Interim Report from the European Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Progress in Romania under the Co-operation and Verification Mechanism
Date: 2010-03-23
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Romania, corruption, judicial reform, report, rule of law

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 23.3.2010 
COM(2010)113 final 

INTERIM REPORT FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL 

On Progress in Romania under the Co-operation and Verification Mechanism 

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INTERIM REPORT FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL 

On Progress in Romania under the Co-operation and Verification Mechanism 

1. 

INTRODUCTION  

When Romania entered the EU on 1 January 2007, a Co-operation and Verification 
Mechanism  (hereafter  CVM)1  was  set  up  to  help  Romania  remedy  certain 
shortcomings in the areas of judicial reform and the fight against corruption and to 
monitor progress in these areas through periodical reports. 

The  present  report  is  an  interim  report  providing  a  technical  update  on  significant 
developments which occurred during the last 6 months in Romania under the CVM. 
It  does  not  contain  an  assessment  on  progress  achieved.  The  update  is  limited  to 
measures that have either been completed or where their finalisation can be expected 
shortly. 

The  last  progress  report  adopted  by  the  Commission  on  22  July  2009  and  its 
recommendations  remain  the  point  of  reference  for  the  assessment  of  progress 
achieved against the benchmarks and the identification of the remaining challenges. 
The Commission will provide its next assessment in summer 2010. 

2. 

JUDICIAL REFORM AND THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION: STATE OF PLAY  

During  the  last  six  months,  Romania  has  not  been  able  to  keep  the  momentum  of 
reform it had established by mid-2009. The recent electoral period led to a delay of 
the parliamentary discussion of the draft civil and criminal procedure codes, whose 
adoption will be a vital next step in the reform process. In addition, the capacity of 
the  judicial  system  has  been  put  under  further  strain  by  net  staff  losses  and  the 
protests during September. 

In the last six months, the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) has continued 
to maintain a good track-record. The reappointment of the General Prosecutor for a 
new  term  has  offered  the  possibility  to  build  on  the  achievements  of  the  first 
mandate. The progress of the National Integrity Agency (ANI) has been consolidated 
and extended.  

Limited  results  can  be  shown  in  judicial  reform.  Jurisprudence  in  high-level 
corruption  trials  remained  inconsistent  and  not  dissuasive.  High-level  corruption 
trials continued to suffer from procedural delays. In response to recommendations by 
the Commission, Romania took some steps to strengthen the implementation of the 
national anti-corruption strategy at local level. 

1 

Commission  Decision  2006/928/EC  of  13  December  2006  establishing  a  mechanism  for  cooperation 
and verification of progress in Romania to address specific benchmarks in the areas of judicial reform 
and the fight against corruption (OJ L 354, 14.12.2006, p. 56). 

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3. 

OUTLOOK 

After  a  difficult  second  half  of  2009  with  limited  progress,  Romania  should  in 
particular  aim  at  a  swift  adoption  of  the  civil  and  criminal  procedure  codes, 
implementing  legislation  and  impact  studies  in  order  to  prepare  the  successful 
implementation  of  all  new  codes.  For  this  purpose,  close  and  constructive  co-
operation  between  the  different  political  actors  and  the  judiciary  to  back  the 
necessary  reforms  is  indispensable  and  should  be  considered  an  issue  of  national 
importance. 

The Commission will continue to support Romania in this endeavour and provide its 
next in-depth assessment of progress by summer this year.  

4. 

TECHNICAL UPDATE ON BENCHMARKS 

4.1. 

Benchmark 1: Ensure a more transparent, and efficient judicial process notably 
by  enhancing  the  capacity  and  accountability  of  the  Superior  Council  of 
Magistracy.  Report  and  monitor  the  impact  of  the  new  civil  and  penal 
procedures codes 

Following  the  adoption  of  the  Civil  and  the  Criminal  Codes  in  June  last  year, 
discussions  on  the  Civil  Procedure  Code  have  started  at  committee  level  in 
Parliament, however progress stalled in October 2009 and resumed only in February 
2010, at the same time as the debate on the Criminal Procedure Code commenced. 

