IMPARȚIALITATE·INTEGRITATE·EFICIENȚĂ
Activity Report 2019
Context: in 2019, DNA carried out its activity in a difficult context, in which the resilience of the institution was tested:
- The activity with an interim management, both at the highest level, as well as at the level of some sections and services, has made it extremely difficult to establish and pursue a consistent management strategy.
- The laws of justice amended in 2018 have changed the conditions for the appointment and delegation of the prosecutors within the Directorate, which has resulted in a fluctuation and a strong shortage of staff, especially among the prosecutors.
- The judicial practice was further influenced by the effects of some decisions of the Constitutional Court of Romania, which led in many cases to the exclusion of some means of evidence by the judicial courts, and in other cases to the re-trial of some cases in which final decisions were ruled.
Results: Throughout 2019, DNA has maintained its ability to conduct its investigations to high standards, so that the people who have committed corruption offences or offences assimilated to those of corruption were held liable for them. Meanwhile, the assets they have fraudulently acquired were either recovered during the criminal investigation or seized, so that, in case the perpetrator was convicted, their assets could be recovered by the State.
Even if, from the quantitative point of view, the activity of DNA registered a decreasing trend if compared to the previous year, a special focus was placed on ensuring a high quality standard of the criminal prosecution activity, on the verification by the hierarchical superiors of the legality and merits of the solutions ordered by the prosecutors, in order to avoid acquittal sentences being ruled by the courts.
The effort was focused on increasing the number of cases with solutions of sending to court of the defendants for committing acts of corruption and those assimilated to corruption and on reducing the caseload related to ongoing case files. In terms of relevance, it is worth mentioning an increased efficiency in investigating the frauds affecting the European funds and the fact that DNA continued to send to trial the people with high public positions for committing corruption offences, as well as the complex cases.
The main findings regarding the results of the activity carried out in 2019 by the National Anticorruption Directorate are as following:
1. The number of cases by which the defendants were sent to court has increased.
In 2019, 235 files were sent to court, compared to 196 in 2018 (an increase of 20%).
In addition, the number of plea bargaining agreements increased to 97 in 2019, compared to 55 in 2018. This indicates a higher level of professionalism in the gathering of evidence and the strengthening of the practice in this regard, in order to avoid costly and long lasting criminal trials.
However, as the number of defendants sent to court (including those with plea bargaining agreements), there is a decrease of 501 defendants sent in 2019 compared to 556 in the previous year.
This decrease (501 compared to 556 in the previous year) has multiple causes: the decrease in the number of notifications, the reduction of the number of prosecutors, the amendments of the laws of justice etc.).
2. The efficiency in investigating the frauds affecting the European funds has increased
In addition to the increase in the number of files and defendants sent to court compared to the previous year, it is worth noting that the damages established by prosecutors in the files sent to court for frauds affecting of European funds increased by more than two and a half times: it amounted to around 190 million lei in 2019, compared to 70 million lei in 2018.
70 indictments for offences affecting the European funds were sent to court, compared to 50 indictments in 2018. 169 defendants were sent to court in 2019, compared to 121 defendants in the previous year, meaning an increase of around 40%.
3. The priority of the institution was to identify and recover the damage during the investigation.
Through recovery measures, DNA recovered during the criminal investigations the amount of 14.8 million euro (0.81 million euro in the previous year), representing a significant increase.
In 2019, seizures or account freezing measures amounting to 224 million euro were ordered so that, in case of final conviction sentences being ruled, the money and the goods can be confiscated and the damages can be recovered.
In the majority of cases sent to trial - over 80% - the existence of an asset coming from criminal offences (for example money or goods allegedly illegally obtained) was ascertained.
4. The prosecution of important causes that targeted corruption at high and medium level
Of the total number of 501 defendants sent to court, a significant share - 146 defendants - is represented by people with high public positions, management or control-related positions, with public dignities or other important positions (a number close to last year's 155).
Examples of positions held by the people that were sent to court:
13 dignitaries: 3 Ministers (one of them sent to trial in two case files), 2 deputies, 2 deputies in the European Parliament, one of them acting as the Vice-President of the County Council at the time the act was committed, 3 state secretaries, 1 president of the National Agency for Fiscal Administration (with the rank of secretary of state), 2 vice-presidents of the National Agency for Fiscal Administration (with the rank of undersecretary of state).
