Radio România Internațional

Tag: Anti-Corruption Directorate

  • President Iohannis rejects Government’s anti-corruption prosecutor nominee

    President Iohannis rejects Government’s anti-corruption prosecutor nominee

    In a move anticipated by supporters and opponents alike, Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis rejected, on Wednesday, the appointment of Adina Florea as chief –prosecutor of the Anti Corruption Directorate (DNA), proposed for this post by the Justice Minister Tudorel Toader. Three other nominations at the top of the High Court of Cassation and Justice and the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) respectively, were also rejected by president Iohannis. “The legal criteria that a prosecutor must meet, in an objective manner, in order to be appointed to a leading position, have not been met,” the presidential administration said in a release. Last month, a judicial advisory panel with the Superior Council of Magistracy issued a negative opinion on Mrs. Florea’s appointment, due to her “reduced stress tolerance and low analytical and synthetic skills,” as well as “deficiencies in relation to values such as honesty and impartiality, attributes that are indispensible to a manager.”



    Minister Toader said he was not surprised with the President’s decision, but with the way in which he motivated his decision, namely by invoking the absence of a certificate saying that the nominees did not collaborate with the Securitate, the communist political police. While debates seem to continue in legal and procedural terms, in political terms the President’s decision is seen by some analysts as a counterattack in the endless war against the ruling coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats.



    We recall that in June, the Constitutional Court headed by Valer Dorneanu ruled that President Iohannis had to sack the then anti-graft chief prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi, as Minister Toader had demanded ever since February. Judges ruled that the President had started a conflict when initially refusing to dismiss her. Kovesi’s eventual dismissal was perceived as a victory by the leftist ruling coalition whom the opposition, civil society and a part of the media accuse of trying to subordinate magistrates and prevent corrupt politicians from being brought to justice.



    A spearhead of the anti-corruption fight to some and the leader of an abusive system to others, Laura Codruta Kovesi was frequently dubbed the most powerful woman in Romania. At a debate held at the UN headquarters in New York, shortly before her revocation, Kovesi said that the biggest challenge for Romania was to preserve the independence of judges and prosecutors. In the past five years alone, the Directorate prosecuted 14 ministers and former ministers as well as 53 MPs. Of them, 27 have already received final sentences. In the same period, the National Anticorruption Directorate ordered precautionary measures for assets worth 2.3 billion dollars. According to pundits, the Directorate will have to keep on working as it has before, because, in a mature democracy, institutions work irrespective of who is at their helm.


  • Who Needs an Amnesty and Pardon Law?

    Who Needs an Amnesty and Pardon Law?

    The Romanian Justice Minister Florin Iordache made the law on amnesty and pardons a highlight of his first few weeks in office. He pleads for detailed analysis and thorough public discussion on the bill, the foremost argument in favour of which is that it would help reduce overcrowding in the penitentiary system. The Justice Minister together with the Prosecutor General of Romania, Augustin Lazar, and the head of the Anti-Corruption Directorate, Laura Codruta Kovesi, examined the topic.



    Here is Florin Iordache, with a statement at the end of that meeting: “Frankly put, when there is not enough room in a house, there are only two solutions: you either build a new house, or kick someone out of the old one. So until we have finalised these talks on whether or not such a law is a good option, it would be nonsensical to talk about whether or not to pass legislation in this respect.”



    In turn, the heads of the two judicial institutions were clearly against endorsing a law on amnesty and pardons. Here is Prosecutor General Augustin Lazar: “We are in charge of fighting crime, we have our priorities, such as combating corruption, recovering the proceeds of crime, and so on, which is the very goal of criminal prosecution and is the job that prosecutors are paid for.”



    President Klaus Iohannis is on the same side in this debate. Known for his generally balanced views, the President was rather blunt in his statements on this particular topic, made in the presence of Minister Iordache, at a meeting of the Higher Council of Magistrates last week. Iohannis says this law might threaten democracy itself and he will do everything his position allows, to oppose it. According to the head of state, enacting an amnesty and pardon bill would undermine the rule of law and push Romania away from the European and Euro-Atlantic values.



