public ethics

PUBLIC ETHICSat local level

Monica Dimitriu

Assistance and Programs for Sustainable Development - Agenda 212008

Assistance and Programs for Sustainable Development - Agenda 21 | 3

Table of contents

Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Chapter 1. Model initiatives regarding the statute of local elected representatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

1. General framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

2. The ceasing of the mandate and the dismissal of local elected representatives . . . . . . .7

3. The rights and obligations of local elected representatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

4. The administrative, civil and penal liability of the local elected representatives . . . . .12

5. The payment, the working conditions and the carriers of the local electedrepresentatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

6. The training, informing and cooperation with the local elected representatives . . . . .15

Chapter 2. Financing political parties, national minorities and independent nominees citizens' organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

1. General framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

2. Financing political parties, national minorities citizens' organizations and individual candidates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

3. Financing electoral campaigns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

4. Monitoring the standard application for financing political parties and elections . . . .28

5. Information and publicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Chapter 3. The control and audit within public administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

1. External control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

2. Internal control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

Chapter 4. Model initiatives relating to the status of civil servants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

1. Legal framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

2. Remuneration, conditions of service and career development of public officials from local public administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

3. The rights and duties of civil servants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

4. Suspension and termination of service relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45

5. The liability of public servants from local public administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

6. Information, cooperation and transparency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49

Chapter 5. Model initiatives regarding transparency, access to information and administrative procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

1. Transparency and access to information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

2. Administrative procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

Chapter 6. Model initiatives regarding relations with the local private sector authorities . . . . . . . . .59

1. Public acquisition contracts concluded by the authorities for the supply of goods,services and public works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59

2. Delegation Of public services in the private sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62

3. Owning stocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65

4. Privatization of public enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66

5. Relations with the non-profit sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67

6. Issuance of licenses / authorizations and certificates (in particular those relating to urban planning) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68

7. Management of public assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71

Introducere

The Council of Europe (CoE) makes countless efforts in order to ensure a common framework of unitarypractices regarding the professional conduct of both the civil servants and the local elected representatives. In this direction, on the 11th of March 2000, the Ministries Committee adopted the Recommendation no R 10 (2000) regarding public authorities' code of conduct and other recent recommendations of MinistriesCommittee relevant to this subject, such as Recommendation no R 12 (98) regarding the supervision of localauthorities' activities and Recommendation no R 8 (99) regarding the financial responsibility of local electedrepresentatives for the actions or oversights during their duty.

Following the same trend, The Committee for Regional and Local Democracy (CRLD), a body of theCouncil of Europe, initiated numerous actions regarding the public ethics of civil servants and local electedrepresentatives and the actions concerning the monitoring mechanisms of these procedures in different fields,including the financial domain and the electoral system. At the same time, CRLD/CoE initiated a project called"Public ethics at a local level: strategies for fighting against corruption and other forms of financialinfringement within local authorities" and confided the implementation of the project to the Group ofSpecialists in Public Ethics at a Local Level. The follow-up of the project consisted in elaborating anddisseminating a manual on public ethics called "Initiatives at a local level", translated and disseminated inmany member countries of the Council of Europe, a process in which Romania was included at the initiativeof the National Agency of Public Servants. The manual was modified according to current changes and itspurpose nowadays is to be updated according to the legislative and administrative reality of these countries.

This material aims to transpose the manual initiated by CoE through CRLD, which is to be developedaccording to the Romanian juridical-administrative framework, while still comprising the initial structure of6 chapters, respectively: the statute of local elected representatives, the financing of political parties, internalcontrol, the statute of civil servants, transparency and free access to public interest information andadministrative procedures, as well as public-private partnerships. Each chapter comprises stipulations andrecent experiences, communicated in a friendly and accessible language for all persons interested in thedifferent procedures applicable to the Romanian administrative system.

One should keep in mind that this manual is a juridical instrument which becomes valuable by displayinga series of snapshots of the present situation in the Romanian administrative system, particularly because theRomanian legislation is in continuous change. The purpose of this material is to be used as a source ofinspiration and a guide by the local actors (local elected representatives and civil servants) in their dailyconduct within different circumstances.