Local Authorities
24 mayors (6 city of municipalities, 18 mayors of city/mayors of commune) and 5 vice-mayors (3 deputy mayors, 2 vice-mayors of commune).
In addition to these, the directors of national companies, as well as people with management or control positions in the field of education or health, law enforcement institutions or holding important positions in public institutions, were also sent to court.
It is noteworthy that two requests for approval to start the criminal investigation against two former Ministers who also act in the capacity of senators were denied by the Romanian Senate.
5. The ruling of conviction solutions in high-corruption cases
In 2019, the courts continued to rule conviction sentences in high corruption cases. Although the number of 422 people sentenced with final decisions sentences decreased if compared to those with final decision sentenced in the previous year (584), conviction sentence decisions were ruled in important cases.
Examples of positions held by the people that were convicted with final decision sentences (including one holding the position of President of the Chamber of Deputies), one Secretary of State within the Ministry of Justice, one State Secretary within the Ministry of Health, one State Secretary and 1 personal Councillor within the Ministry of Transport, one Chief Cabinet Secretary within the Ministry of Interior, 5 judges, 3 prosecutors, one president of the National Agency for Fiscal Administration, one vice president of the National Authority for the Restitution of Properties, 1 general director of the Romanian National Lottery Company, 4 presidents of the County Council, 4 mayors of municipalities, 3 deputy mayors of municipalities, others mayors of commune, public servants with management positions in the local administration and at the level of some state companies.
It is worth noting that, in 2019, the courts ordered the confiscation and recovery of asset coming from criminal offences amounting to the total sum of approx. 120 million euro, compared to 76 million euro in 2018, with an increase of almost 60%.
6. Efforts have been made to solve the caseload related to ongoing cases
The number of unsolved caseload at the end of 2019 was 3,416 files, decreasing by over 800 from the previous year and decreasing by approx. 2,600 compared to 2017.
The average number of files solved by a prosecutor was 69, complex causes of economic-financial macro-criminality, European frauds and public procurement, as well as for the restitution of some buildings being among them. They required the gathering of complex evidentiary, including expertise, technical-scientific ascertaining reports and mutual legal assistance request.
The rate of solving the cases has slowed, 2694 files have been solved on the merits of the case, decreasing by approx. 30% compared to 2018.
In 2019, the average number of cases solved by a prosecutor was 36 cases compared to 45 cases per prosecutor in 2018.
Other considerations regarding the activity of DNA
In 2019, there was a decrease in the number of defendants sent to court by all the operational structures, together with the increase in the number of defendants acquitted with final decisions sentences.
Regarding the total number of acquitted defendants, it is noteworthy that more than one third of the acquittal decisions, respectively related to 72 defendants, were the result of decriminalization of the abuse of office (the act is no longer considered an offence due to the legislative amendments) and the enforcement of the provisions of art. 181 of the old Criminal Code (an acquittal decision was ruled because, although the offence was committed, it was considered that it does not present a social danger). This situation is similar to that of the previous year.
A total of 190 defendants were acquitted with final decisions (a figure without the 72 above mentioned defendants). It should be emphasized, however, that among these, 44 defendants were acquitted as a result of eliminating the evidence obtained on the ground of a warrant issued by the judge, but with the help or through the Romanian Intelligence Service or the Department of Information and Internal Protection. The exclusion of the evidence appears as a consequence of two decisions of the Constitutional Court of Romania, Decision no. 26 of January the 16th, 2019 and decision 302 of May the 4th, 2017. In other words, although the prosecutor correctly applied a legal provision in force at the date of the trial, the same provision was subsequently declared unconstitutional, and therefore the collected evidence was declared null and void.
In this context, the difficult conditions in which the DNA prosecutors carried out their activity were represented by:
- A strong shortage and fluctuation of staff (shortage of 43 prosecutors at the end of 2019, 33 ceased their activity, 23 were employed).
- The extension of the Interim management of DNA.
Priorities for 2020:
- To ensure high quality standards of the criminal prosecution act.
- To attract prosecutors, police officers and other categories of personnel, with high professional qualifications, in order to restore the human resources level of the Directorate.
- To boost the activity and to increase the efficiency in solving the criminal cases given within the competence of the Directorate, by reducing the time of their solving.
- To intensify the inter-institutional relations, in order to increase the number and the quality of the notifications and of the control reports received from other state institutions.
- To improve public communication in order to increase the transparency of the activity of the Directorate.
THE INFORMATION AND PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICE