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| A First for the National Integrity Agency |
| (2011-10-28) |
| Last updated: 2011-10-31 12:56 EET |
Since Romania joined in 2007, corruption has continued to be a problem, according to the EU. Corruption is the main reason why the European Commission has continued to monitor the Romanian justice system over the last five years. Successive governments in Bucharest have tried in vain to implement reforms in order to bring the monitoring to a close. The reforms include the working out of a new Civil Code and the establishment of a number of institutions responsible for tackling corruption cases. The National Integrity Agency is one such institution.
The National Integrity Agency was established in 2007. It is an independent administrative authority with its own legal personality, and it operates as a single structure at national level. It is mandated to guarantee integrity in the exercise of high public offices and functions and to prevent institutional corruption. The Agency is responsible for assessing declarations of wealth, wealth data and information, changes made to inheritance, and incompatibilities or conflicts of interest concerning people in high public office and functions.
Over the five years it has been active, the Agency has been quite inconspicuous. It has been said that the Agency’s status is not clear, and that it has been unable to see through a number of high level corruption cases as a result of its operating regulations. The problems surrounding the Agency have always been of a political nature, and there have even been attempts to amend its operating law in order to restrict its powers. In the heat of this debate, however, the Agency has announced its first success this week.
Magistrates at the High Court of Cassation and Justice have decided to confiscate the unaccounted for sum of 130,000 USD, found in the accounts of a former administrator of a company working for the Brasov Town Hall. This is the first ruling handed down by the Supreme Court for a case instigated by the National Integrity Agency. Politicians have reacted favorably to the news, confirming the generally positive support for the efforts of the Agency, despite the fact that it is an inconvenient institution for some. The Vice President of the National Liberal Party, Mihai Voicu, confirmed the fact that the opposition does not want the Agency to be dismantled, but rather it wants the Agency to be properly independent, professional and free of political influence.
Mihai Voicu: “There are considerable suspicions over some of the Agency’s actions. We certainly don’t believe that the solution would be to dismantle the Agency or to curb its powers. We need to continue lobbying in a positive way for the independence of the Agency.”
Romanian President Traian Basescu also believes in the role of the Agency, stating that he has received guarantees form the MPs of the Liberal Democratic Party, the main ruling political party, that they will not allow themselves to be cajoled into amending the Agency legislation.
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