Background

Romania’s chief anti-corruption prosecutor said she had no way to legally challenge what she saw as her unfair dismissal following her public criticism of controversial legal reforms.

Laura-Codruța Kövesi’s problems began when a new government came to power in 2017. She had recently started a second term as head of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, having received official commendations under the previous administration for her role in the fight against ‘graft’.

The new government began making controversial changes to the law, including the decriminalisation of certain corruption offences, prompting widespread protests.

Kövesi’s directorate investigated a complaint about the way the new legislation had been adopted but found no incidents of corruption.

In February 2018, the Minister of Justice proposed that Kövesi be removed from her post. In a report, he cited, among other things, decisions made by Romania’s constitutional court finding that Kövesi’s directorate had overstepped its remit in investigating the adoption of the law.

But twelve pages of the minister’s report detailed various public statements made by Kövesi criticising the government’s proposed changes.

Kövesi was able to put her point of view across at a hearing before a panel of her peers following the report’s publication. A majority of the panel disagreed with the minister’s proposal, leading to Romania’s president refusing to sign the removal order.

However, the constitutional court later decided that the president did not have the power to do this, ordering him to sign the removal decree.

In July 2018, the president signed the order removing Kövesi from her post.