball. Romanian womens national handball team won, on Saturday, in Bistrita (north), the Carpathian Trophy, after defeating Austria with a score of 41-35, in the last match of the competition. Previously, Romania won against Switzerland 33-28 and Portugal with 32-22. The tournament in Bistrita was a final check before participating in the World Championship in Denmark, Norway and Sweden (November 29-December 17), where Romania will play in Group E. The Romanians will face Chile on December 1, Serbia on December 3 and Denmark on December 5. The top 3 will qualify for the main groups and then, from those, the top two are bound for the quarter-finals. The national team aims to rank among the first 7 places, in order to be able to participate in the pre-Olympic tournament. Romania is the only team that has participated in all 26 editions of the Womens Handball World Championship. (MI)

26 November 2023
No value threshold for abuse of service

Amending the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes is a milestone within the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, therefore an obligation assumed by Romania in exchange for the money promised by the European Union. The latest changes target abuse and negligence in the service. Coming from the Senate, where they had triggered a scandal, with the ruling coalition voting for a threshold of 250,000 lei up to which abuse and negligence in the service would not be considered a crime, the bills were drastically amended by the deputies, who eliminated any value threshold . They proceeded in this way, although the Ministry of Justice had proposed, according to the version adopted by the Senate and blamed by the opposition and the press, a much lower threshold, of 9,000 lei, from which the two acts would have been criminalized.

Successive thinking and unthinking within the coalition, promptly criticized by the opposition parties, eventually led to the removal of the threshold for abuse of office. Thus, according to the article, the act of the civil servant who does not perform an act provided by a law or performs it in violation of a provision included in such a normative act, causing damage or an injury to the rights or legitimate interests of a natural or legal person is punishable by imprisonment from 2 to 7 years and loses the right to hold a public office. The threshold for negligence in the service was also removed, in which case the sanction is either imprisonment from 3 months to 3 years, or a fine. The absence of any value threshold could raise problems of unconstitutionality. The Court had previously established that a value threshold for the criminalization of the act is necessary, as long as a damage caused by the said act is calculated.

Amending the Criminal Procedure Code has the potential to generate controversy too. The reason is that the possibility of using interceptions made by the specialized services as evidence in the case of several offenses, including tax evasion and corruption, has been maintained. Although part of the coalition, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania abstained from voting in this case. The leader of the party, Kelemen Hunor, said that the intelligence services have nothing to do with the criminal process. If the Romanian Intelligence Service has a role in the criminal process, we can no longer talk about independent justice and we are going back 10 years ago, the UDMR leader warned. The matter deserved a serious debate in Parliament. For years, the services have been accused by all parties of being involved in the political game, of opening cases that could compromise one politician or another. And the use as evidence in corruption processes of records obtained by services through specific means risks fueling suspicions on this topic. (MI)

6 April 2023
April 5, 2023

LAW – The Chamber of
Deputies today adopted the draft law amending the Criminal and Criminal
Procedure Codes tabled by the Government, with 191 votes in favor, 66 against
and 12 abstentions. The law eliminates all the amendments previously adopted by
the Senate, including the introduction of a threshold for offenses that
constitute abuse of office, as requested by the Constitutional Court. The Senate had previously introduced a
€50,000 threshold, which the Justice Ministry subsequently reduced to €1,800.
The legal committee on Tuesday discarded this amendment as well as the
introduction of a threshold for offenses that constitute misconduct in office.

CAR INSURANCE – The government is
today resuming debates over the draft law on capping the mandatory car
insurance fees for six months at the level of February 28 this year. The
previous draft, setting the price at the level of March 2022, was withdrawn
after insurance companies voiced criticism. Already postponed twice in the last
eight weeks, the document is needed to stop the rampant increase of civil
liability car insurances, the government argues. The increase is also owing to
the latest price hikes reported for energy and raw materials, while car
insurers refuse to offer the possibility of paying insurances in installments.

REFUGEES – The Government is
today expected to modify the state-funded programme designed to help Ukrainian
refugees. Under the modified law, refugees will receive €400 per month for up
to four consecutive months to offset accommodation expenses on the territory of
Romania. The funds will reach refugees directly, not their hosts, as was the
case previously. Once the period of four month passes, refugees can access
unemployment and employment incentive schemes if they register with employment
agencies. Right now, natural persons in Romania hosting refugees receive €4
meal allowances per day and €10 for accommodation expenses. Starting February
10, nearly 4 million Ukrainians have crossed into Romania, most of them in
route to Western countries.

INFLATION – The National Bank
decided to maintain its monetary policy interest rate at 7% per year, also
preserving the reference interest rate for Central Bank loans at 8% per year,
as well as for Central bank deposits at 6% per year. The decision reflects the
latest macroeconomic evolution. The Bank estimates the annual inflation rate to
increase over the coming period. The inflation rate dropped from 16.37% in
December 2022 to 15.52% in February 2023, which largely corresponds to the
Bank’s forecast.

