Law under which BNR governor is accused of political police collaboration ruled unconstitutional

The Constitutional Court of Romania upheld today a challenge filed by governor of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) Mugur Isarescu, and ruled that Law No. 161/2019 amending and complementing OUG No. 24/2008 on access to one's own political police file and the exposure of the former political police Securitate is unconstitutional in its entirety.

Mugur Isarescu is subject of a lawsuit before the Bucharest Court of Appeal whereby the National Council for the Study of Securitate Archives (CNSAS) requests the judges to ascertain that he has been a Securitate collaborator.

Mugur Isarescu's lawyer, the former Liberal Justice Minister Valeriu Stoica, obtained the judges' consent to submit to the Constitutional Court an unconstitutional challenge to the legal provisions under which CNSAS declared the BNR governor a collaborator of the former communist Securitate, specifically of Law No.161/2019 in its entirety, and of Art.12 item 1 of OUG No.24/2008 and Art.2 letter b thesis I of OUG No.24 / 2008.

The Constitutional Court ruled on Tuesday that Law No. 161/2019 amending and complementing OUG No. 24/2008 on access to one's own political police file and the exposure of the former political police Securitate is unconstitutional in its entirety.

In 2019, at the initiative of Senator Daniel Zamfir, Parliament adopted an amendment to OUG No. 24/2008, by adopting Law No. 161/2019 that allows the CNSAS to re-verify the files of the persons who had previously received a non-collaboration certificate, but for whom the institution receives new information.

In June 2020 CNSAS opened a lawsuit at the Bucharest Court of Appeal, asking the judges to ascertain central bank governor Isarescu's activity as a Securitate collaborator.

Citing several documents as evidence, CNSAS argues that governor Mugur Isarescu acted as an informant between 1979 and 1989, denouncing to the former Securitate activities opposing the totalitarian communist regime, such as negative comments on Romania living standards compared to other countries.

CNSAS explains that during the communist regime, the Securitate carefully monitored any negative comments about the living standards, as it was known that it sought to promote the idea that the communist state was the superior form of political and social organization where all people enjoyed a high standard of living, and the credit for this state of affairs went exclusively to the Communist Party.

CNSAS underscores that the information provided by Mugur Isarescu has restricted fundamental human rights and freedoms.