4 | Public ethics at local level

The local elected representatives are, according tothe Romanian legislation, local councilors and countycouncilors, mayors, the general mayor of Bucharestmunicipality, vice-mayors, presidents and vice-presidents of county councils. To the local electedrepresentative we also find attached the village delegate.

a. Measures of central authorities

The legal framework for exerting the attributionsby the local elected representatives has been sketchedsince the year 2001, by Law no.215 regarding the localpublic administration and from the year 2004 whenthe statute of the local elected representatives wasinstitutionalized by Law no. 393 regarding the Statuteof local elected representative. The law sufferedcertain modifications and needed completions thatmaterialized into subsequent normative acts, beingupdated to the legislation from the local publicadministration field and to the European provisions.

Central authorities:

• Elaborate the general legal framework of the localelected representatives, taking into account theresponsibilities coming from the local authorities,the unions, the civil society and the proposalsresulted from the consultations with theassociations of the local elected representatives;

• Elaborate the code of standard conduct for localelected representatives. This code could contain alist of the mandatory provisions that localauthorities must include in the codes of conduct

adopted at local level and a list of modelprovisions that local authorities, if there is such acase, can adopt and include in the codes ofconduct at local level;

• The authorities of the central public adminis-tration must consult before making any decisionthe associative structures of the authorities of thelocal public administration, in any issue directlyconcerning them. The associative structures ofthe authorities of the local public administrationare the following:a) The Association of the Communes from

Romaniab) The Association of the Municipalities from

Romaniac) The Association of the Cities from Romaniad) The National Union of the County councils

from Romaniae) Other forms of general interest, founded

according to the law• It guarantees and ensures the observance of the

principle of free access to the citizens toinformation of public interest, by means ofInternet pages and data analyses regarding:§ Common norms of conduct based on diffe-

rent legal provisions concerning the conductadopted by the local authorities, so that acomparative analysis of them can beconducted;

§ Statistics concerning the cases of corruptionand other branches of public ethics and publicintegration of the local elected representativesand civil servants;


Chapter 1

Model initiatives regarding the statuteof local elected representatives

This chapter represents a collection of norms regarding the statute of local electedrepresentatives and of the measures that they possess in ensuring an ethical administrativeenvironment at local level. In order for it to be a précis and concise practice, similar to theModel of Initiatives of the Council of Europe, this has been conceived taking into accountthe structure and the chapters of the manual mentioned above.

The current chapter has been conceived in a manner that allows its use separately fromthe other parts of the package of model initiatives; however, for a better consistency theother chapters should be consulted as well.

It ensures the observance of the legal framework through different central authoritiesthat can act out of their own will or cab be notices and consequently sue the localauthorities that brought injuries or prejudices to the rights, liberties and legitimate interestsof some persons.

1. General framework

§ The government supports the association ohadministrative territorial units throughnational programs of development; theseprograms are financed annually through thestate budget and are stipulated distinctivelywithin the budget of the Ministry of InternalAffaires and Administrative Reform;

§ The mayors and the presidents of the countycouncils send to MAE the projects ofcooperation with other countries, beforesubmitting them to adoption by the localcouncils or the county council, depending oneach case, and the MAW notes must be issuedin 30 days from receiving the request.Otherwise, it will be concluded that there are noobjections and the project in question can besubmitted to be approved by the local or countycouncil interested in it.

b. Measures of local authorities

• The public administration in administrativeterritorial units is organized and functionsaccording the principles of decentralization, localautonomy, de-concentration of public services,eligibility of the authorities of the local publicadministration, the legality and the consultationof the citizens in solving the local problems ofspecial interest.

• The defining characteristic of the local publicadministration is the local autonomy. The conceptof local autonomy refers to the right and concretecapacity of the authorities of the local publicadministration to solve and manage, on behalf andin the interest of the local community theyrepresent, the public issues.

• This right is exerted by the local councils and cityhall, as well as by the county councils, authoritiesof the local public administration electedthrough universal, equal, direct, secret and freelyexpressed vote. Applying these principles shouldnot bring any prejudice to the character of natio-nal, unitary and indivisible state of Romania.

• The local autonomy is only administrative andfinancial, and it is exerted on the basis and inthem limits provided by law.

• The local autonomy offers to the authorities ofthe local public administration the right to haveinitiatives in the entire field, except thosespecially provided in the sphere of other publicauthorities and in the limits imposed by law.