Preparatory work on the implementing legislation necessary for the entry into force 
of  the  four  codes  has  started.  Members  of  the  drafting  commission  have  been 
selected  and  a  legislative  analysis  with  a  view  to  ensuring  the  coherency  and 
consistency  of  the  relevant  legal  framework  is  being  prepared  by  the  Ministry  of 
Justice (MoJ). Some initial preparations for impact assessments of all four codes, a 
requirement for their implementation, has been undertaken.  

Romania reports ongoing progress in the unification of jurisprudence resulting in part 
from the regular meetings on non-unitary jurisprudence organised countrywide. The 
procedure for appeals in the interest of the law at the High  Court of  Cassation and 
Justice (HCCJ),  establishing binding jurisprudence, remains burdensome.  However, 
streamlined practices do exist and could be further developed.2  

Whilst  the  HCCJ  continues  to  publish  the  full  text  and  summaries  of  selected 
decisions on its website and publishes quarterly cassation collections, and some other 
courts are publishing certain decisions, between summer 2009 and January 2010 no 
further court decisions were added to the national web-portal (Jurindex).3  

2 

3 

The  administrative  and  fiscal  contentious  section  of  the  HCCJ  has  developed  the  following  best 
practice: when an appeal in the interest of the law falling under the competence of the section is lodged, 
the  section  prepares  a  report  proposing  options  and  possible  solutions  to  the  plenum.  This  allows  for 
well  prepared  discussions  involving  judges  who  know  the  topic  best  and  for  greater  efficiency  of 
appeals in the interest of the law. 
By publishing all court decisions in one location Jurindex was intended to ensure the full jurisprudence 
of courts are published and accessible to all, increasing transparency in the act of justice. 

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Since  mid-2009,  no  effective  improvement  could  be  noted  for  the  difficult  human 
resourcing  situation  in  the  judiciary.  The  two-fold  increase  of  retirements  among 
magistrates in 2009 has off-set the increased number of recruitments and produced a 
substantial  negative  staffing  balance,  which  adds  additional  stress  to  the  system. 
Moreover, the judicial protests of September have aggravated delays and are reported 
to have considerably increased the number of cases pending. 

The Superior Council of Magistracy (SCM) has adopted a provisional study on the 
optimal  workload  of  judges,  the  conclusions  of  which  are  being  implemented  on  a 
one-year pilot basis in courts from December 2009 onwards. This system is meant to 
ensure  a  fairer  allocation  of  work  within  courts  and  to  provide  a  basis  for  the 
reallocation  of  positions  beginning  in  2011.  A  pilot  project  on  court  managers  has 
been successfully completed and requires follow-up to be implemented countrywide. 
In the follow-up to another pilot project, the SCM has taken initial steps to facilitate 
the transfer of certain administrative tasks to auxiliary personnel. Once implemented, 
these two measures should increase the efficiency of court procedures and improve 
the administrative management of courts. 

Judicial  inspectors  have  been  recruited  since  early  2009  following  revised 
recruitment procedures to assure better geographical representation. The recruitment 
procedure for inspectors was however challenged in court by the General Prosecutor 
as  insufficiently  objective  and  therefore  compromising  the  independence  of  the 
inspectorate. Work to review the guidelines of the judicial inspection is ongoing as is 
the preparation of a collection of jurisprudence on disciplinary decisions. In addition, 
the SCM has committed to publish all disciplinary decisions when issued, from the 
beginning of this year. 

4.2. 