    He went even further and said: “Such an endeavour, a law on amnesty and pardons, which would not only clear the records of offenders that might be dangerous for other people and for society at large, but would also allow politicians to get away with breaking the law, would be a disaster for Romanian democracy.”



    Many fear that penitentiary overcrowding, a genuine problem in Romania, which is far from meeting the relevant EU standards, is a perfect pretext for setting free influential people, politicians in particular, who were sent behind bars in recent years as a result of a sustained anti-corruption campaign.


    (Translated by Ana maria Popescu)

  • The Senate’s decisions challenged

    The Senate’s decisions challenged




    Ahead of the
    parliamentary recess, the Romanian Senate on Tuesday passed several
    controversial decisions that have been challenged. The first refers to the
    rejection of the draft law empowering the Government to issue emergency
    ordinances during the parliamentary recess.
    Following an unprecedented decision in the past 25 years, the draft law
    was rejected by 77 votes, obtaining only 25 votes for and 8 abstentions. The
    draft law stipulated the main areas in which the Government was empowered to
    issue emergency ordinances, such as the public finance and the economy,
    regional development and public administration, healthcare, justice, culture,
    agriculture and transports. However, the Chamber of Deputies will have the last
    say in that matter.

    The Social Democrat senator Serban Nicolae motivated that
    decision saying that it was in the interest of Romania and its citizens that
    this technocratic Government should manage only the current issues. On the
    other hand, the Liberal Senator Puiu Haşotti
    said that rejecting the Government’s request to issue ordinances during the
    parliamentary recess had never happened in Romania, and even in the case of
    minority governments, the deputies had complied with the government’s request.


    In another
    development, the Romanian Senate decided to give special pensions to mayors,
    deputy mayors, the presidents and vice-presidents of county councils after at
    least one whole term in office. The measure will not benefit those officials
    who received definitive sentences while in office, and the special pension
    received as a local official cannot be cumulated with the MP pension. Supported
    by the Social Democrats, the draft law was challenged during the debates by the
    Liberals who claimed the measure was populist. The Liberal Senator Octavian
    Motoc believes that the mayors should have higher salaries, not special
    pensions. Another decision passed by the Romanian Senate and criticized even by
    the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis refers to the Social Democrat senator
    Titus Corlăţean, who was
    accused by the National Anti-Corruption Directorate of abuse of office and of
    preventing citizens in the Diaspora from exercising their right to vote.

    Titus
    Corlăţean cannot be prosecuted
    in the case of the 2014 voting in the Diaspora at the November presidential
    election because the Senate did not comply with the National Anti-Corruption
    Directorate prosecutors’ request to lift his parliamentary immunity. The
    prosecutors claim that, in the context of organizing the elections, in his
    capacity as foreign minister, Titus Corlăţean
    acted in a discretionary manner in organizing the polling stations abroad, thus
    obtaining undue benefits in favor of Victor Ponta, the presidential candidate
    nominated and supported by his own party. Prosecutors say Corlăţean limited the number of Romanian
    citizens who could exercise their right to vote aboard. In November 2014 the
    Romanian citizens in the big European cities of London, Dublin, Madrid, Paris
    and Vienna denounced the small number of polling stations and of the staff in
    the election committees.

  • A new mandate for the chief the National Anti-Corruption Directorate

    A new mandate for the chief the National Anti-Corruption Directorate

    On Wednesday the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis signed a decree, which gives a new 3-year term at the helm of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate to Laura Codruta Kovesi, the most successful prosecutor of the moment in Romania. In an interview granted to the public television, the Romanian President said that the main argument in re-investing Ms. Kovesi as chief prosecutor was the success of her first mandate.



    Klaus Iohannis: “As regards Ms. Kovesi I can tell you very clearly that I have no doubts or question marks. The results obtained by the National Anti-Corruption Directorate in the past years and even in the recent years and in 2015 are quite impressive”.