• The authorities of the local public administrationexert exclusive competences, divided competencesand delegated competences, these authoritiesprovided by Law no. 215/2001 are deliberativeauthorities – the local council, the county council,the General Council of Bucharest Municipality,

the local councils of the administrative-territorialsubdivisions of the municipalities and executiveauthorities – the mayors of communes, towns,municipalities and administrative territorialsubdivisions of the municipalities, the generalmayor of Bucharest municipality and thepresident of the county council;

• The relations between the authorities of the localpublic administration from communes, town,municipalities and the authorities of the publicadministration at county level are based on theprinciples of autonomy, legality, responsibility,cooperation and solidarity in solving theproblems of the entire county.

• In the relations between the authorities of the localpublic administration and the county council onthe one hand, and between the local council andthe mayor on the other hand, there are no reportsof subordination, but only of collaboration.

• The reports between the authorities of the localpublic administration of the commune, townand municipality and the central authorities:

• The local elected representatives are notsubordinates of the prefect and of any otherauthority of the central administration;

• The local council and the mayor are notsubordinated of the county council or of thepresident of the county council;

• The vice-mayor is subordinated to the mayor andto his legal substitute

• The local council and the mayor, as well as thecounty council and the president of the countycouncil are subdued to the control of administra-tive tutelage on the administrative acts, exertedby the prefect, bearing a juridical character.

Local authorities:• Issue recommendations for the norms of

conduct of the local elected representatives, ifthere is such a case, by adapting to the situationexisting within the community in question andby taking into account the recommendationsissued by different professional associations,NGOs and citizens;

• It ensures the dissemination of the norms ofconduct towards the local elected representatives,central authorities and other organisms interestand towards the general public, by making use ofthe available means, including the media, theInternet, etc.

• The authorities of the local public administrationare entitled to have their own financial resources,which they establish, administer and use forfulfilling the competences and the attributionsthey are entitled with;

• The authorities of the local public administrationmanage or, depending on the case, dispose of


financial resources, as well as of the goods withinthe public or private property of the communes,town, municipalities and counties, according theprinciple of local autonomy.

• The county councils can initiate and developcounty programs of development, financed fromthe local budget of the county and distinctivelystipulated within it;

• The authorities of the local public administrationhave the right to impose and collect local taxes, toelaborate and to approve the local budgets of thecommunes, of the towns, of the municipalitiesand of the counties.

The mayor delegate:• The inhabitants of villages that do not have local

elected councilors in the local councils arerepresented at the council meetings by the villagedelegate.

• The village delegate is elected for the period ofthe mandate of the local council by a villagegathering which counts a representative of eachfamily, summoned and organized by the mayor,taking place in the presence of the mayor or thevie-mayor.

• The village delegates are compulsory invited todiscuss issues concerning the villages they represent.

• The vote of the village delegate has a consultativecharacter.

• The village delegate receives an indemnity andhas the right to being reimbursed the expensesoccurred.

The public administrator:• At the level of communes and town, but also at

the level of counties, the mayor and the presidentof the county council can suggest thelocal/county council to set up the function ofpublic administrator, within the limit of themaximum number of jobs approved.

• The naming and the dismissal of the publicadministrator is made by the mayor/president ofthe county council, based on certain criteria,procedures and specific attributions, approvedby the local council or the county council. Theappointment is made based on a contest.

• The public administrator can accomplish underthe provisions of a management contractconcluded in this matter with the mayor or thepresident of the county council, attributions ofcoordination of the specialty body or of thepublic services or local or county interest.

• The mayor or the president of the county councilcan delegate to the public administrator thequality of main chief accountant of credits.

a. Measures of the central authority

• The quality of local councilor or county councilorceases the newly elected council is declaredlegally constituted.

• The quality of local councilor or countycouncilor legally ceases before the termination ofthe regular length on the mandate, in thefollowing casesa) Resignationb) Incompatibilityc) Change of domicile in another administra-

tive-territorial units, also in the case of itsreorganization

d) The unjustified absence from more than 3consecutive ordinary sessions of the council

e) The impossibility to exert the mandate for aperiod of more than 6 consecutive months,except in the cases provided by law;

f) The conviction to a punishment privative offreedom, through a irreversible legal sentence;

g) Lay under legal interdictionh) The loss of election rights;

i) The loss of the quality of member of a politicalparty or of an organization of nationalminorities on the list of which the candidatehas been elected;

j) Decease;• The ceasing of the mandate of councilor is

established by the local council or the countycouncil, through a decision, following themayor’s suggestion, or, depending on the case,the suggestion of the president of the countycouncil or of any other councilor.

