The Prosecutors' Section of the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM) on Monday issued a favourable opinion on the proposal by the justice minister to appoint Ioan Viorel Cerbu as chief prosecutor of the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA).
According to the decision posted on the CSM website, Viorel Cerbu received a favourable opinion by unanimous vote.
During the interview held at the CSM, Viorel Cerbu acknowledged that the preliminary chamber procedure in courts has proved not to be functional.
"A thorny issue concerns the preliminary chamber. Before 2014, there were situations in which cases were returned to the prosecutor's office after eight, nine or even ten years, and following referrals to the Constitutional Court proceedings would be suspended, so we looked with great hope at this procedural institution that set a tight deadline of only 60 days for reviewing the indictment. What followed showed us that it is not a functional institution. We also have cases at the DNA that have been in the preliminary chamber for four years. Something else needs to be thought of. It has not solved the problem," Cerbu said.
At one point, Viorel Cerbu was asked by Claudiu Sandu whether he was an "empathetic" prosecutor, stressing that he meant empathy with the "offender" - which he described as a new standard in the justice system.
"I will ask you a question that somehow stems from the interview you gave, in which you said you would like the DNA to no longer be a forceful institution but to become a social partner. As a personality, are you an empathetic person? You see, there is a new standard in justice - empathy with the offender," Claudiu Sandu asked.
"No. I am perceived as a demanding prosecutor, someone with whom not many people would want to deal in the context of a criminal investigation," Cerbu replied.
Answering another question, Cerbu said that the DNA currently has the capacity to take over the investigation of corruption offences committed by magistrates, but that the "spectrum of doubts that still exists" should be clarified.
Under the law, the Prosecutors' Section of the CSM issues a reasoned advisory opinion, after which the proposals made by Justice Minister Radu Marinescu are forwarded to President Nicusor Dan.
The president of Romania may refuse, with reasons, appointments to leadership positions and must make the reasons for the refusal public. The presidential decree appointing a candidate or the reasoned refusal must be issued within a maximum of 60 days from the date the proposal is submitted by the justice minister.
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