18.07.2012

PRESS RELEASE

Following the release of the European Commission Report on Justice assessing Romania’s progress within the framework of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism and in reference to the aspects within the competence of the Public Ministry, the Public Information and Press Relations Bureau within the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice is authorized to bring to public knowledge the results contained in this document:

The Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice is aware of the Report on Romania issued by the European Commission within the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism which objectively presents the Public Ministry developments.

            The report underlines the fact that, during the fives years since the accession, the General Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice has undertaken a series of measures meant to strengthen the management and performance of the prosecution act. Thus, among others, the concerns included: the adoption of local strategies in order to priorities the fight against certain type of offences, the introduction of a more concentrated, new criteria to assess the prosecutor’s offices, the development of a network of dedicated and specialized prosecutors, training sessions targeting certain areas like processing and dissemination of the best practices.

            At the same time, it is mentioned as a plus that the Public Ministry has built up its own IT network and furnished the institution with IT equipments, allowing, thus, the development of a system to manage the cases, a secure system of communication, but also a direct access to data bases necessary in the prosecutorial activity. A virtual library was created containing an archive of the prosecutor’s offices and courts jurisprudence, guides of the best practices and study notes that enable a useful support for the criminal investigation activity.

            In turn, the management system of the cases ensures the monitoring of the file and offers managerial information, improving the gathering of the statistical data, in order to strengthen the monitoring of the criminal investigation performance as a whole.

            The report notes the fact that the General Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice has actively proposed and closely supported the process of legislative reform, ensuring the enacting of provisions into the Small Reform Law and the new codes, which are meant to enhance the efficiency of the prosecutorial act.

            The reforms developed by the General Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice are appreciated in the context of the new codes implementation, while the taking-over of the judicial police and the employment of scientific and technical experts within the Public Ministry outlines that they are capable of ensuring the support to carry out the criminal investigation. 

            As a result of this proactive approach by the General Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice the significant increment of the prosecution of smuggling, tax evasion, corruption and organized crime offences was also recorded.

            The report remarks the proposals submitted by the General Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice in the area of human resources during the last five years, which were mostly assimilated and adopted by the Superior Council of the Magistracy and which led to the reorganization of the personnel schemes and redistribution of positions.

            The report indicates the measures undertaken by the Public Ministry during the five years since the accession in order to improve the financial investigations and to increase the level of the assets and proceeds of crime confiscation.

            As regards to this aspect, the 2010 project financed by the EU in which the Public Ministry and foreign experts carried out performance analysis of the Romanian system was also mentioned. The recovery of proceeds of crime and the prosecution of money laundering were, also, two areas expressly identified within the report.

            Other measures appreciated as positive refer to the training of specialized prosecutors and police officers, but also the introduction within the National Institute of the Magistracy interns’ curricula of specialized training, based on a project initiated by the General Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice.

            The Public Ministry shall continue to implement the measures already adopted in order to concur to the fulfillment of the benchmarks within the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, until the overall assessment by the Commission following in the year 2013 is achieved.

            The General Prosecutor wishes to thank all the prosecutors within the Public Ministry for their consistent efforts made in order to implement the ordered measures and assures them of all her support in their activity.