    Figures are very telling. The National Anti-Corruption Directorate’s activity report for 2015 includes, for the first time, the investigation and subsequent prosecution of an acting Prime Minister, namely the Social Democrat Victor Ponta, as well as the arrest of a judge of the Constitutional Court, Toni Grebla, and of Bucharest’s independent mayor, Sorin Oprescu.



    The National Anti-Corruption Directorate’s prosecutors also asked for the taking into temporary custody of an acting minister, namely the Finance Minister Darius Valcov. 4 out of Bucharest’s 6 district mayors have been arrested, and legal action has been taken against tens of current and former MPs, mayors, and county council presidents.



    According to a National Anti-Corruption Directorate communiqué, the prosecution rate has been maintained at 90%, which is indicative of the professionalism of anti-corruption prosecutors and of the quality of evidence the cases have been built on. The protagonists of corruption cases, be they leftwing or rightwing officials, politicians in power or in opposition, from Bucharest or from across Romania, cover the entire political spectrum.



    Thus, the more popular the National Anti-Corruption Directorate’s chief has grown among regular citizens, the more detested she has become by high-ranking corrupt people and their representatives in the mass media or by various individuals hired to do dirty jobs on behalf of the so-called white collars. Frequently contested and defamed, Laura Codruta Kovesi has recently been the target of a foiled intimidation attempt.



    Former Israeli intelligence officers have threatened her on the phone on a couple of occasions and have also conducted phishing attacks in order to acquire sensitive information from the e-mail accounts of her relatives and friends. The Romanian anti-Mafia prosecutors have already arrested two persons in this case, but the authorities in Tel Aviv have denied any involvement.



    A communiqué of the Israel embassy in Bucharest points out that the investigation started in this case targets employees of a private company, which has no connection whatsoever with an Israeli state institution.


  • February 25, 2016

    February 25, 2016

    Romanian Health Minister Patriciu Achimas Cadariu has asked the management of the Children’s Hospital in Pitesti to resign after they failed to report a new case of haemolytic-uremic syndrome. The patient is a toddler who had been brought to hospital for severe diarrhoea eleven days ago and has been treated in several hospitals in Arges County and the capital Bucharest ever since. We remind you that around 30 small children from Arges have been committed to hospitals in that county and in Bucharest with severe digestive infection. Health authorities have so far failed to find the source of infection that has so far killed three children.



    The battle against corruption must continue at full tilt in Romania and the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) should be a fierce player fighting against this plague that continues to scar our society, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has said today. The head of state attended, alongside PM Dacian Ciolos the presentation of the annual activity report of the DNA. In her turn, the Directorate’s chief, Laura Codruta Kovesi has said that the institution must continue investigating corruption deeds and putting all efforts into this. The DNA has said in a pres release that its activity was marked by a series of ‘premieres’ in 2015, such as the investigation and prosecution of a serving prime minister, Victor Ponta, the arrest of a Constitutional Court judge, Toni Grebla, and of the Bucharest mayor, Sorin Oprescu.



    The European Council President Donald Tusk has said that the agreement between the EU and Britain will only be valid if the Britons vote in the June referendum in favor of their EU membership. In a speech held in the European Parliament, Tusk has said that the new settlement deal for Britain is “legally binding and irreversible” and “cannot be annulled by the European Court of Justice.”



    The International Monetary Fund has warned that world economy is vulnerable to negative shocks and has called on G20 countries to take urgent and bold action to combat a slowing global economy. The statement came before a gathering of G20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs in China on February 26. The IMF has said in a report that growth in advanced economies was already lower than expected and warned that Chinas slowdown and the collapse in commodity prices were major headwinds that could derail the global recovery. Financial market turbulence and asset price declines in advanced economies posed additional difficulties, the report says.



    Romanian Culture Minister Vlad Alexandrescu has signed at the Vatican the first cultural accord between Romania and the Holy See. The document is aimed at stimulating the staging of extensive cultural events particularly for the numerous Romanian community in Italy. The Romanian Minister’s visit included, among others, a meeting with the head of the Vatican Museums, professor Antonio Paolucci, with whom he discussed joint cultural projects.



