Justice Minister Announces Procedure To Appoint New General Prosecutor

“I will launch the procedure to appoint a new general prosecutor. The term (of Augustin Lazar, ed.) will expire in April and I will launch the procedure in the meantime, so that we will have a new general prosecutor by then,” Toader said on Thursday, after leaving the headquarters of the General Prosecutor’s Office.

Augustin Lazar’s term as general prosecutor is set to expire on April 27.

The minister previously tried to dismiss Lazar from office in October 2018, but the procedure received a negative review from top judicial watchdog CSM and was ultimately rejected by President Klaus Iohannis.

Romania’s general prosecutor is nominated by the Justice Minister and appointed by the country’s president, who also has the right to refuse once. According to a Government decree adopted this week, the minister’s proposal will be reviewed by the CSM’s plenary, instead of its Prosecutors’ Section as was the case.