JusMin Toader says his application to become notary public is based on Constitutional Court Act

Minister of Justice Tudorel Toader told a televised broadcast on Tuesday evening that the legal basis for his request to become a notary public was the Constitutional Court Act, which provides that a former constitutional judge may serve as notary public or attorney without taking an examination. 

Toader confirmed having applied to become notary public as per the Constitutional Court Act, which states that at the end of his term as a constitutional judge, a magistrate may, upon request, become notary or attorney, without the need to take an examination. "I therefore applied with the Union of Notary Public based on article 69 (4) of Law No. 168 amending the Constitutional Court Act No. 47/1992. I applied for the status of notary public, with the concomitant suspension from office; the law regulating the profession of notary allows for this, otherwise I would have entered the status of incompatibility," Tudorel Toader said at private broadcaster Antena 3. He stressed that this is a right conferred by law that is very explicit and leaves no margin for interpretation by anyone. 

"The application is motivated by the pieces of legislation I mentioned; this is a right conferred by the law, and exercising this right carries no margin of interpretation on the part of anybody. Under the given conditions the law provides for this entitlement, for this right, which you may decide to exercise or not, as you choose," Toader said, emphasizing that there is no room for interpretation in this case. 

The General Prosecutor's Office on Tuesday told AGERPRES that they had opened a criminal case to look at whether Justice Minister Tudorel Toader had acted legally when he applied with the Union of Notary Public to propose his appointment as notary public. 

"Following a complaint, a criminal case was opened at the Criminal and Forensic Investigation Section of the Prosecutor's Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice. Action in rem was instructed on September 7 by ordinance, to probe the offenses of abuse of office (as per article 297 paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code) and the use of office into somebody's favor (article 301 paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code)," stated representatives of the General Prosecutor's Office.