TITLE – The Turkish writer
Orhan Pamuk, the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2006, was
awarded the Doctor Honoris Causa
title from the West University of Timișoara in a special ceremony. Orhan Pamuk
is one of the special guests who are visiting Timișoara, the European Capital
of Culture in 2023. Orhan Pamuk is one of the internationally acclaimed
contemporary Turkish writes. His works have been translated in over 40
languages in published in over 100 countries. His works focus primarily on the
relation between Oriental and Western cultures and the specificity of Turkish
mentality. His best-selling works are My
Name is Red, Istanbul and The Museum of Innocence. Another two
Nobel Prize recipients are expected to visit Timișoara this year – Jean-Marie
Lehn, the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1987, and Jean-Pierre Sauvage, the Nobel
Prize for Chemistry in 2016.

TRUMP – The former US
president Donald Trump has been officially indicted on Tuesday on 34 counts of
forgery of business records. In 2016, Trump made a series of payments to his
lawyer which he motivated as legal counseling fees. In fact, this was hush
money paid to a adult-film actress at a time when Trump was running for the
oval office. The Manhattan district attorney’s office claims the forgery of
records with a view to commit fraud and concealing other actions is a crime.
The Republicans’ potential candidate in next year’s election, Donald Trump says
he is innocent of all crimes and a victim of the new Democratic administration.

TENNIS – Romanian tennis
player Irina Begu has advanced to the second round of the WTA 500 tournament in
Charleston (South Carolina), totaling over $780 thousand in total prizes after
knocking out Dalma Galfi of Hungary 6-1, 7-5. In the next round Begu is today
playing the winner of the match pitting Sofia Kenin of the USA against Aliaksandra
Sasnovič of Belarus. Another Romanian player, Gabriela Lee, lost to Kayla Day
of the USA 6-2, 7-6 in the preliminaries. (VP)

5 April 2023
April 4, 2023 UPDATE

FINLAND – On
Tuesday Finland became the 31st member of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization in a ceremony held at the NATO headquarters, where it submitted
the accession instrument to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The final
step before Tuesday’s ceremony was held on Tuesday at the NATO headquarters,
where Turkey was the last country to ratify Finland’s accession. US Secretary
of State Blinken hailed what he has described as a historic day for NATO,
saying Finland’s accession was precipitated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In 2022, Finland and Sweden asked to become members of NATO shortly after the
Russian Federation launched its war of aggression in Ukraine. While Finland
received the approval of all NATO members, Turkey decided to postpone Sweden’s
accession. Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expressed confidence Sweden will
shortly become a member of NATO. Finland’s accession coincides with the
anniversary of 74 years since the signing of the Washington Treaty, the
founding document of NATO, on April 4, 1949, a landmark celebrated in Brussels
through a number of special events.

NATO -
Romania’s president, Klaus Iohannis, on Tuesday hailed Finland’s official
accession to NATO, saying the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is stronger
now. Our unity and solidarity will always prevail over the unprecedented
challenges in our region, the president tweeted. In turn, Prime Minister
Nicolae Ciucă welcomed Finland’s NATO accession and wished Romania’s new
partner good luck. Nicolae Ciucă pointed out that Bucharest also expects Sweden
to become a full member of NATO as soon as possible.

LEGAL – The legal
committee of the Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday issued a favorable opinion for
the amendments to the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes tabled by the
Justice Ministry. The bill eliminated all the amendments previously adopted by
the Senate, including the introduction of a threshold for offenses that
constitute abuse of office. Ruling coalition MPs originally proposed the
elimination of wiretaps as evidence for corruption and tax evasion offenses,
but the amendment was eliminated. The Chamber of Deputies is expected to vote
the bill on Wednesday. From the opposition, USR deputy Stelian Ion criticized
the fact that coalition MPs have eliminated all amendments modifying the
Criminal Code and voted the form proposed by the government without introducing
a threshold for offenses constituting abuse of office. Stelian Ion Claims the
article in the bill will be declared unconstitutional and all such offenses
will be written off.

DISTINCTION – The Turkish
writer Orhan Pamuk on Tuesday was awarded the Doctor Honoris Causa title from the West University of Timișoara.
In his acceptance speech, Orhan Pamuk spoke about the role of literature today,
but also referred to a number of problems in his country, including the
February 6 quakes. The writer said Istanbul has evolved from a city with a
million inhabitants to a metropolis totaling over 16 million people, boasting a
huge library. The Turkish writer said the February quakes made him identify
with the suffering of Turkey. Orhan Pamuk is the recipient of the 2006 Nobel
Prize for Literature. His books have been translated in over 60 languages. Pamuk is one of the five laureates of the
Nobel Prize who are expected to visit Timișoara, the European Capital of
Culture in 2023.