• The referendum is organized as a consequence ofthe request submitted to the prefect by theinhabitants of the commune, the town or themunicipality, as a consequence of the prefecthaving ignored the general interests of the localcollectivity of not having exerted the attributionentitled to him, according to the law, includingthose being exerted as a representative of the state.

• The decision of the council can be taken to courtby the councilor at the instance of administrativesolicitor’s office, in no more than 10 days since itscommunication. The instance will give a verdict in


2. The ceasing of the mandate and the dismissal of local elected representatives

n more than 30 days. In this case, the previousprocedure is no longer conducted and the decisionof the first instance is final and irrevocable.

• In all the situations of ceasing of mandate beforethe termination of its regular length the localcouncil or the county council, depending on thecase, adopts during the first ordinary session, atthe mayor’s or at the president’s suggestion, adecision through which the situation created ismade known and the position of councilor inquestion is declared vacant/

• The decision will be based, in all the cases, on aascertaining report signed by the mayor and thesecretary of the commune, town, or the signed bythe president of the county council and thesecretary of the county. The report will contain asattachments the relevant papers.

The dismissal of the local elected councilor

• The mandate of local councilor or countycouncilor is suspended only when the councilorhas been preventively arrested. The measure ofthe preventive arrest is immediately commu-nicated by the legal instance to the prefect who, byorder, ascertains the suspension of the mandate.

• The dismissal is valid until the ceasing of thesituation mentioned above

• The dismissal order is immediately communicatedto the councilor.

• If the councilor having had the mandatesuspended is found innocent, the councilor hasthe right to compensation.

The ceasing of the mayor’s mandate

• The quality of mayor ceases when the new mayoris taking the oath

• The quality of mayor ceases before thetermination of the regular length of the mandatein the following cases:a) Resignationb) Incompatibilityc) Change of domicile in another administrative-

territorial units, also in the case of itsreorganization

d) Lay under legal interdiction e) The conviction to a punishment privative of

freedom, through a irreversible legal sentence;f) The loss of election rights; g) The loss by resignation of the quality of member

of a political party or of an organization ofnational minorities on the list of which thecandidate has been elected;

h) Decease;i) The impossibility to exert the mandate because

of a serious illness, certified, which does not

allow exerting the activity in good conditionsfor 6 moths during a calendar year

j) If the mayor does not exert hid mandate formore than 45 consecutive days, in anunjustified way

• In the cases above mentioned the prefect - bymeans of an order take notice of the ceasing ofthe mayor’s mandate;

• The order will be based on a report signed by thesecretary of the commune or of the town, as wellas on the paper proving the legal reason of themandate’s ceasing;

• The order of the prefect can be taken to court bythe mayor at the administrative solicitor’s officein 10 days from it being communicated.

• The solicitor is under the obligation to give averdict in no more than 30 days. In this case theprevious procedure is no longer undertaken andthe decision of the first instance is final andirrevocable.

• The mandate of the mayor also ceases and as aconsequence of the results of the local referen-dum having as object the mayor’s dismissal,organized under the conditions provided by law;

• The mayor can resign, providing a written noticeto the local council and the prefect. During thefirst session of the council, the sessions’ presidenttakes notice of this situation which is noted downin a official report;

• The prefect takes notice through an order of themayor’s resignation. The order of the prefecttogether with an excerpt from the official reportof the session is forwarded to the Ministry ofInternal Affaires and Administrative Reform,which will propose to the Government the dateof the elections for a new mayor.

• The mayor is under the impossibility of exertingthe mandate in the situations when he cannot bephysically present at the city hall because ofhealth reasons or because of other reasons, eventhough these are not imputable to him.

The suspension of the mandate ofmayor and county president

• The mandate of the mayor and of the countypresident is suspended only when they have beenpreventively arrested. The measure of preventivearrest is immediately communicated by the legalinstance to prefect, who, through an order,ascertains the suspension of the mandate.

• The suspension order is immediately communi-cated to the mayor.

• The suspension lasts until the ceasing of thesituation that led to this case.

• If the mayor suspended has been found innocent,he has the right to be paid the salary rights


suitable to the period during which thesuspension occurred.

• The dismissal of the president or of the vice-presidents of the county council can be madeonly with the secret vote of the majority ofcouncilors on position, at the proposal of at leastone third of their number.

