Heated polemics between the Justice Minister and the Prosecutor General over Lazar’s candidacy file. JM publishes explanations regarding Augustin Lazar’s appointment as Prosecutor General. Ordinance to dismiss case opened in 2013 on Klaus Iohannis’s name was identified in the candidacy dossier. Toader: There wasn’t and isn’t any error regarding dismissal ordinance in PG’s candidacy file. PG Lazar: This is a typical method of manipulating the truth. JusMin Toader: I wouldn’t have accepted Lazar’s incomplete candidacy file in contest for PG office

The Justice Ministry (JM) published on Wednesday evening explanations regarding Augustin Lazar’s appointment as Prosecutor General, “problems” being identified in the appointment procedure. Thus, it was shown that an ordinance to dismiss a case opened in 2013 on the name of Klaus Iohannis, Mayor of Sibiu at the time, was identified in the candidacy dossier present at the Justice Ministry. The JM informs that it will send to the Superior Council of the Magistracy (CSM) a full copy of the dossier, and will ask it “to confirm or deny, with data and facts, the aspects identified when evaluating the documents included in the copy of the dossier that stood at the basis of Mr Augustin Lazar’s appointment.” A communique titled “Explanations regarding Mr Augustin Lazar’s appointment as Prosecutor General of the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice” was published on the Justice Ministry’s website on Wednesday evening. “We point out that these developments do not bring additions to the evaluation report presented on 24 October 2018,” the website reads. The text contains the dates on which the announcement regarding the triggering of the recruitment procedure for the vacant office, the Justice Minister’s selection, the opinion issued by the Section for Prosecutors of the CSM, and the appointment in office took place. Next, the “problems identified in the appointment procedure” are presented, regarding the candidacy dossier, the failure to meet the criteria announced for the appointment, the evaluation of prosecutor Augustin Lazar, the Superior Council of the Magistracy’s opinion, relevant cases handled by the candidates, and the President’s prerogatives. Regarding the relevant cases handled by the candidates, it is pointed out that one cannot exactly identify in the candidacy dossier present at the Justice Ministry the justifying documents concerning the candidate’s professional activity, namely cases handled by the candidate in the compartments in which he carried out his activity and any other documents considered relevant. According to Article 211, Paragraph (2), of the Regulations on the transfer and secondment of judges and prosecutors, the delegation of judges, the appointment of judges and prosecutors in other leadership positions, as well as the appointment of judges as prosecutors and of prosecutors as judges, adopted on 09.03.2006, “the testimonials listed by Article 55, Paragraph (3), related to Article 48, Paragraph (11), of Law no.303/2004, republished, with subsequent amendments and supplementations, a project on the exercise of the prerogatives specific to the leadership position for which the opinion is issued, a resume of the candidate, 10 cases handled by the candidate within the compartments in which he/she carried out his/her activity, and any other documents deemed relevant are lodged with the Superior Council of the Magistracy, TOGETHER with the Justice Minister’s nomination,” reads the document posted on the JM website. “An ordinance to dismiss a case opened in 2013, on the name of Mr Klaus Werner Iohannis, Mayor of Sibiu at the time, was identified in Mr Augustin Lazar’s candidacy dossier for the office of Chief Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice. The case is based on two complaints, one lodged with the National Anticorruption Directorate by a natural person, subsequently sent to the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Alba Iulia Court of Appeals on 18.07.2013, and another one lodged with the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice by a public institution, sent to the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Alba Iulia Court of Appeals on 28.08.2013. On that date, according to information from the resume included in the candidacy dossier, Mr Augustin Lazar was Chief Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Alba Iulia Court of Appeals,” the source pointed out. According to the Justice Ministry communique, the evaluation report pointed out that: “We do not know whether the reason for this mistake relates to the fact that the candidacy dossier of the current Prosecutor General included exactly a decision to dismiss a case concerning the incumbent President of Romania. We only took note of all the documents we identified in the dossier present at the Justice Ministry.” “All the findings of the evaluation report are correct and are based, as we pointed out, on the documents identified within the dossier present at the Justice Ministry,” the communique adds. In what concerns the President’s prerogatives, it is shown that, in line with Article 54, Paragraph (3), of Law no.303/2004 on the statute of judges and prosecutors, in force on 28 April 2016, “the President of Romania can justifiably refuse the appointment in the leadership offices listed in paragraph (1), making public the reasons for the refusal.” “Since the President of Romana could have justifiably refused, it is hard to believe he could have substantiated his decision without studying the documents included in the candidacy dossier. We do not know the documents that the President analysed at that time to justify his decision to appoint the Prosecutor General of the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice, because the contents of the dossier sent to the Presidential Administration do not result from the documents present at the Justice Ministry. The aforementioned ordinance to dismiss the case is present in the dossier at the Justice Ministry, dossier pertaining to the procedure to appoint Mr Augustin Lazar as Prosecutor General,” the communique reads. Next, it is shown that the author of the ordinance to dismiss the case was appointed high-ranking prosecutor by the incumbent President, in line with Article 54, Paragraph (3), of Law no.303/2004 on the statute of judges and prosecutors, at the proposal of the Justice Minister. “Distinctly from the things presented and considering the discussions about the possibility of publicly revealing copies of the documents identified in Mr Augustin Lazar’s candidacy dossier, I hereby transmit to the Superior Council of the Magistracy a full copy of the dossier present at the Justice Ministry, in the form and order identified, along with the registry file containing the documents received. At the same...