Superior Council of Prosecutors, reply to the Minister of Justice: “The suspension of the competition for the selection of the candidate for the position of Chief Prosecutor of the PCCOCS is to be decided according to the law, but not on social networks”

Members of the Superior Council of Prosecutors (CSP) claim that the position of the Minister of Justice, Sergiu Litvinenco, regarding the conduct of the competition for the position of chief prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases (PCCOCS), “results in several conclusions without factual support and legal content”, but which “include aspects that cast a negative light on the work of the CSP”. According to the CSP, “the suspension of the competition for the selection of the candidate for the position of Chief Prosecutor of the PCCOCS is to be decided according to the law, but not on social media”.

The CSP’s reaction comes in the context of statements by the Minister of Justice, Sergiu Litvinenco, one of the ex officio members of the CSP, that the competition for the position of head of the PCCOCS should be “cancelled or suspended”, given “the situation created, which implies a lack of credibility and an imminent risk of bias”.

Thus, according to the CSP, in the absence of decisions adopted in accordance with the law, but through declarative phrases, society is given the perception that “this competition for the position of Chief Prosecutor of the PCCOCS is flawed”.

In this context, some clarifications are necessary:

• The launching of the competition is not an expression of will/decision of some members, but results from the powers established by law.
• The Minister of Justice has appointed a representative to the special pre-selection committee (lawyer Tudor Osoianu), who is actively participating in this stage of the competition.
• The Minister of Justice attended the meeting of the CSP on 16 January 2023, where the Special Pre-selection Commission was set up (the date of the meeting on 25.01.2023 was also agreed, but it was not possible to convene it”, the members of the CSP claim.

According to the CSP, it is not clear to which “created situation” Minister Sergiu Litvinenco refers and from which circumstances he deduced “lack of credibility”. Council members argue that “only discussions in the public arena cannot constitute grounds for countermanding ongoing proceedings, which students learn even in the first year of law school”.

“Moreover, this competition procedure was initiated by a collegial forum, by majority vote, therefore any decision (to extend or suspend/suspend) belongs to the full CSP or, as the case may be, to the court, but not to individual members,” according to the CSP members’ statement.

On the part concerning the mandate of the current composition of the CSP and the objections that the mandate of the CSP would not be “plenipotentiary”, Council members warn of “the legal effects and institutional impact of such an approach”.

“In the current active composition of the CSP (11 members), the decision making weight is held by the 6 non-voting members. Moreover, of the current composition of the CSP, only 4 members-procurators have been in office since 2018, while the other 7 members cannot be associated with the original composition, especially as 6 members have been in office since October 2021, a circumstance which excludes the criticism of the lack of credibility of the decisions adopted by this self-governing body, insinuated in the post.

As regards the objections that the CSP’s mandate would not be “plenipotentiary”, we would like to draw attention to the legal effects and institutional impact of such an approach, as it could affect the legal nature of the decisions adopted in the previous period”, the CSP’s reply also states.

Thus, CSP members, the conduct or, possibly, the suspension of the competition for the selection of the candidate for the position of Chief Prosecutor of the PCCOCS “is to be decided according to the law, on the basis of the arguments presented by the persons who have filed appeals, within the debates in the CSP plenary, but not on social media”.

“Through the position expressed by the Minister of Justice, a misconception about an alleged illegality of this competition has been induced, which shows a lack of respect for the candidates registered, for the members of the Special Pre-selection Commission, for society and could create suspicion of the existence/failure of arrangements aimed at favouring certain candidates.

We draw attention to the fact that the invocation in this post of the prevetting exercise is an unfair procedure intended to distract attention, given that there is no tangency between these two institutional exercises, which are conducted separately according to the rules laid down by law,” the CSP members also say.

Justice Minister Sergiu Litvinenco said that “legal solutions must be found to cancel or suspend” the competition to fill the post of head of the Office of the Prosecutor for Combating Organised Crime and Special Cases (PCCOCS), so that a repeat competition can be launched later. The statement was made in the context of calls by several members of the public for the annulment of the competition for the post of head of the PCCOCS.

“In connection with the competition for the position of head of the PCCOCS initiated by the CSP in November 2022 and taking into account all the situation created involving the lack of credibility and the imminent risk of vitiation, I believe that legal solutions for its cancellation or suspension should be identified. The competition is to be initiated again or, if necessary, resumed when there is a CSP with a plenipotentiary mandate, i.e. after the completion of the prevetting exercise,” the minister wrote on social media.

On January 23, 2023, prosecutor Eduard Bulat, who was one of the deputies of former acting Prosecutor General Dumitru Robu, requested the annulment of Munteanu’s January 18 response on the refusal to appoint him as chief prosecutor of the PCCOCS without a competition.

At the same time, Iulian Groza, who is a member of the special pre-selection commission of candidates for the post of head of the PCCOCS, said on 26 January that “this competition is flawed and the integrity and credibility of the selection process and the results of the competition are seriously affected”. Groza believes that the competition should be cancelled.

Iulian Groza’s announcement came a few days after one of the candidates for the head of the institution, Eugen Rurac, sent a request to the Council asking for Groza’s exclusion from the Commission.

The special pre-selection commission for candidates for the position of chief prosecutor of the PCCOCS, which met in closed session on Monday 23 January to examine the candidates’ files in the light of the eligibility criteria, decided that the three candidates for the position of head of the PCCOCS “meet the eligibility criteria” and were promoted to the interview stage.

Thus, according to a press release issued by the Superior Council of Prosecutors (CSP), Andrei Mațco, acting head of the General Directorate of Criminal Prosecution within the National Anticorruption Centre (NAC), Eugen Rurac and Sergiu Russu, chief prosecutor of the Anti-Trafficking in Human Beings Section of the General Prosecutor’s Office, were admitted to the second stage of the pre-selection.

The special committee has set the interview of the candidates for 1 February 2023, starting at 10 a.m., at the premises of the Superior Council of Prosecutors in bd. Stefan cel Mare și Sfânt, 73.