ACADEMY – Romania’s highest
cultural and scientific forum, the Romanian Academy on Tuesday opened its doors
to visitors to mark its 157th anniversary. On this occasion, its
most representative venues such as the Academy Hall, the Academy Club or the
Memorial Museum, were opened to visitors who were also offered a guided tour of
the Library. The Romanian Academy boasts 14 sections, covering several domains
such as literature, linguistics, history, philosophy, mathematics, physics,
chemistry, biology, geonomics, technical sciences, science and IT, agronomy,
medicine, economic and legal sciences, art and architecture. The Romanian
Academy presently boasts 181 members and corresponding members as well as 135
honorary members. (DB & VP)

4 April 2023
March 30, 2023

Bill. The leaders of the ruling National Liberal Party and Social Democratic Party in Romania, Nicolae Ciucă and Marcel Ciolacu, have announced that they decided to support the proposal made by the Ministry of Justice regarding the establishment of a threshold of 9,000 lei (about 1,800 euros) up to which abuse of office is decriminalized. The announcements of the two come after the Senate approved a draft law that provides for a value threshold for abuse and neglect in the service in the amount of 250,000 lei. The change caused criticism and a street protest in Bucharest. The opposition Save Romania Union has warned that the value threshold of 50,000 euros for damage to the public budget to be considered a criminal offense was also provided for by the well-known Ordinance 13 of 2017, which the government at the time abandoned after massive street protests.

OECD. The Secretary of State for Romanias Accession to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Luca Niculescu, was appointed to the Steering Committee of the new OECD Regional Center in Istanbul. He welcomed the initiative to establish the Center, aimed at encouraging inter-regional cooperation, providing a platform for dialogue on public policies and supporting the states in the region to face the main economic and social challenges. According to a release by the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest, Luca Niculescu expressed, at the same time, the availability of the Romanian authorities to contribute with sectoral expertise to the activity of the OECD Regional Center in Istanbul, recalling that Romania provides financial support for the main regional programs of the organization.

Visit. The Romanian Minister of National Defense, Angel Tîlvăr, starts a visit to the USA, today, together with the Chief of Staff, General Daniel Petrescu, and other officials. According to the Romanian Embassy in the USA, the delegation will have meetings in Washington with the Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, with General Mark Milley, the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces, as well as at the White House – the National Security Council. Also, meetings are scheduled with the presidents of the Committees on Armed Services of the US Senate and the House of Representatives, as well as with representatives of the American defense industry and of the strategic reflection and expertise environment. On the occasion of the visit, the Romanian delegation will mark 30 years of partnership between the Romanian Armed Forces and the Alabama National Guard. The Romanian officials will travel to the state of Alabama, where, between April 2 and 4, they will have meetings with the governor of the state, the leadership of the Alabama National Guard, as well as with representatives of the local authorities.

Pensions. The special pension reform project was endorsed by the Bucharest Senate on Wednesday and is now going to the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making body in this matter. In the Senate, the document was adopted in the form approved by the specialized commissions, including the amendments initiated by the representatives of the governing coalition. There are changes aimed at the overtaxation of very large special pensions, which the beneficiaries cannot accumulate. The opposition says, however, that it is not enough, that the system of special pensions should be eliminated entirely, and the principle of contribution applied to all pensions. Reforming the law on special pensions is a milestone in the National Recovery and Resilience plan, on which the disbursement of European money depends. Almost 200,000 Romanians currently benefit from special pensions, the majority – over 170,000 – from the defense and public order system. But the highest special pensions benefit former magistrates – judges and prosecutors, who can end up receiving a pension even 10 times higher than the average one granted by the State.

Education. In Romania, the new education laws have been approved by the Government and will be submitted to Parliament for debate and adoption. The bill has maintained the provision according to which, in addition to the National Assessment, high schools will be able to organize their own admission competition, with specialized tests, for 60% of the places. Also, the Baccalaureate will include an additional test, from the opposite profile to the one studied by the students. The new education laws are based on the “Educated Romania” project, initiated by President Klaus Iohannis, and for the implementation of the reforms stipulated in these laws, more than 3 billion euros will be allocated from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

Tennis. Romanian tennis player Sorana Cirstea (74 WTA) has qualified for the semi-finals of the WTA 1000 tournament in Miami Florida, with some 8.8 million dollars in prize money. She defeated the worlds number two, the Belarusian Arina Sabalenka, 6-4, 6-4. This is the second semifinal for the Romanian player, since 10 years ago, in Toronto. At the Miami Open, Cirstea has lost no match, defeating Fernanda Contreras Gomez of Mexico, number four Caroline Garcia of France, the Check Karolina Muchova and Marketa Vondrousova and now Arina Sabalenka. (MI)

30 March 2023
Tensions running high over issue of abuse of office

The leaders of the Social Democratic Party – PSD and the National Liberal Party – PNL, the main parties in the governing coalition in Romania, announced on Wednesday evening that they decided to support the proposal of the Justice Ministry regarding the establishment of a threshold of 9,000 lei, the equivalent of 1,800 euros, from which abuse of office and negligence in office can be criminalized. The Social Democrat Marcel Ciolacu and the Liberal Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă made the announcements on Facebook almost simultaneously.

These announcements came after the wave of criticism that appeared in the press following an amendment to the Criminal Code voted by senators, according to which abuse and negligence in office became crimes only in the case of a damage of at least 250,000 lei, i.e. 50,000 euros. Sources inside the ruling coalition stated that the very members of the governing coalition (PSD-PNL-UDMR) had decided on this threshold in the Sunday evening meeting. The amendment voted on Wednesday caused consternation, due to its similarity to the famous emergency ordinance 13 of 2017, which had as threshold for incrimination the amount of only 200,000 lei. Probably the amount was index-linked, some said amusedly.

