Seniority for access to DNA, DIICOT positions must match that for access to AG's Office

The Romanian Constitutional Court (CCR) has ruled that job seniority required of a prosecutor for access to a position with the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) or the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) has to be at least equal to the seniority requirement for access to the Attorney General's Office, agerpres reports.

In a press statement released by CCR on Wednesday, the court sustained the constitutionality objection filed by the Supreme Court of Justice and Cassation and found that the provisions of Art. II in the law amending and supplementing Law 303/2004 regarding the statutes of judges and prosecutors and amending Law 304/2004 on judicial organisation are unconstitutional.

The court shows that office seniority is the objective element on which any competition or interview procedure for promotion is grafted and represents a necessary condition for any activity carried out at high or specialised level.

"DNA and DIICOT are specialist departments within the Prosecutor's Office with the Supreme Court of Justice and Cassation invested with investigating cases of high complexity related to the fight against organised crime, terrorism or corruption, as the case may be. The standard for establishing seniority requirements for access to positions with prosecutor's offices within the specialist directorates is the one established for promotion to the position of prosecutor with the Attorney General's Office at the Supreme Court of Justice and Cassation, both in terms of the nature of seniority (effective) and its temporality (10 years), so that in no case can the standard of appointment be lower than that of promotion to the aforesaid level. At the same time, specialisation may imply a higher seniority condition for access to that position, but by no means a lower one," the constitutional judges explain.

According to the Court, it results that it is not only rational, but also imperative as far as constitutional requirements go that actual seniority for the appointment to the position of DIICOT or DNA prosecutor reflects the higher constitutional position of the Attorney General's Office at the Supreme Court of Justice and Cassation in the structure of the Public Prosecution Service, the status of a specialised structure of these directorates, as well as the higher nature of the acquired rank.

Also on Wednesday, the CCR unanimously overruled a constitutionality objection finding that the law amending and supplementing Law 303/2004 regarding on the statutes of judges and prosecutors and amending Law 304/2004 on judicial organisation, as a whole, is constitutional in relation to the criticisms of extrinsic unconstitutionality raised.