    The Swiss will have their say, in a referendum later this month, on whether to subject any foreign resident to automatic deportation if convicted of offences running the gamut from murder to breaking the speed limit. The anti-immigration Swiss Peoples Party (SVP), which holds about a third of seats in parliament, initiated the referendum. However, critics say that automatic deportations would violate European Convention on Human Rights rules applied to families, as deportees could leave dependent relatives behind, exposing them to financial hardship.



    Over 280 firms from 15 countries are today presenting their offer at Romania’s Tourism Fair that opened in Bucharest today. Until Sunday, agencies, organisers and tourism associations will present their best offers to Romanian and foreign tourists. Sales of domestic holiday packages are expected to grow, competing with offers from Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria.



  • The Week in Review 15-20 February

    The Week in Review 15-20 February

    The EU and the UK strike a deal in Brussels An agreement on renegotiating the UKs EU membership was reached, European Council president Donald Tusk announced late on Friday. After two days of talks in Brussels with other EU leaders, British Premier David Cameron said the EU provided the concessions he sought. Romania was represented at the summit by its President, Klaus Iohannis. The meeting also tackled migration and the distribution of refugees among member states. The European Council President Donald Tusk has announced a special meeting with Turkey early this March after having reiterated the importance of joint efforts by the EU and Ankara as to the refugee crisis. The 28 EU heads of state and government have unanimously agreed that a European approach is needed in dealing with the migrant issue. On the sidelines of the meeting, Klaus Iohannis had talks with the Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, with whom he discussed the Romanian-Polish relation and the security challenges in eastern Europe.




    Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos pays visit to Brussels


    Romania’s joining the Schengen area, migration, energy union and the European workers’ rights in the UK were the main topics on the agenda of the Romanian prime minister Dacian Ciolos during his two-day official visit to Brussels. Ciolos held talks with the European Commission President, Jean-Claude Junker, who said after the meeting that the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism on Romania’s judicial system could be lifted during his term in office. PM Ciolos also met with the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, to whom he presented the priorities of his Cabinet, such as the smooth running of the local and parliamentary elections and the reform projects. The two officials also tackled the situation in the neighbouring Republic of Moldova. Ciolos insisted on Romania’s joining the Schengen area and said he would travel to the Netherlands in March to discuss the issue with the officials of this country, which had repeatedly used their vote to block the Schengen access of Romania and Bulgaria.



    Moldova’s President met with his Romanian counterpart in Bucharest


    Romanian President Klaus Iohannis reiterated in Bucharest, during talks with his Moldovan counterpart, Nicolae Timofti, Romania’s determination to support Moldova’s European efforts. Iohannis pointed out that more Romanian-Moldovan economic projects are needed in this respect, such as the Iasi-Ungheni gas pipeline. As for the financial aid requested by Moldova, President Iohannis said that Romania would grant the required amount provided that the Chisinau Government continued its reform programme. In his turn, President Timofti thanked the Romanian authorities for assisting Moldova in getting closer to the EU. Moreover, he voiced hope that Romania would further contribute to the development of Moldova’s energy sector, which would make his country less vulnerable in this respect.



    Anti-corruption prosecutors investigate two other Romanian MPs


    Romanian MPs said no to a request from the National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA) regarding the preventive arrest the Social Democratic MP Madalin Voicu. On the other hand, the MPs have voted in favour of lifting the immunity of Nicolae Paun, who represents the Roma minority in Parliament and is investigated in the same case. Both MPs are accused of having unlawfully obtained and used European funds. According to prosecutors, over 2010-2015, pretending they would assist thousands of Roma people in finding a job or becoming entrepreneurs, the two deputies conceived a plan through which they misappropriated over 6 million euro worth of EU funds.



    Several children in Arges County diagnosed with haemolytic-uremic syndrome are treated in a Bucharest hospital


    About two weeks after the first cases of infants from Arges County with serious digestive infections were reported, some of them are still being treated in a Bucharest hospital as they have been suffering major complications. The microorganism that has already killed several children has not been identified yet. A group of doctors from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control travelled to Romania to assist in finding the cause of infection. The authorities expanded the epidemiological inquiry in Arges to test the animals in the areas where the children live.