Emergency Ordinance 13 was practically the inaugural act of a program by which the then power, authoritatively controlled by the leader of the PSD at the time, Liviu Dragnea, allegedly tried to subordinate the judicial system. The adoption of the ordinance brought tens of thousands of people to the streets, forcing the government to withdraw it. Now, things can be fixed in the Chamber of Deputies, which is a decision-making body in the case of the law amending the Criminal Code, which is a milestone in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The government representatives say that the existence of a value threshold was necessary for the criminal legislation to be put in agreement with some decisions of the Constitutional Court.

After the vote in the Senate, the PSD leader, Marcel Ciolacu, said that his party would vote in the Chamber of Deputies a version that respected the decisions of the Court as well as the recommendations of the Venice Commission and the opinions of legal experts. The Liberal deputy Raluca Turcan considered the threshold of 250,000 lei for abuse of office a mistake, which must be corrected in the Chamber of Deputies. She admits the need for a minimum limit on the value of the damage and that the solution is to set a modest ceiling. The people who protested on Wednesday evening in Bucharest denounced the senators vote, which, they say, encourages corruption and illegalities in Romania.

The vote of the PNL alongside the PSD on this controversial amendment to the Criminal Code took both the press and the analysts by surprise. In 2017, from the opposition, the Liberals permanently tried to counter, together with those from the Save Romania Union – USR, the attempts of Liviu Dragneas Social Democrats to sabotage the instruments necessary for the functioning of the judicial system. Neither the PSD nor the PNL assume the decision to raise the criminalization threshold for abuse of office so high. The question is: would they have wanted it that way? (LS)

30 March 2023
October 1, 2018 UPDATE

JUDICIARY – The High Court of Cassation and Justice in Bucharest Monday approved a request filed by the National Anti-Corruption Directorate to reopen a case involving the Social Democrat leader, Liviu Dragnea, who is also the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies. Dragnea is accused of abuse of office in this case which was closed in 2013, but prosecutors decided to reopen it following reports from the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF). The investigation will target the award of public contracts to a construction company back when Dragnea was the president of the Teleorman County Council. In fact, Dragnea is currently subject to a second probe in a case concerning the same company. He was also sentenced to 3 and a half years for having ordered the fictitious employment of 2 party members, and has another 2-year suspended sentence for election fraud.

2018-2019 ACADEMIC YEAR – Nearly half a million students in Romania Monday started a new academic year. President Klaus Iohannis attended the opening ceremony in Iasi, recalling that the city hosted the first modern university in Romania in 1860. The President added that the recent decades, marked by economic and technological advancement, have turned the great university centres in pillars of economic growth. In turn, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila attended the opening ceremony at the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy in Craiova, saying that the Romanian medical school is an elite school, and that healthcare and education should underlie the development of society. The new academic year starts with the Education Minister position left vacant, after Valentin Popa resigned last week. Rovana Plumb, Minister of European Funds, has been nominated as interim Education Minister.

REMARKS – The recent changes to the justice legislation in Romania risk throwing the country back in the early 2000s, a period marked by deep corruption, US Ambassador to Bucharest Hans Klemm said today at the opening ceremony of a new academic year at the Law School in Bucharest, also attended by the French Ambassador to Bucharest, Michele Ramis. Hans Klemm referred to the amendments brought to the Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code, the modifications brought to the Judicial Inspection Corps, and the magistrates protests against the changes, which were “unimaginable in the past, Klemm argued. In their current version, these amendments will hinder or make it utterly impossible the investigation and prosecution of such crimes as murder and organized crime, the US official went on to say. According to Ambassador Klemm, international cooperation in the justice field will be reduced significantly over worries linked to sharing information with Romania.

PARLIAMENT – Romanian Senators and Deputies will resume session on Tuesday after attending ceremonies marking the start of a new academic year across the country on Monday. The Chamber of Deputies agenda includes the law regulating the exploitation of natural gas in the Black Sea. The debate and the vote on this matter were delayed by a week. The bill got Senates approval and has been tabled to the Chamber of Deputies. Members of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania have announced they would introduce several amendments, while Social-Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea wants to delay the vote, to give MPs enough time to analyse and discuss the offshore bill. Also this week the ruling coalition faces two simple motions. The Liberal Party in opposition has filed a simple motion against Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici in the Chamber of Deputies, while the Save Romania Union and Liberal party have filed a motion against Transport Minister Lucian Sova in the Senate. Both documents will be debated and voted on Wednesday. Parliaments committee investigating the involvement of the Personal Security Service (SPP) in the activity of certain political parties and some of their leaders is also scheduled to start its activity this week.

NOBEL PRIZE – Scientists James P. Allison of the United States and Tasuku Honjo of Japan were awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2018 “for their discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation. The Nobel Prize for Literature will be announced next year along with the recipient selected for 2019, in the wake of wide-ranging sexual assault allegations targeting members of the Swedish academy, made public by #MeToo. The Academy has thus decided to postpone the literature prize for next year, to allow the institution to reform and replace its outgoing members. Five Nobel prizes were instated by Swedish inventors, industrialist and philanthropist Alfred Nobel, for medicine, chemistry, physics, literature and peace. A sixth Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences was founded by Bank of Sweden in 1968.

TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Simona Halep is ranked first and enjoys a considerable lead in WTA standings. Halep is up 2,400 points over runner-up Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark and 2,700 against Germanys Angelique Kerber. The gap will shrink starting next week, considering Halep withdrew in the first round in Beijing this year. Last year the Romanian player reached the finals. This is Simonas 48th consecutive week at the top of the womens singles rankings. Also the Romanian player is ranked 11th in an all-time ranking. Other Romanians ranked in the WTA Top 100 are Mihaela Buzarnescu (24), Irina Begu (53), Sorana Cirstea (61), Ana Bogdan (80) and Monica Niculescu (82).

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu, Vlad Palcu)

1 October 2018
December 4, 2017 UPDATE

Working lunch — The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis will meet Tuesday with the ambassadors of the EU member states accredited to Bucharest as part of a working lunch. It will be hosted by Estonia’s embassy, a country that is holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2017. according to a communiqué of the Presidential Administration in Bucharest, the issues to be tackled relate to the internal developments in Romania as well as to topics on the agenda of the European Council meeting scheduled for December 14 and 15, namely security and defense, migration management, the EU’s social dimension, education and culture. The issue of Brexit will also be discussed.

Brussels — The Romanian Foreign Minister, Teodor Melescanu, will participate on Tuesday and Wednesday, in Brussels, in the meeting of the foreign ministers of the NATO member countries. According to a Foreign Ministry communiqué issued on Monday the meeting is an important landmark in the run up to the NATO summit of July 2018. The main topics to be tackled at the meeting will focus on the security developments with an impact on the Alliance as well as on the role of NATO in ensuring stability, including the allied efforts to fight terrorism. Other topics will be the “open doors’ policy and the best ways to support countries aspiring to join NATO. The meeting will also be attended by the US Secretary of State, Mr. Rex Tillerson, who wanted to reassure the United States’ European allies that the US remained firmly committed as to the security of Europe.

Anti-Corruption Directorate — The prosecutors of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate started the prosecution of the current mayor of Constanta, in the southeast, Decebal Fagadau and of the former mayor Radu Mazare. The two Social Democrats are accused of abuse of office as well as of being accessory to abuse of office, in relation to authorizing the construction of a building in the center of the Mamaia resort that provided accommodation and meals. Another 3 persons are being investigated in this case. Radu Mazare held the position of mayor of Constanta between 2000 and 2015 when he resigned after being arrested on corruption charges. Fagadau was elected mayor in the summer of 2016.

Belgrade — “Serbia is aware of the importance of the Romanian people’s support” said Monday the Serbian defense minister, Aleksandar Vulin, after his meeting, in Belgrade, with his Romanian counterpart, Mihai Fifor, with whom he signed a cooperation agreement. In turn, the Romanian minister said that Serbia was a country with which Romania traditionally developed relations of friendship. He mentioned some of the issues discussed among which bilateral cooperation and the security challenges in the Western Balkans. Romania is one of the 5 EU members that did not recognize the independence of the former Serbian province of Kosovo, with a majority Albanian population, proclaimed in 2008. Bucharest supports Belgrade in its European accession efforts but asks for a more rigorous observance of the rights of the numerous Romanian community in the east of Serbia.

Justice laws — The special committee for the justice laws in the Romanian Parliament on Monday rejected an amendment to the draft law modifying the law on the organization of the judiciary, which provided for the dismantling of military courts. The president of the committee, the former Social Democratic justice minister Florin Iordache said that the report on the status of magistrates will be debated Wednesday by the Chamber of Deputies. Contested by the rightist opposition, by the press and civil society, the draft law promoted by the governing coalition stipulates, among other things, that the president of the state can no longer refuse appointing simple prosecutors and judges, that prosecutors can be controlled by their superiors, including the Justice Minister, and that magistrates have to make a statement each year that they are not under-cover agents of the secret services. Debates in the special committee will be resumed in Tuesday morning.

Brexit — The EU and Great Britain did not manage to reach, on Monday, an agreement regarding Brexit negotiations- said the president of the European Comission, Jean-Claude Juncker, at the end of his meeting in Brussels with the British PM Theresa May. Juncker added that he hoped an agreement would be reached during this week, which would allow him to present it at the EU summit scheduled for December 14 and 15. Mrs. May stated that there are two or three issues over which the two sides have diverging opinions. She herself has expressed confidence that the future discussions will end with positive results. Great Britain is to exit the EU in March 2019.

Handball – The Romanian women’s handball team will be up against Spain on Tuesday. On Sunday, the Romanians scored their second victory in Group A of the World Women’s Handball Championship hosted by Germany, by defeating Slovenia, 31 to 28. On Saturday, the Romanians defeated 29-17 the team of Paraguay in their debut match. Also on Tuesday, in Group A, Slovenia will be up against Angola and France against Paraguay. In the previous World Championship of 2015 Romania won the bronze medal, being the only team to have participated in all the 22 editions of the championship held so far.

