24 April 2015

PRESS RELEASE

The Public Information and Press Relations Office within the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice is authorized to bring to public knowledge the following:

The Prosecutor General of the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice, Mr. Tiberiu-Mihail Niţu, had today, 24 April YTD, at the seat of the institution, a meeting with Europol Director, Mr. Rob Wainwright, aiming at the potential of extending and streamlining inter-institutional cooperation.

The Europol director was accompanied by Mr. Brian Donald, head of cabinet, and Ms. Cristina Manu, personal assistant.

The Public Ministry was also represented by Mr. Alexandru Fîciu, prosecutor in chief within the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice and Ms. Nadina Magdalena Spînu, prosecutor within the Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism.

The meeting was also attended by Mr. Virgil Spiridon, deputy to the General Inspector of the Romanian Police and Mr. Marius Roman, head of the Directorate for European Affairs, Missions and International Relations.

In the context of mentioning priority fields of cooperation between the Public Ministry and Europol such as the fight against trafficking in drugs and cyber-crime, the prosecutor general emphasized the importance of the partnership with Europol, given that, in Romania, the criminal investigation in most of the cases of serious organized crime is directly conducted by prosecutors.

During the discussions they referred to the work visit Mr. Tiberiu-Mihail Niţu had made to the seat of Europol on 17 February 2014, together with a delegation from the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice and the Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism.

The Prosecutor General of Romania assured Mr. Rob Wainwright that the Public Ministry will continue its cooperation with Europol, strengthening the availability of prosecutors for dialogue and involvement in this partnership.

Mr. Rob Wainwright stressed the importance of a proactive approach and of developing the cooperation with the Romanian part, especially in the matter of the fight against trafficking in drugs and cyber-crimes, also mentioning the significant contribution of the staff originating from Romania to the activity of the Europol Cybercrime Centre.

A special attention was given, during the meeting, to aspects related to the legislation on data retention.