The National Integrity Agency Law, contested and rejected
The Court’s decision came just one day before the European Commission report on justice reform in Romania.
22 Iulie 2010, 11:13
On Monday, the highest court in Romania admitted the objection filed a week ago by the Romanian President, who in June refused to endorse the National Integrity Agency law.
Back then, the head of state said that new provisions would curtail the institution’s ability to check and seize assets obtained by public office holders by illegal means.
This time, president Basescu invoked the fact that not all legal requirements were observed in passing the law.
The Court’s decision came just one day before the European Commission report on justice reform in Romania.
Brussels concernes
Two weeks ago, Brussels voiced concern over several amendments to the law, passed in late June by the Romanian Parliament.
The latest version did away with the committees in charge of auditing public office holders, and provided for just one year the timeframe during which these assets can be checked in the case of dignitaries who are no longer in office.
Also, the law maintained the double public income statement system, meaning that dignitaries must provide two statements, one public and one confidential, the latter to be checked by inspectors of the Integrity Agency and detailing possessions such as jewelry, art and religious objects with a total value exceeding 5 thousand Euros.
“The agency was robbed of its most important instruments, which had negative consequences in the fight against corruption and with regard to Romania’s commitments to the European justice cooperation and verification mechanisms” said the Secretary General of the National Integrity Agency, Horia Georgescu, right after Parliament passed the law.
Also, anti-corruption organizations and foreign diplomats blamed Romanian MPs for having hamstrung the Agency, which, since 2007, has been checking against potential conflicts of interests or against unreasonable wealth being gathered by elected officials.
The Agency found itself in a position where it needed a new law to regulate it. Then the Constitutional Court ruled that some of the provisions of the old law were unconstitutional.
Now the law again stands some chances of providing the institution with enhanced powers, in line with the Constitution.
The good functioning of the National Integrity Agency is one of the prerequisites for Brussels to decide that Romania no longer needs monitoring of its justice system and anti-corruption mechanisms.
(Radio România Internaţional, Serviciul în limba engleză).