Budapest — The secretary of state for bilateral and strategic affairs in the Euro-Atlantic space within the Romanian Foreign Ministry, George Ciamba, on Monday participated in Budapest in the meeting of the Visegrad Group (including Hungary, Poland, The Czech Republic and Slovakia) with Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Romania, Slovenia and Serbia. According to him, the meeting is important for Romania in terms of the cooperation regarding the interconnection of the central and southeast European region in the field of natural gas. (news translated by Lacramioara Simion)

4 December 2017
The justice laws, under debate

Described by specialists and pundits as one of the most widely spread and toxic forms of corruption, abuse of office continues to fuel heated debates in the Romanian Parliament. On Wednesday, MPs on the relevant parliamentary committee which should harmonise any piece of legislation in the field of justice with the rulings issued by the Constitutional Court no longer talked about redefining “abuse of office” as had been previously announced by the head of the committee, former Social-Democrat Minister Florin Iordache.

He had earlier announced that establishing a threshold of some 19,000 lei, that is less than €5,000, for the prejudice produced as a consequence of “abuse of office” would not affect anyone. The National Liberal Party and the Save Romania Union, in opposition, have criticised this delay and accused the power of trying to avoid an honest debate on the idea of introducing a financial threshold. Liberal MP Ioan Cupşa has reiterated that his party does not intend to establish a threshold, although this is one of the requirements made by the Court. “People are very emotional about this issue”- the head of the legal committee of the Senate, Robert Cazanciuc, has admitted.

Himself a former minister, a couple of years ago, in the Social Democratic cabinet led by Victor Ponta, Cazanciuc says Romania needs a piece of intelligible legislation in the field, to the understanding of each citizen. He has also said that various versions referring to the abuse of office have been submitted to the relevant committee and underlined that, if the Social-Democrats haven’t come up with another proposal yet, it means that they haven’t embraced a clear standpoint yet.

The power-opponents accuse the majority made up of the Social Democratic Party-the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania that by introducing as higher a threshold as possible for the prejudice that has been created, they try to protect their party members accused of abuse of office, starting with the strongman of the coalition, the Social-Democrat Liviu Dragnea. The suspicions of the opposition, civil society and the press are fuelled by a more extensive package of laws meant to reform the judiciary and promoted by the incumbent line minister, Tudorel Toader.

With the declared aim of bringing the legislation in line both with the rulings issued by the Constitutional Court and the latest evolutions in society, the draft law stipulates that the country’s president will no longer be involved in the procedure of appointing head prosecutors and it places the Judicial Inspection Corps from under the umbrella of the Higher Council of the Magistracy to the subordination of the line ministry. “If this mixture of measures is adopted by the government and endorsed by Parliament, Romania’s efforts in the past ten years or more, will be erased, and the justice system will return to a period when it was subordinated to politics”- President Klaus Iohannis warned last year. In turn, civil society announces that on Sunday, it will resume the already famous anti-government protests, under the slogan “We are not a nation of thieves”. (Translated by D. Vijeu)

2 November 2017
Parliament goes on recess

Parliament has gone on recess and will resume its plenary sessions on September 1. Meanwhile, the Government can issue simple decrees in fields not pertaining to organic laws in such fields as public finance, economy, regional development, public administration, European funds and healthcare. The Government can issue decrees in the field of defense to ratify agreements on defense cooperation, to amend legislation related to the participation of troops in external missions and operations, on the deployment, stationing and activity of foreign military forces on Romania’s territory and for amending Government ordinances on public spending and strengthening financial discipline.

Although the opposition has criticized the latter document, claiming that there was no acting Government at the time and no governing program, the ruling coalition says the procedure is Constitutional and therefore normal. Meanwhile, the left-of-centre Government made up of the Social-Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats has started its activity, announcing its main objectives.

The first anti-government protests were staged this weekend, when approximately a thousand people on Sunday evening took part in an anti-corruption rally. The protest was organized five months after the largest-scale protests in post-communist Romania. When high-level corruption continues to be a problem, the society will respond, the organizers of the protest have said, arguing that the event was a response to last week’s developments as well as to the Government’s attempt to cap legal accountability for abuse of office.

On January 31, 2017 Sorin Grindeanu’s Cabinet passed an emergency decree bringing several amendments to criminal legislation, as well as setting a cap to 44,000 euros for prejudice incurred from crimes defined as abuse of office. The move prompted mass street protests all over the country, and in response the Government repealed the decree. The Constitutional Court decided that the Anti-Corruption Directorate’s investigation into the Government’s procedures to pass the decree exceeded its remit. Based on the Court’s decision, the Prosecutor General’s office closed the investigation. (Translated by V. Palcu)

3 July 2017
June 28, 2017

NEW CABINET — Romania’s Social Democrats are today gathering in a session of their National Executive Committee to finalise the membership of the new cabinet. The other party in the ruling coalition, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania has announced its wish to further keep, in the future cabinet, the foreign affairs, environment, energy and the relation with Parliament portfolios, as well as their holders. Talks on the membership of the new cabinet are held after on Monday the country’s president, Klaus Iohannis, nominated the Social Democrat Mihai Tudose for the position of prime minister, following consultations with the parliamentary parties. The leader of the Social Democratic Party, Liviu Dragnea, has said Parliament might vote on Thursday whether it validates the new cabinet or not. The Tudose cabinet is to replace that led by the Social-Democrat Sorin Grindeanu, which was toppled last week, following a no-confidence motion tabled by the ruling coalition.

