The Penitentiary System and Extended Confiscation

Justice Minister Raluca Pruna hopes to get Parliaments support for the draft law on the extended confiscation of assets obtained by means of misappropriation fraud.

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Bogdan Matei, 16.09.2016, 14:30

October 4th is the deadline for the EU member countries to transpose into national law the directive that provides for the extended confiscation of assets obtained fraudulently. In Romania, the emergency triggered by the deadline set in Brussels coincides with fierce domestic debates on the effects of the fight against corruption. For a long time now, the media, civil society and experts have warned that indicting, arresting and even sentencing top level corruption is worthless, unless it is followed by a recovery of the losses caused by fraud.

The Justice Minister Raluca Pruna has announced on Radio Romania that a draft law on this matter already exists, and will be submitted to Parliament for endorsement. She has not ruled out the possibility of issuing an emergency ordinance, but has voiced hope that, provided senators and deputies work fast, such a measure won’t be necessary. “The current legislation already stipulates extended confiscation as a potential measure. Unfortunately, it has not been very much used in the cases tried so far, and what we are doing now by means of this draft is to fully transpose the directive”, the minister also said.

The conviction rate in cases of corruption stands at 90%, which, according to the National Anticorruption Directorate, is proof of the quality of the evidence that criminal cases are built on, as well as of prosecutors’ professionalism. On the other hand, though, the head of the Directorate, Laura Codruta Kovesi, has recently stated that, following the final rulings issued last year alone, the state must recover some 200 million Euro and insisted on the importance of these sentences to be fully served, including by recovering the damages and losses caused by corruption. “Some of those sentenced do not fully serve the sentence decided by judges. Some are released on parole, without any recovery of damage, or due to administrative loopholes. Such cases gradually lead to the situation in which the state loses authority and people lose their trust in state institutions, Mrs. Kovesi has warned.

The Justice Minister Raluca Pruna has stated that, when it comes to economic crimes, more discouraging is to confiscate the object of the crime rather than serving a sentence that, generally speaking, in Romania and actually elsewhere in the world, is a lesser punishment than for common law offences. She has also said that the full transposition of the European Directive could be a solution for the overcrowding of the domestic penitentiary system.

This summer, inmates protested loudly against prison conditions. Also, the employees in the system say that their workload is too big and salaries too small, and refuse to do any overtime, which could block activity in prisons, because of staff shortage. The National Administration of Penitentiaries in Romania has 15,000 jobs, covered by only 12,000 people, while the real need stands at some 20,000.

(Translated by Mihaela Ignatescu)