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On 3rd of September, the Romanian Parliament is going back to work. However, the parliamentarians of the Carpatian country have not been idle during the summer break: the members of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate had to decide in extracurricular sessions on 13th and 16th of August, whether they will withdraw the immunity of four current and former ministers, thus enabling criminal law investigation on suspicion of high-ranking corruption.
The topic of „fight against corruption“ has been ruling the public agenda in Romania for several years. Its accession to the European Union (EU) on 1 January 2007 has not changed anything in this respect. To the contrary: since Romania’s EU accession, the fight against corruption has been occupying national and international media, politics, economy, lawyers and civil society to a hitherto unknown extent.
In Romania, after almost two months of controversy and tensions between the two heads of the Executive, the Prime-Minister and the President, regarding the person to fill the office of the Minister of Justice, agreement has been reached on the nomination of Cătălin-Marian Predoiu, a commercial lawyer. You find more background information on his nomination in the following report.
Debate has re-ignited in new EU member state Romania about the prosecution of former and current ministers under suspicion of political corruption.
Even in the 2nd year of its EU accession, the Romanian does not come to a rest: On 8January 2008, President Traian Basescu refused to appoint the national-liberal senator Norica Nicolai as the new Romanian Minister of Justice. Instead, he asked Prime Minister Calin Popescu-Tariceanu (PNL) in writing to make a new proposal for the filling of the vacancy as justice minister. Liberal Nicolai had - despite original objections by the Prime Minister - been proposed for the post of Minister of Justice in December last year by the governing PNL. The decision led to different reactions internationally.
On 27 June 2007, the European Commission issued its reports on the progress made by Bulgaria and Romania in meeting the benchmarks which had been set by the Commission when both countries joined the EU.The two countries escaped the activation of the safeguard clauses, but the Commission noticed that the progresses in the reform of the justice system, in fighting corruption and in fighting organized crime are insufficient. It also said that it will keep on monitoring, for another year, the two new Member States and continue to cooperate/support them.The most important critic brought to Bulgaria was the lack of results in fighting organized crime, especially the lack of legal prosecution and the lack of penalties in the cases of alleged contract killings (more than 155 starting with 2000).In the case of Romania, the critics went to the way in which the Romanian Justice deals with high-level corruption cases. Very few cases are being solved.