• The dismissal of the president or of the vice-presidents of the county council cannot be madeduring the last 6 moths of the mandate.


Local authorities:

• Inform the qualified organisms on any incompa-tibility they took notice of;

• Can notify the prefect who will decide conduc-ting an administrative investigation in the case offlagrant violations of the law by the local electedrepresentatives;

• Requests the instances to decide the ceasing of exer-ting the function by a local elected representative,

especially in the case of glaring infringements or ofa clear breach of the standards of public ethics andsuspends the representative until the issue by theinstance of a legal decision.

c. Measure of local electedrepresentatives:

The local elected representatives observe thenorms in force regarding ethics and conduct inconducting professional activities:• Avoid as much as possible any conflict of

interests or incompatibility;• Communicate any situation that may lead to

incompatibility or conflict of interests, as soon asthis/these occur(s);

• Do not hold any other functions that may stopthem from efficiently fulfilling the duties theyhave as local elected representatives;

• By observing the decision of the electoratecannot modify their belongingness to a partyduring the period of exerting their mandate.

Rights

• During the exertion of the mandate as mayor,vice-mayor, president or vice-president of thecounty council the working contract or the act oftheir appointment within a public institution orauthority is suspended, also in the case ofautonomous offices or state-owned commercialcompanies, or administrative-territorial units.

• Teaching staff, scientific researchers, journalistwith professional license, people of culture andarts make an exception from the suspension ofthe working contract or the appointment act.

• Whenever, during the exertion of the mandate bythe people on positions of local elected represen-tatives, there are restructurings of the legalperson, these are under the obligation tocommunicate to the people that have had theirworking contract or appointment acts suspen-ded, their newly established jobs, according tothose held before and by observing the legislationin force.

• For 2 years since the date of the mandatesceasing, the persons mentioned above cannothave their work contract modified or cancelledand cannot by dismissed for reasons notimputable to them.

• At the ceasing of the mandate mayors and vice-mayors, presidents and vice-president of countycouncils that fulfill the conditions provided bylaw for retirement or are already retired, benefit,at their request, of a pension computation or,depending on the case, of a new pension compu-tation, taking into account their indemnities.

• The local elected representatives have the right ofinitiative in promoting the administrative acts,individually or in a group.

• The right of the local elected representatives tohave access to any information of public interestcannot be limited.

• The local elected representative have the right tobe informed by the authorities of the central andlocal public administration, by the institutionsand public services as well as by the legal personof private law on the public issues and on theissues of local interest.

• The right of association is guaranteed to the localelected representatives.

• According to the representative mandate offeredto the local collectivity, the associative structureslegal constituted of the local elected represen-tatives will be consulted by the authorities of thecentral public administration in al the mater oflocal interest.


3. The rights and obligations of local elected representatives

• The mayors and the vice-mayors, the presidentsand vice-presidents of the county councilsbenefit from annual leave, sick leave as well asfrom paid leave in case of special family events.

• In order to benefit from unpaid leave or paidleaves in case of special family events, the mayorsand presidents of county councils are under theobligation to inform the local or county councilbeforehand, mentioning the length of theseleaves and the period when they take place. Inemergency cases, the informing will be madeduring the first council session, organized afterthe end of the leave.

• The unpaid leaves or for special family events, aswell as their length, in the case of vice-mayorsand vice-presidents of county councils, areapproved by the mayor or the president.

Obligations

• After having fulfilled an official mission, the localelected representatives are under the obligationto present, during the first ordinary session of thecouncil, a report concerning the official trips theymade. In the case of the mayor, vice-mayor andthe local councilor, the maximum term ofsubmitting the report is of 30 days and in the caseof county councilors is of 45 days since the datewhen the mission ended.

• In the case of inobservance of the provisionsmentioned above, the local electedrepresentatives will bear the traveling costs.

• The local elected representatives, as representa-tives of the local collectivity, have the obligationto take part, during their mandate, at theexertion of the function of the authorities of thelocal public administration which they belong toor they represent, in good faith and loyaltytowards their country and towards thecollectivity that chose them/

• The local councilor and the county councilorsmust observe the Constitutions and the laws ofthe county as well as the set of regulations of thefunctioning of the council, must obey the rules ofcourtesy and discipline and must not use on theirbehalf or in their relation with the citizensinsulting, abusing or slanderous expressions.

