EC Report: Penalties For Top-Level Corruption In Romania Too Lenient

"DNA has maintained its good track record of impartial investigations into high level corruption cases," the report notes, adding that "this is beginning to be reflected at court level with an increase of the total of final convictions by one-third in 2009 compared to 2008."

The report also notes that a conviction in first instance was achieved against a current Member of Parliament who is also a former state secretary and a final conviction decision was reached against a mayor and a former deputy mayor for bribe-taking. They will serve their sentences in prison.

However, the report states, penalties applied by courts for high-level corruption still appear generally too lenient and non-dissuasive as in previous periods: for half of all final convictions the minimum penalty has been applied and for three quarters of final convictions the penalties are suspended.

Regarding the duration of the court phase, trials in high-profile cases remain lengthy, the EC report states. In all cases concerning high-level defendants, exceptions of unconstitutionality were raised at least once. Although the Constitutional Court has rejected virtually all such claims to date, many cases have been delayed by more than six months whilst the trial is suspended pending resolution of the unconstitutionality exceptions.

Two alternative legal amendments to restrict the suspensive character of exceptions of unconstitutionality have been pending in Parliament since September 2009.

Since mid-2009, Parliament allowed the opening of criminal investigations at the request of prosecutors in one case involving a former minister who is a Member of Parliament, the report notes.

The definition of the scope of public funds in a high-level case of alleged abuse of office and infringement of the public procurement law in a state-owned company raises concerns as to the legal follow-up of alleged acts of high-level corruption in a number of similar cases which are being investigated or have reached court, the Commission notes in the report.

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