Benchmark  2:  Establish,  as  foreseen,  an  integrity  agency  with  responsibilities 
for verifying assets, incompatibilities and potential conflicts of interest, and for 
issuing  mandatory  decisions  on  the  basis  of  which  dissuasive  sanctions  can  be 
taken 

The  encouraging  track  record  of  the  National  Integrity  Agency  (ANI)  continued  in 
the second half of 2009.4 Courts confirmed the determination of unjustified wealth in 
two cases, ordering the confiscation of significant assets. These decisions are subject 
to  appeal.  Decisions  in  four  other  confiscation  cases  are  pending.  The  agency  has 
also sent a significant number of cases to prosecutors for criminal investigation and 
to different disciplinary authorities for disciplinary follow-up. In the courts, ANI has 
established a track record of defending their findings of incompatibilities or conflicts 
of interest. 

The  agency  has  now  established  its  interim  staffing  level  and  should  be  fully 
operational  once  the  IT  system  to  process  asset  and  interest  declarations  will  be 

4 

From 22 May 2009 to 4 January 2010, ANI finalised 769 verifications and referred 174 additional files 
to  competent  institutions  to  apply  sanctions  or  pursue  criminal  investigation.  Of  these  174  files,  two 
files  have  been  sent  to  the  courts  to  confiscate  unjustified  wealth  60  files  to  disciplinary  bodies  to 
sanction ANI’s findings of incompatibilities or conflicts of interest, and 112 files have been referred to 
prosecutors to investigate suspicions of false statements or other crimes. As of 22 February, sanctions 
have been applied by disciplinary bodies in eleven cases concerning incompatible officials.  

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completely implemented in 2010. All asset and interest declarations received in 2009 
are publicly accessible via a portal on the ANI website. 

The  Agency  issues  press  releases  to  publicise  its  findings  of  incompatibilities, 
conflicts of interest and unjustified wealth as well as the outcome of resulting court 
cases and disciplinary action. The status of ongoing cases in courts is also available 
online.  ANI  has  entered  into  cooperation  with  two  NGOs  to  develop  awareness-
raising and preventive activities. 

The role of the National Integrity Council (CNI) as a control organ of ANI has not 
been effectively exercised.  

4.3. 

Benchmark  3:  Building  on  progress  already  made,  continue  to  conduct 
professional,  non-partisan 
into  allegations  of  high-level 
corruption 

investigations 

The National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) has maintained its good track record 
of impartial investigations into high level corruption cases.5 This is beginning to be 
reflected at court level with an increase of the total of final convictions by one-third 
in  2009  compared  to  2008.  A  conviction  in  first  instance  was  achieved  against  a 
current  Member  of  Parliament  who  is  also  a  former  State  Secretary.  A  final 
conviction  decision  was  reached  against  a  mayor  and  a  former  deputy  mayor  for 
bribe-taking.  They  will  serve  their  sentences  in  prison.  However,  at  the  same  time, 
penalties applied by courts for high-level corruption still appear generally too lenient 
and  non-dissuasive  as  in  previous  periods:  for  half  of  all  final  convictions  the 
minimum  penalty  has  been  applied  and  for  three  quarters  of  final  convictions  the 
penalties are suspended.  

This  analysis  is  confirmed  by  a  study  of  a  joint  working  group  on  the 
individualisation  of  corruption  offences  which  was  presented  in  June  2009.6  As  a 
first follow-up to the study, a draft guide for courts has been developed by the High 
Court  for  Cassation  and  Justice  (HCCJ).  At  this  stage  it  is  too  early  to  assess  the 
operational usefulness of this guide. Practitioners suggested that the final version of 
the  guide,  which  the  HCCJ  will  produce  following  a  consultation  process,  would 
need to be sufficiently precise and e.g. include examples or cases to assist judges in 
sentencing.  The  final  version  of  the  guide  would  also  have  to  address  not  only 
inconsistency but also leniency in jurisprudence on corruption as stated by the study 
of the joint working group. The follow-up to all nine recommendations included in 
the study should be closely monitored. 

