Press release

The Romanian Senate has adopted today the law that modifies the normative framework regulating the control of the conflict of interests, incompatibilities and the assets of public officials and civil servants, with only one vote against and one abstention. The same Senate has unanimously adopted in 2007, under the pressure of the safeguard clause, the Law No 144, after negotiations that lasted more than 3 years.

We consider that the new law, as it has been adopted by the Senate, generates vulnerabilities within the institutional framework of enforcing a coherent policy in what regards the conflict of interests, incompatibilities and the control of assets, and is far from solving the constitutional issues identified by the recent ruling of the Constitutional Court.

Therefore, Transparency International Romania requests the Romanian President not to promulgate this normative document and to send the law back to the Parliament, in order to allow a legitimate legislative procedure to take place, one that would be able to assure real debates with regard to the essence of the problem.

In order to strengthen the control mechanism of the conflict of interests, incompatibilities and unjustified assets, TI Romania requests the Parliament to align the draft law, within the process of re-analysing it, to the public policy principles relating to:

1. Establishing, in an unequivocal manner, a public law regimen in the matter of the conditions for exercising public offices, under the conditions of the proportionality principle
2. Regulating a clearer contravention regime with regard to the regimen of declaring assets and interests, as well as concrete incompatibilities that would forbid any other income sources except for the wage/allowance, in order to achieve the compliance relation with the provision of art. 44 (9) of the Constitution
3. Establishing express, detailed and concrete provisions that would guarantee that the institution will not slip (once again) from the track of its institutional mission, with regard to violating certain non-patrimonial rights of the persons that undergo investigations.

These principles have been agreed on by the representatives of the majority of political parties, as well as by the representatives of the Ministry of Justice and the civil society, within the Debate “Public Policies for Assuring the Continuity of the National Integrity Agency”, organised by TI Romania on the 29th of April 2010, and represent fundamental elements for assuring a coherent and viable normative framework.

Transparency International Romania requests the members of the Parliament to show responsibility and transparency during the normative process, in order to avoid the adoption of certain instruments that are bound to be censured by the Constitutional Court in the future.

Contact person:
Victor Alistar,
Executive Director