The Superior Council of Prosecutors believes that the project on the creation of the Prosecutor's Office for Anticorruption and Combating Organized Crime (PACCO) entails several risks and vulnerabilities. Members of the PSC do not support the liquidation of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and the Prosecutor's Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases. In order to implement a balanced and efficient reform that would not affect the functionality of the prosecutors' system, the PSC proposes merging the specialized prosecutor's offices into a unified structure, IPN reports.
"Analyzing this draft law, we consider that it presents certain risks and vulnerabilities that could affect the efficient and expeditious investigation and trial of criminal cases under the PA and PCCOCS, including the security of criminal files," said CSP member Mariana Cherpec, who presented her opinion on the draft law on the Prosecutor's Office for Anticorruption and Combating Organized Crime (PACCO).
According to her, the draft law itself establishes the way of organization and functioning of a new entity within the prosecution system. In fact, the draft establishes the termination of the activity of the two existing specialized prosecutor's offices - PA and PCCOCS and the creation of a new prosecutor's office - PACCO.
Mariana Cherpec said that, if the current version of the draft goes ahead, the prosecutors from the two prosecutor's offices will be transferred to other territorial prosecutor's offices, which, from the career perspective, is a demotion in the position, equivalent to a disciplinary sanction. Their rights and guarantees in terms of the stability of their position as prosecutors and their professional independence are affected.
"Taking into account the risks and vulnerabilities outlined above and on the basis of the constitutional attributions of the PSC as guarantor of the independence and impartiality of prosecutors, the PSC, in the current wording of the draft, will not support the liquidation of the two specialized prosecutor's offices," the Council member noted.
According to the PSC, the most sensible solution is the merger of the two specialized prosecutor's offices, which would entail the seamless transfer of all prosecutors from both institutions to the newly created prosecutor's office, together with the cases under investigation and pending trial.
On February 20, the draft law providing for the creation of PACCO was passed in first reading by 61 MPs. According to the authors of the bill, the initiative comes to strengthen efforts to fight corruption and organized crime by bringing together competences in a unified specialized structure.