ROMANIAN-BULGARIAN RELATIONS — Romania is ready to share with Bulgaria its experience and expertise in the fight against corruption, President Klaus Iohannis said in Bucharest during a meeting with his Bulgarian counterpart, Rumen Radev. The Romanian president also said he also talked with president Radev about his recent visit to Washington, about the two countries’ common interest in having a strong transatlantic relation as well as about security challenges in the Black Sea region. The two leaders have also approached the issue of Schengen accession. Rumen Radev has explained that if European citizens want to have highly secured external borders, they should be aware that this can’t be achieved without Romania and Bulgaria being Schenghen members and having access to the Schengen information system. The agenda of the talks also covered economic relations, cooperation within NATO and at regional level. The two presidents have also analysed concrete ways to coordinate themselves in an effort to promote common interests and objectives within the EU, in the context in which Bulgaria and Romania will hold the rotating Presidency of the Council in the first half of 2018 and in the first half of 2019, respectively. On Thursday, the two presidents will attend the opening of the Romania-Bulgaria Business Forum. The visiting Bulgarian president, Rumen Radev, will also meet in Bucharest with ethnic Bulgarians living in Romania.

JUDICIARY — The Romanian Justice Ministry is today organising the first public debate on amending criminal legislation on the crime of “abuse of office”, in agreement with the rulings issued by the Constitutional Court. Attending today’s talks will be representatives of civil society and of the business circle. A second debate, scheduled for July 3, will be attended by representatives of institutions in the judicial system, the magistrates’ professional associations, academics, and representatives of legal liberal professions. The talks will be held at the headquarters of the Justice Ministry. Last week, the Constitutional Court noticed that the legal provisions in force on the crime of “abuse of office” are formulated in broad, vague terms. The Court also ruled that the provisions of an article on preventing, discovering and punishing acts of corruption, relative to attempted abuse of office, are not constitutional.

ROAD ACCIDENTS — The number of deadly road accidents in Romania exceeded 1,900 last year, more than the double of the EU average, an analysis posted on the blog of the World Bank shows. According to it, the costs of road accidents with fatalities in Romania are incredibly high, being estimated at over 1.2 billion Euros per year. The number of road accidents is high because of an increasing number of cars running in Romania, high speed and poor road infrastructure. Furthermore, the legislation in the field is complicated, obsolete and inflexible or it is improperly enforced and Romania is lacking training programs for professional drivers, the analysis made by the World Bank shows.

28 June 2017
June 25, 2017 UPDATE

POLITICAL TALKS – The leaderships of the main political parties in Romania are completing the mandates for Mondays talks with President Klaus Iohannis, for the designation of a new prime minister. Talks are also held between political leaders to consolidate a parliamentary majority. We recall that the leftist cabinet led by Sorin Grindeanu was toppled by a no-confidence motion tabled by the ruling coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party, PSD, and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania, ALDE, which supported it following the legislative elections of December 2016. The Social Democrats and their ALDE partners say they further hold a parliamentary majority and will make a nomination for a new prime minister on Monday. The centre-right opposition made up of the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union and the Peoples Movement Party rule out any collaboration with PSD, whereas the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania hasnt taken a clear stand so far.

CRIMINAL LEGISLATION – The Romanian Justice Ministry next week starts a series of public demands on amending criminal legislation on the “abuse of office, in agreement with the rulings issued by Romanias Constitutional Court. A debate with representatives of civil society and of the business environment is scheduled for June 28, whereas a similar meeting with representatives of institutions in the judicial system, the magistrates professional associations, members of the academia and representatives of legal liberal professions is due on July 3. The debates will be held at the ministrys headquarters. On Wednesday, the Constitutional Court ruled that criminal provisions in force regarding the crime of abuse of office are formulated in broader, vague terms. Also, the Court ruled that the provisions of an article on the prevention, discovery and punishing of corruption acts related to attempted abuse of office are not constitutional.

MILITARY EXERCISE – A Romanian-U.S. military air exercise is unfolding at the Campia Turzii Base in northwestern Romania. Participating are some 200 Romanian troops, pilots and technical staff, using MiG-21 LanceR fighters and IAR-330 Puma helicopters, alongside some 300 U.S. military, using F-15 fighters and the required technical equipment. According to the Romanian Interior Ministry, the exercise which will unfold until late August, gives the chance to Romanian military to practice tactics, techniques and standard procedures specific to air operations, at NATO standards and to carry out joint flying missions with their American partners.

DIPLOMACY – The Romanian foreign minister, Teodor Melescanu, and his Georgian counterpart, Mikheil Janelidze, on Sunday exchanged messages of congratulations marking 25 years since the inception of bilateral diplomatic relations. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, Romania is one of the most constant and staunchest supporters of Georgia’ European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations. The very good political dialogue between the two countries materialised in many bilateral meetings, which have been on the rise particularly in recent years, both at ministerial and expert level. Romania recognised the independence of the former Soviet Republic of Georgia in August 1991 and bilateral diplomatic relations were established in June 1992.

