Update: Justice minister starts procedure to select new Prosecutor General

Justice minister Tudorel Toader has started the selection procedure to appoint a new Prosecutor General, a position vacant as of April 28, when Augustin Lazar’s mandate ends. The procedure is running during March 13 to April 5.

Candidates will give an interview before Justice minister Tudorel Toader, according to an announcement on the Justice ministry’s website and they can file registration applications until March 28 including, at 17:30 to the Human Resources department of the ministry.

The hearings of the candidates will be broadcast live, audio and video on the website of the Justice ministry and it is also recorded.

The results of the selection will be released on the ministry’s website on April 5.

The Justice minister’s proposal for a new PG will be forwarded to the Prosecutors Section within the Superior Council of Magistracy to get an opinion, and after that, the Justice minister will forward the proposal to the Romanian President.

On Thursday, minister Toader made some statements on how the future PG should be. In Toader’s view, he or she should be a person of goodwill and attached to people and to the fundamental rights of the citizen.

“The E-FIT of the prosecutor general, a human portrait of him- he or she will have to have management abilities, who has professional knowledge, who knows the system, the good and the bad, who has the capacity to reform where there is need for reform, and above all, should have a lot of goodwill, attachment to people, to the fundamental rights and liberties of the citizen, to the rule of law, to the European values,” Toader said.

Minister Toader asked for Augustin Lazar’s dismissal since October last year, but President Iohannis opposed his request.

Asked by the journalists today if he has a favourite candidate to replace Augustin Lazar, Toader replied three weeks ago: „Do you think I can have a favourite in advance? I haven’t even started the procedure. We’ll see who is joining the race”.

In retort, PG Augustin Lazart has slammed the Justice minister for his approach for not meeting him and said Toader has instead met a prosecutor who has “representativeness issues”, namely Elena Iordache.

“He (editor note: minister Toader) should come to the head of the institution and tell him like a man what the problems are. He came to my institution”, Lazar retorted, adding that the only person who can take a decision by the law and to represent the Public Ministry is the Prosecutor General. “Instead, the minister got in touch with a prosecutor who has representativeness issues within the Prosecutors’ Association. That prosecutor should first clarify the legitimacy problems within that institution”, Lazar further said.