    The Romanian state resumes the process of purchasing Brancusi’s work “The Wisdom of the Earth”


    The Romanian state has recently announced its intention to resume proceedings for the purchase of the sculpture “The Wisdom of the Earth”, one of Constantin Brancusi’s masterpieces. The commemoration of 140 years since one of the greatest fine artists of all time was born was marked in Romania with a number of events held in the Romanian artist’s native village, Hobita, in Targu Jiu, which hosts some of his best known works, and in several other cities. The Romanian Culture Ministry has recently announced that it will resume efforts to put the open-air ensemble in Targu Jiu on UNESCO’s heritage list.



    (Translated by Elena Enache)

  • February 20, 2016 UPDATE

    February 20, 2016 UPDATE

    EUROPEAN UNION – British Premier David Cameron announced on Saturday, after a Cabinet meeting, that the date for the referendum on whether Britain should remain in the EU is June 23rd. We remind you that late on Friday, the European Council president Donald Tusk announced that an agreement on renegotiating the UKs EU membership was reached. In his turn, David Cameron confirmed that the EU provided the concessions he sought, including assurances that the other nations wont try to make Britain part of a “European superstate.” According to the British premier, there will be tough new restrictions on access to his country’s welfare system for EU migrants. World leaders praised the deal, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel saying the EU leaders clearly wanted Britain to stay. President Klaus Iohannis, who represented Romania at the summit, has said that Romanians currently working in the UK will not be affected by the deal, which only affects workers that will enter the British labour market after its enforcement.




    HEALTHCARE — The two foreign experts from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control who travelled to Romania on Thursday to help find the cause of an infection that developed in a number of children from Arges county, are now looking over the data that Romanian doctors have gathered so far, The National Centre for the Surveillance and Control of Communicable Diseases announced. We recall that three children died this month due to serious digestive infections followed by major complications and seven children are being further treated in a Bucharest hospital, having been diagnosed with the hemolytic-uremic syndrome. They are all from the Arges county and finding the cause of the infection might take months.




    PRESIDENCY – Romanian President Klaus Iohannis will address Parliament’s plenary sitting on Monday. The President’s address, his first this year, will focus on domestic politics, Senate Speaker Calin Popescu Tariceanu has announced. This is Iohannis’s 5th Parliament address since he took over the presidential seat in December 2014.




    LAW – The Romanian Justice Ministry jointly with the Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA), the Direction for the Investigation of Organized Crimes and Terrorism (DIICOT) and the General Prosecutor’s Office are working on a bill allowing public bodies to further access private communications. The Constitutional Court has recently ruled that several provisions of an article in the Criminal Procedure Code violate the fundamental law, such as the ones allowing the Romanian Intelligence Service to tap suspects’ phone calls. Justice Minister, Raluca Pruna, has said that the bill will be ready by the time the Court publicly motivates its ruling, so that there will be no legislative gaps with negative effects on the ongoing criminal investigations.




    FILM – The independent production “Illegitimate” (Ilegitim), directed by Romanian Adrian Sitaru and produced by Anamaia Antoci, won the award of the International Confederation of Art Cinemas. The feature had its world premiere last week, at the 66th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival. The film was selected in the Forum section of the event, which presented a total of 44 films in its main program, 34 of which were world premieres. At the same festival, another Romania director, Roxana Stroe, won the Special Prize of the Generation 14plus International Jury for the best short film, with “A Night in Tokoriki” (O noapte in Tokoriki). According to the competition’s website, “the jury appreciated the film for its idiosyncratic tone of voice and superb craft and storytelling. This film manages to playfully depict a heartfelt but urgent message. With humorous mise-en-scene, no dialogue and an ironic use of music, the film tells a brilliantly engaging story about unacceptable love in rural Europe and its repercussions.”