As regards the duration of the court phase, trials in high-profile cases remain lengthy. 
In all cases concerning high-level defendants, exceptions of unconstitutionality were 

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Between  1  July  and  31  October  DNA  sent  to  trial  122  defendants  in  45  cases  including  one  former 
Prime  Minister  and  current  Member  of  Parliament,  one  former  councillor  of  a  Prime  Minister  and 
former Member of Parliament, one Parliamentary expert and former Member of Parliament, a former 
President of the National Office for the Prevention and Combating of Money Laundering, four mayors, 
one  deputy  mayor,  one deputy  prefect,  two directors of  public  agencies  and  five directors of  national 
companies. 
The joint working group included representatives of the Superior Council of Magistracy, the National 
Anticorruption Directorate, the High Court of Cassation and Justice, the office of the Public Ministry 
and the Ministry of Justice. 

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raised at least once. Although the Constitutional Court has rejected virtually all such 
claims to date, many cases have been delayed by more than 6 months whilst the trial 
is  suspended  pending  resolution  of  the  unconstitutionality  exceptions.  Two 
alternative  legal  amendments  to  restrict  the  suspensive  character  of  exceptions  of 
unconstitutionality have been pending in Parliament since September 2009.  

Since  mid  2009,  Parliament  allowed  the  opening  of  criminal  investigations  at  the 
request of prosecutors in one case involving a former Minister who is a Member of 
Parliament.  

The definition of the scope of public funds in a high-level case of alleged abuse of 
office  and  infringement  of  the  public  procurement  law  in  a  state-owned  company 
raises concerns as to the legal follow-up of alleged acts of high-level corruption in a 
number of similar cases which are being investigated or have reached court.7 

4.4. 

Benchmark 4: Take  further measures to prevent and fight against corruption, 
in particular within the local government 

Since  mid-2009,  Romania  took  some  steps  to  strengthen  the  coordination  and 
monitoring  mechanisms  for  the  national  anti-corruption  strategy  in  response  to 
recommendations  of  the  Commission.  The  monitoring  committee  met  more 
frequently;  a  new  technical  working  group  comprising  representatives  of  the 
implementing  sectors  and  of  the  local  public  administration  has  been  established. 
Specific municipalities and town halls volunteered to pilot anti-corruption measures 
in  their  localities.  It  is  also  foreseen  to  extend  the  anti-corruption  strategy  to  other 
vulnerable sectors currently not covered such as labour inspection, which falls within 
the remit of the Ministry of Labour.  

The  local  strategies  for  combating  corruption  prepared  by  the  county  prosecution 
offices appear to be delivering results, with an increase in the number of indictments 
and  investigations  commenced  ex-officio.8  For  the  first  time,  the  Public  Ministry’s 
budget  includes  the  creation  of  a  fund  for  the  performance  of  sting  operations  by 
county prosecution offices. Instances of successful co-operation between prosecutors 
and 
the  Ministry  of 
the  General  Anti-Corruption  Directorate 
Administration and Interior (MAI) have been reported.  

(DGA)  of 

In terms of prevention, DGA developed and started applying a new methodology for 
identifying  corruption  risks  and  vulnerabilities  within  the  MAI  and  has  continued 
awareness-raising  campaigns,  targeting  citizens  to  discourage  them  from  paying 
bribes.  The  MAI  intends  to  utilise  and  reinforce  the  role  of  the  National  Integrity 
Centre,  with  funding  secured  for  the  next  two  years,  enabling  it  to  strengthen  its 
network of anti-corruption action groups and to increase the intensity of the training 
the Centre provides. 

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The  case  concerned  an  alleged  abuse  of  office  with  an  estimated  prejudice  of  EUR  3  million.  The 
defendants,  including  a  current  Member  of  Parliament,  were  finally  acquitted  by  the  HCCJ  on  28 
September 2009, following an earlier acquittal on 19 February 2009.  
Statistics  show  173  indictments  involving  273  defendants  in  2009  compared  to  81  indictments 
involving 180 defendants in 2008. 

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Work by the National Agency of Civil Servants to review and strengthen the role of 
ethics councillors in public institutions is progressing, with draft legislation expected 
to be forwarded to Parliament shortly.  

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