• The local elected representatives are under theobligation to expressly mention the situations inwhich their personal interests contravene thegeneral interest. In cases when the personalinterest does not have patrimonial character, thelocal councils and the county councils can allowthe participation to vote of the councilor.

• The local elected representatives are obliged touprightness and professional discretion.

• The local elected representatives are under theobligation to make proof of honesty and

correctness; it is forbidden to the local electedrepresentative to request, for himself or forsomebody else, money, material benefits or anyother advantages.

• The local elected representatives are under theobligation to make citizens aware of all theadministrative facts and acts that are of interestfor the local collectivity.

• The local elected representatives are obliged,during the exertion of their mandate toperiodically organize at least once per trimester,meetings with the citizens, to give audiences andto present in the councils an information sessionregarding the problems raised at the meetingwith the citizens.

• The local councilor and the county councilor, thepresidents and the vice-presidents of the countycouncils cannot be absent from the works of thecouncil or of the specialty commissions theybelong to unless they are in one of the situationsprovided by the set of regulations in force.

• The local elected representative are under theobligation to make public their personal intereststhrough a declaration on their own account,submitted in a double copy to the secretary of thecommune, town, municipality, sector ofBucharest municipality, or to the secretary of thecounty of Bucharest municipality depending onthe case.

• A copy of the declaration concerning personalinterests is kept by the secretary in a special folder,named interests register. The second copy of thedeclaration of interest is sent to the secretary ofthe prefect’s institution that will keep it in aspecial folder, named general register of interests.

• In the declaration regarding personal interests,the local elected representatives will specify:a) The function held within commercial compa-

nies, public authorities and institutions,associations and foundations

b) The income obtained from collaboration withany other natural or legal person and thenature of the collaboration in question;

c) The participation to the capital of commercialcompanies, if it exceeds 50% of the totalcapital

d) The participation to the capital of commercialcompanies, if it does not exceed 5% of thetotal capital, but it exceeds the value o100.000.000 lei;

e) The associations and foundations themembers of which they are;

f) The immovable goods possessed in propertyor in concession;

g) The function held within commercial compa-nies, authorities or public institutions by thespouse;


h) The immovable goods possessed in property orin cessions by the spouse of under age children;

i) The list of properties possessed in theadministrative-territorial units where they arepart of the authorities of the local publicadministration;

j) The gifts or any other material benefits oradvantages offered by any natural or legalperson, link to the function held within theauthority of the local public administration;any gift or donation receive by the localelected representatives in a public or festiveevent become the property of that institutionsor authority.

k) Any other interests established throughdecision of the local council in the case ofmayor, vice-mayors and local councilors orby decision of the county council in the caseof its president and vice-president and thecounty councilors.

• The county councilors and the local councilorscannot take part to the consultation and theadoption of decision unless they have a personalinterest in the matter under discussion; therefore,local councilors and county councilors are underthe obligation to announce, at the beginning ofthe debates, their personal interest in the matterin question.

• The cancellation of the personal interest and therefrain from voting will be compulsory recordedin the official minutes of the session.

• The local elected representatives are under theobligation to update their declaration regardingpersonal interests at the beginning of each ear,but not latter than 1st February, if there whereany significant modifications as compared to theprevious declaration.

• The secretary of the administrative-territorialunit will send a copy of each update declarationto the secretary of the prefect’s institutions until1st March every year.

• The inobservance of the declaration regardingpersonal interests in the term foreseen aboveentails the suspension of the mandate until thesubmission of the declaration.

• The denial to submit the declaration regardingpersonal interests entails the ceasing of themandate.

• Gifts and any other material benefits undeclaredaccording to the law in force are subject toseizure.

• The act of the local elected representatives ofgiving declaration regarding personal intereststhat are not similar to the truth represents acriminal act of use of forgery in declarations andit is punished according to the Penal Code.


