Pesident Iohannis sacks anti-graft prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi

President Klaus Iohannis has signed on Monday, July 9th 2018, the decree to revoke the National Anticorruption Directorate – DNA’s chief prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi, in accordance with the decision of the Constitutional Court. The decision has been published in the official gazette.

• Ms. Kovesi has run the office of anti-graft chief prosecutor for almost 6 years. She remains as prosecutor within the anticorruption directorate. Within a press conference at 12.00 AM she thanked all prosecutors who had been standing by her all over the time, despite the attempts of sentenced officials to bring into ill-repute the directorate’s activity. “Corruption may be defeated. Please, continue to fight”, she requested in her final statement as chief anti-graft prosecutor.

• Nobody has been confirmed yet to replaces Laura Codruta Kovesi. According to the current provisions, the interim office can’t be longer that 90 days. The Minister of Justice makes proposal for the new chief prosecutor.

• The President’s decree cancelled the opportunity of the ruling coalition to start the procedure for his suspension. The PSD-ALDE coalition has no more reason to dismiss him.

• According to the final amendments to the judicial overhaul, made in December 2017, the ruling coalition succeeded to pull off the president from the procedure of appointment of chief prosecutors. In this way, President Iohannis is allowed to reject just once the proposal of the Minister of Justice. The amended law on the prosecutors’ statute is expecting to be enforced. Despite all attempts of President Iohannis to block these amendments, the Constitutional Court had ruled in favour of the ruling coalition. The law has to be promulgated in the next weeks.

• The appointment of the next anti-graft prosecutor likely will follow the new regulations. The next anti-graft prosecutor, who is to take over the full mandate of three years, is to be appointed at the middle of August 2018...