ENERGY – The price of energy in Romania is still at high levels in the first half of the year and there are no signs that prices will go down, says the president of the Association of Electricity Suppliers, Ion Lungu. According to him, the situation is not specific to Romania alone, but to the entire region, and it is caused by a lack of cheap energy sources, such as hydro and wind energy, against the backdrop of an increasing consumption. In another move, the National Energy Regulatory Agency on Friday announced electricity prices for domestic consumers will increase by 8% as of July 1.

25 June 2017
Abuse of office, cap amounts and principles

The Constitutional Court of Romania has rejected the appeal made by Bombonica Prodana, the former wife of the leader of the Social Democratic Party, Liviu Dragnea, against a certain article in the Criminal Code which regulates the abuse of office. The application to challenge the respective article was invoked in a file in which she was prosecuted together with her former husband and several former employees of the Social Assistance Directorate of Teleorman County (in the south). The Court judges decided that it was up to Parliament to regulate the value and the seriousness of the damage caused by the offense.

Bombonica Prodana made this application in March and her lawyer said the application had to be submitted to the Constitutional Court because, in her case, the damage was below 50,000 euros and so, it should not be considered a criminal case. In the same case Liviu Dragnea was prosecuted for instigation to abuse of office and intellectual forgery. At the time, Bombonica Prodana was employed by the Child Protection Directorate of Teleorman County, an institution subordinated to the Teleorman County Council led by Liviu Dragnea.

Investigators say that Liviu Dragnea made several employees of the Social Assistance Directorate fictitiously hire two persons who were members of the Social Democratic Party’s local organization in Teleorman. Although the two were working exclusively for the Social Democratic Party, their salaries were paid from public money. If Liviu Dragnea receives a new sentence in this trial, he also risks executing the two-year suspended sentence he received last year in the so-called “Referendum” case.

This would definitively push him out of the political scene, which he has clearly dominated after the December 2016 elections. In the “Referendum” case, Liviu Dragnea was prosecuted because, in 2012, before and during the unfolding of the referendum for the impeachment of the then president Traian Basescu, he put in place a system, in his capacity as Secretary General of the Social Democratic Party, meant to modify the result of the vote in order to force a quorum which would have led to the president’s impeachment.

At present, tens of mayors and presidents of county councils have received a sentence or are being investigated by the National Anti-Corruption Directorate for abuse of office. In early 2017 the Government tried to solve their problems. The famous Government decree no. 13 meant to amend the criminal code, which was passed at the end of January and subsequently repealed, stipulated that people could be indicted for abuse of office if the damage caused was of at least 44 thousand euros. This controversial decision then made hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets in what was the largest-scale protest since the fall of Communism in December 1989. (Translated by L. Simion)

7 June 2017
Anti-Corruption Directorate Presents 2016 Report

Romanian anti-corruption prosecutors won 870 cases in court last year, with sentences passed against 8 MPs, a cabinet minister, an MEP, chairs of county councils and dozens of mayors. The acquittal rate was below the European average of 10%, said the chief prosecutor of the National Anti-corruption Directorate, Laura Codruta Kovesi, during the presentation of the institutions yearly report.

She went on to say that 2016 was a very difficult year for the Directorate, with pressure coming from legislative challenges and unprecedented attacks against the activity and the staff of the institution. Kovesi emphasised that, concurrently with the criminal investigations conducted by judicial institutions, well-defined prevention measures and control mechanisms are necessary, otherwise corruption will remain a common occurrence.

As regards the abuse of office, Codruta Kovesi said that courts have implemented the relevant ruling passed by the Constitutional Court last summer in an inconsistent manner, with more than 70 people sentenced for such offences, and 15 acquitted.

Codruta Kovesi: “There is a large-scale debate in Romania these days regarding abuse of office. The Constitutional Court has not decriminalised abuse of office. This offence has not been found to come against the Constitution, as some people are claiming. On the contrary, the Constitutional Court ruled that this is a valid offence, and that the word ‘flawed in the definition of abuse of office should be read as ‘in breach of the law.

Abuse of office has been the topic of extensive debate recently, and Kovesi pointed out that more than a quarter of the individuals indicted in 2016 were charged with this offence.

Attending the presentation of the annual report was also the Prosecutor General Augustin Lazar, who said that any procedural incident involving the anti-corruption prosecutors is seized by the media and used against the prosecutors and even against the judicial system as a whole. In Lazars opinion, a nearly 10% acquittal rate is quite reasonable, considering the pressures and the hostility that the institution is subject to.

Augustin Lazar: “The defendants often make use of their power and influence, of an impressive arsenal of judicial and mass-media pressure methods, in order to intimidate witnesses and to capitalise on any inconsistencies encountered in some indictments.

A total 226 million euros should be getting into the state budget as a result of final and binding rulings passed by courts in corruption-related cases. President Klaus Iohannis, also attending the event, called on the relevant institutions to do everything in their power to recover the proceeds of crime, because citizens have great expectations in this respect.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

24 February 2017