Romania Constitutional Court Strips Integrity Agency Of Its Main Attributions

The Court Thursday ruled several provisions of the law regulating the agency’s attributions and the agency, which was set up to screen public officials’ statements of wealth and interest for incompatibilities and notify prosecutors, has been stripped of its main role.

According to the ruling, the agency may no longer publish officials’ wealth statements, not does it have the right to call for prosecution over its findings. The Constitutional Court’s ruling downsizes the agency’s role to simply collecting statements of wealth and interest from public officials.

The Court discussed exceptions of unconstitutionality to the law regulating the agency raised by attorney Alice Draghici, who is defending an official in a corruption trial. Draghici is a former member of Romania’s National Integrity Council, which oversees the agency’s activity, and was herself investigated by the agency in the past.

Prime Minister Emil Boc is concerned about the consequences the Court ruling may have on Romania’s efforts to lift the Mechanism for Verification and Cooperation imposed by the European Commission, considering the integrity agency is one of the key benchmarks Romania must achieve under the mechanism.

„The Government is awaiting the motivation of the Constitutional Court’s decision and its publication in the Official Journal. The prime minister will take all the necessary steps in the Government and Parliament to ensure Romania’s objective to have EC monitoring lifted is not affected,’ Government spokeswoman Ioana Muntean said late Thursday.

The country’s justice minister, Catalin Predoiu, said the ruling could endanger the agency’s good track record acknowledged by the EC and could negatively impact the Mechanism for Verification and Cooperation.

Romanian news outlet Hotnews reported Thursday, citing unnamed sources, that the integrity agency was looking into the wealth statements of seven out of the Constitutional Court’s nine judges. Agency head Catalin Macovei declined to comment saying he cannot speak publicly about ongoing investigations.