Decisions on high-level prosecutors
Both the appointment of a new prosecutor general of Romania, and of the future chief prosecutor of the European Union, have been postponed
Bogdan Matei, 11.04.2019, 14:14
A recurrent topic
in the past 2 years, the developments in the judiciary remain in the focus of
Romanian public life. In the last few days, it was not about changes in the
criminal legislation or corruption cases involving high-profile politicians,
but about the candidates for top-level prosecutor positions.
On Wednesday all
the 4 candidates for prosecutor general of Romania were rejected, with the
selection procedure set to be resumed between April 12 and May 8, the Justice
Ministry has announced. The decision was made by the line minister, Tudorel
Toader, who interviewed the candidates and was unimpressed with all of them.
The 4 were the
former chief of the Directorate Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism
Offences (DIICOT) Daniel Horodniceanu, the anti-mafia prosecutor Marian Drilea,
a prosecutor working for the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Brasov Court
of Appeals, Gabriela Scutea, and the incumbent prosecutor general, Augustin
Lazar, whose term in office comes to an end this month and who is seeking a new
term.
Lazar is at the
heart of a major scandal with political tinges, after the has been accused of
having denied parole to several anti-communist dissidents in the ’80s, when he
was a member of the release committee at the Aiud Penitentiary, one of the
harshest prisons in the communist repressive system.
Seen as close to
President Klaus Iohannis and detested by the leftist power made up of the
Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, who also
accuse him of abuse in the post-communist years, Lazar says these attacks
against him are prompted by his candidacy for a new term as prosecutor general.
He also says he has never prosecuted offences against the communist regime, and
that he is not a collaborator or agent of any intelligence service. But his
enemies in politics and mass media continue to demand his withdrawal from
public life.
Also on
Wednesday, the Justice Ministry announced that it had not selected any
candidate on behalf of Romania for the position of chief prosecutor of the EU,
and this procedure would be resumed as well. The conclusion of the process is
postponed both in Bucharest, and in Brussels. The future head of the European
Public Prosecutor’s Office will be appointed by the new European Parliament, to
be elected in May.
In its current
configuration, the European Parliament backs the former head of the Romanian
Anti-Corruption Directorate, Laura Codruta Kovesi, praised as the spearhead of
the fight against corruption by her supporters at home, but challenged by opponents
as part of a repressive mechanism. The Council of the EU favours the Frenchman
Jean Francois Bohnert.
A few round of
negotiations between the 2 European bodies on the topic failed. So after the
elections, the new Parliament will have to decide whether to resume talks from
scratch, or to continue the negotiations conducted so far.