    HANDBALL –Romania’s vice champion women’s handball team, HCM Baia Mare, on Friday qualified to the Champions League’s quarter finals, after defeating, on home turf, the German team Thuringer HC, 38-27, in the main Group 1 of the Champions League. In the same competition, but in the 2nd main Group, the champions CSM Bucharest is playing Midtjylland of Denmark on Sunday away from home. The Romanian champions need at least a draw to secure qualification to the quarterfinals. At present CSM Bucharest is ranked 4th in the group tables.



    (Translated by Elena Enache)



  • January 25, 2016 UPDATE

    January 25, 2016 UPDATE

    European Union countries have asked the blocs executive to prepare for the extension of temporary border controls in the Schengen area for up to two years, Dutch Migration Minister Klaas Dijkhoff said on Monday. “Currently, the temporary border measures can be aken only for a limited period of six months. But the unprecedented influx of asylum seekers, which compelled member states to take these measures nationally, have not decreased yet,” Dijkhoff, who chaired the EU ministerial meeting in Amsterdam, told a news conference. Romania was represented at the meeting by its Home Affairs Minister Petre Toba.




    The European Counter Terrorism Centre (ECTC) has been opened in Amsterdam within the current organisational structure of Europol – the European Union law enforcement agency. The centre will improve information sharing among national police forces whose performance is under scrutiny after the jihadist attacks in Paris in November. “Our ambition is for the European Counter Terrorism Centre to become a central information hub in the fight against terrorism in the EU, providing analysis for ongoing investigations and contributing to a coordinated reaction in the event of major terrorist attacks,” said Europol’s Director Rob Wainwright. According to Wainwright, alongside counter-terrorism coordination, the centre will also monitor the way in which Islamic State (IS) and other extremist groups are abusing the Internet and social media, in particular for their propaganda and recruitment purposes.




    Staffan de Mistura, the United Nations envoy for Syria has announced that peace talks are scheduled to start on January 29 and might take around 6 months. UN talks on Syria will begin later this week, despite the continuing failure to agree who will represent the rebels fighting to overthrow Bashar al-Assad and a lack of agreement on other key issues, the organisation has announced. Staffan de Mistura also said on Monday that the names of the people invited at the peace talks will be made public on Tuesday.




    The Romanian Foreign Ministry has announced that Ukrainian authorities signalled a swine flu outbreak in the country, a respiratory disease, caused by a strain of the influenza type A virus known as H1N1. Ukrainian officials have introduced a number of urgent measures to prevent the spreading of the virus, such as temporarily closing schools and banning some public gatherings. The Romanian Foreign Ministry strongly recommends Romanian citizens to avoid travelling to Ukraine in the upcoming period. H1N1 is the same strain that causes seasonal outbreaks of flu in humans on a regular basis. Symptoms of swine flu in humans appear to be similar to those produced by standard, seasonal flu – fever, cough, sore throat, body aches and chills.




    The Romanian Anti-Corruption Directorate has requested approval from the Senate for the prosecution of former Minister of the Interior, Gabriel Oprea, for abuse of office. He is suspected of illegally using the resources of the ministry when travelling on ministry business. He is also accused of illegally signing a protocol by which the same illegal benefits were granted to the general prosecutor with the High Court of Cassation and Justice. The Anti-Corruption Directorate started the investigation after a motorcycle police escort to the minister lost his life on duty in his official column. The lack of reaction after the incident and the lack of justification for that assignment sparked public outrage.




    The new PM of the Republic of Moldova, Pavel Filip, is paying a visit to Romania on Tuesday, invited by Romanian PM Dacian Ciolos. The two will be discussing joint projects and the reform agenda that Chisinau has committed to under the Association Agreement with the EU. This is the first official visit of the new Moldovan Prime Minister, while the situation in Chisinau is volatile. Over 20,000 protesters, pro-Russian political forces and representatives of civil society took to the streets on Sunday in Chisinau, condemning endemic corruption.



