Judicial Inspection announces disciplinary investigation of chief anti-graft prosecutor Kovesi

The Judicial Inspection (IJ) announced on Wednesday that it was pursuing disciplinary action against chief prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) Laura Codruta Kovesi over the prosecutor's appointment to a control team of a magistrate in an obvious state of incompatibility.

"The Judicial Inspection has conducted disciplinary action against Ms Laura Codruta Kovesi, chief prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) over commission of disciplinary deviations provided for under Article 99 (g) of the Law No.303/2004, namely failure to observe the instructions of a higher hierarchical prosecutor given in writing and in accordance with the law, namely knowingly violating the provisions of Article 7 (3) in Order 5 of January 12, 2016 issued by the attorney general with the Supreme Court of Justice, which regards the competence to order and conduct thematic control: 'control for special instances and thematic control shall be ordered by the managers of the prosecutor's offices and carried out by them directly or through designated prosecutors', by appointing the counselor to the DNA chief prosecutor, a reassigned judge, who was obviously in a state of incompatibility with regard to the conduct of the thematic control at two local services," the IJ said Wednesday in a press statement.

The Judicial Inspection also took disciplinary action over commission of deviations provided for in Article 99 (m), second sentence, of the Law No.303/2004, namely "unjustifiably failing to carry out other administrative duties stipulated by the law or regulations" in that, in order to carry out the same thematic control, she willingly violated Article 65 (3) in the Law No.304/2004, republished and amended, transposed into the provisions of Article 7 (s) of the Internal Regulations of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, which regards the duties of the chief prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, who "shall exercise control over the activity of prosecutors and to all the subordinate staff, directly or through designated prosecutors; in this case the designation involved the counselor to the chief prosecutor of DNA, a reassigned judge who is said to have been in an obvious state of incompatibility.

"By violating the regulation and appointing to the control team a magistrate in an objective and manifestly incompatible state, the principles of legality, impartiality and fundamental rules (Articles 1 (5), 16 (1) and (2), 20, 21 (3), 132 (1) of the Constitution of Romania, Article 5 of the Law No.303/2004 corroborated with Article 58 (3) of the Law No.303/2004 and Article 65 (3) of the Law No. 304 / 2004), as well as the prestige and credibility of the act of justice in which the National Anticorruption Directorate was involved."

According to IJ, a disciplinary report was submitted to the Prosecutors' Disciplinary Section of the Supreme Council of Magistrates (CSM), which will decide on the liability of Kovesi.