    (Translated by Elena Enache)

  • Constitutionality and Immunity

    Constitutionality and Immunity

    After Tuesday’s decision by the Senate of Romania, which turned down a request to place the Social Democrat Senator Dan Sova in custody in a corruption investigation, a number of responses from judicial officials and even the President of Romania suggest that the vote is questionable and the Constitutional Court needs to rule on its validity. The National Anti-Corruption Directorate had requested the Senators’ approval for taking Dan Sova into custody. He is suspected of having falsified and destroyed evidence in order to avoid prosecution for illegally cashing in three and a half million lei from the Turceni and Rovinari energy companies.



    Although most of the Senators attending the meeting voted in favour of the arrest, the request was denied, on grounds that not enough MPs had attended. The decision was immediately challenged, first by the chief prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, Laura Codruta Kovesi, who called on the Higher Council of Magistrates to notify the Constitutional Court that a legislative authority has hindered a judicial proceeding. She mentioned a 2008 Constitutional Court ruling, under which requests for Parliament to approve the arrest or taking into custody of an MP are approved by the majority of the members attending the meeting.



    The Senate Speaker, Calin Popescu Tariceanu, argues however that in this case the Senate’s rules of procedure apply, which have never been subject to Constitutional Court approval. Under Parliament’s rules of procedure, Senate decisions require a majority vote of the total number of Senators, whether attending the meeting or not. The President of Romania Klaus Iohannis got involved in the dispute as well. He requested the Constitutional Court to look into this constitutional conflict between the judicial and the legislative authorities, after Parliament failed to bring its rules in line with the Constitution.



    The Court has already announced it would pass a ruling on the matter on April the 8th. Meanwhile, criticism against the controversial vote is coming both from the Opposition, most notably from the National Liberal Party, and from the embassies of the US, Great Britain and the Netherlands, which closely monitor the handling of corruption cases in Romania.

  • The Judicial System at Full Steam

    The Judicial System at Full Steam

    In the last two or three years, the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA), the spearhead in the fight against the worm gnawing at the root of Romanian public administration, managed to make up for lost ground and lost time, and not just in terms of image. With a huge wave of investigations, many of them resulting in prison sentences, the Directorate has managed to get through the message that no one is above the law, irrespective of reputation, position, political affiliation or influence.



    What is more, for the first time in the judicial history of post-Communist Romania, a standing public senior prosecutor is under criminal investigation. The head of the organized crime division (DIICOT), Alina Bica, who headed an organization with an otherwise good image, was indicted in an investigation for abuse of public office. She is accused of irregularities committed while she was an undersecretary in the Ministry of Justice, and member of a committee that operated retrocessions, the process of returning to former owners lands and real estate confiscated by the communist regime under nationalization. In 2011, she and two colleagues, also under investigation, are alleged to have facilitated restitution payments for a piece of land 13 hectares in size, near Bucharest, payments which were based on a gross overvaluation, ending up costing the Romanian state 62 million Euros.



    At the same time, also on Thursday, the Supreme Court approved the motion filed by anti-corruption prosecutors for the pre-emptive 30-day arrest of Social Democratic MP Ioan Adam, whose party currently dominates the ruling coalition. He is involved in a case that similarly involves the return of nationalized properties, which this time caused damages worth 300 million Euros. At the same time, the Supreme Court decided that Conservative MP Ion Dinita, whose party is also in the ruling coalition, should be investigated without detention, but under judicial restrictions. Dinita is suspected of illegal action in handling public contracts in the city of Brasov. In his case, the National Anti-Corruption Directorate estimates damages to the state budget at 7 million Euros.



    Both rulings of the Supreme Court are not final, and the three cases do not bring anything new in the judicial landscape in the country. The three under investigation, well placed in the higher echelons of public administration at the time of the alleged violations, were using well-established corrupt practices, such as overvaluation, illegal retrocession and preferential public acquisition contracts. Then again, the Directorate is working on no less than 4,800 cases at this time. In spite of corruption taking more and more inventive forms, the National Anti-Corruption Directorate chief Laura Codruta Kovesi has issued a message: ‘They can’t outsmart us.’