Central authorities:

• Establish the legal framework the includes thefundamental rights and obligations of the localelected representatives;

• Establish the proper monitoring procedures andthe way of disseminating these statistics to thegeneral public;

• Ensures the protection, of which the familymembers – spouse or children – benefit in thecase when the aggression against them aims atputting pressure on the local elected repre-sentative in what concerns exerting his mandate.

b. Measures of the local electedrepresentatives

Local authorities:

• Monitor the observance of the rights andobligations of the local elected, as well as theregime of the incompatibilities and of theconflicts of interest

• The local elected representatives adapt andenrich the provisions if the state with norms ofconduct and other norms that they considernecessary according to the specific of theinstitution or public authority, or of the region orof the region or of other field of activity that theyintroduce in their own set of regulations ofinternal organization

c. Measures of the local electedrepresentative

The local elected representatives:

• Observe the Constitution and the laws of thecountry;

• Fulfill all the obligation provided by law, byexerting their rights with moderation and for thepublic good;

• Observe the order of right and the good manners;• Declare their wealth before and after having

completed their function as well as during theirmandate every time it is necessary;

• Take notice of the norms of conduct that regulatetheir statute and take the obligation to observethem;

• Encourage and promote any measure thatstimulates the improvement of the efficiency ofthe functioning of services or departments whichare under their control and the improvement ofthe motivation of the personnel involved;


• Do not make use of the prerogatives of theirfunction in order to promote their directpersonal interests or the private interests ofcertain people or groups of people, with a view toobtaining a direct or indirect personal benefit;

• Declare any personal interest and observe thesupremacy of the public interest;

• Do not take part to any debate or do not take upa position in a subject that does not concernsthem personally;

• Do not take possession illegally of public funds orany other public goods;

• Do not start anything that could lead to the useof the public funds or of other public goods forpersonal reasons, directly or indirectly;

• Do not make favors to their family, theiracquaintances or other people and do not receivegood or other favors in exchange for certain services;

• Promote all the measures that have as main goalthe increase of the transparency of the way theyexert their power and of the way of functioningof the administrative departments they are incharge with;

• Observe the legislation and do not apply apreferential or discriminatory treatment to thepersonnel under their control;

• Observe the legislation that regulates the publicfunction and the civil servants, as well as thelegislation regarding the personnel undercontract;

• Are transparent and openness in their relationwith the media and the citizens, in what concernsthe exertion of their function;

• Do not disclose information that are confidentialor regard the private life of other people;


The local or county councilors, depending on thecase, mayors, vice-mayors, the general mayor ofBucharest municipality, mayors and vice-mayors ofthe administrative-territorial subdivisions, thepresidents and vice-presidents of the countycouncils, are legally, administratively, civilly orcriminally liable, depending on the case, for the actsthey committed in exerting the attributions theyhave, according to the law.

The administrative responsibility

• The local elected representatives are administra-tively, civilly and legally liable according to thelaw, for the acts they committed in exerting theirattributions;

• The councilors are individually liable for theactivity conducted in exerting their mandate, aswell as they are liable together with the group forthe activity of the councils they are part of and forthe decisions they have voted;

• In the official minutes of the council’s session theresults of the vote will be noted down and, at therequest of the councilors, his vote will beespecially mentioned;

• The violation of the provisions of Law no.215/2001, with the subsequent modifications andcompletions and of the provisions of the set ofregulations of organizing and functioning of thecouncil by the councilor entails the appliance ofthe following sanctions:a) The warning

b) Order callc) The retreat of the wordd) The exclusion from the session chambere) The temporary exclusion from the works of

the council and of the specialty commissionf) The retreat of the session indemnity for 1 or 2

sessions. • At the first nonconformity, the session’s presi-

dent compels the councilor’s attention andinvites this one to observe the set of regulations;

• The councilors that ignore the waning and theinvitation of the president and continue to breachthe regulations, together with those that seriouslyviolate, even for the first time, the provisions ofthe regulations will be called to order;

• The order call is recorded in the official minutesof the session.

• Before being called to order, the councilors areinvited by the president to retreat or to explainthe word of expressions that generated theincident and that would attract the application ofthe sanction.

• If the expression used has been retreated or if theexplanations given are appreciated by thepresident as satisfying, the sanction will be nolonger applied.

• Should it happen that after the order call acouncilor continues to violate the regulations,the president will retreat the word and if itcontinues, the councilors will be excluded fromthe meeting room. The exclusion from the

4. The administrative, civil and penal liability of the local elected representatives

meeting rooms is equal to the unjustified absencefrom the session.

• In the case of serious recurrent violations, orextremely serious breaches, the council can applythe sanction of temporary exclusion of thecouncilor from the works of the council or of thespecialty commission.

• The gravity of the breach will be established bythe specialty commission that has included in itsobject of activity legal aspects, in no more than 10working days until the notification.

• The temporary exclusion from the works of thespecialty commission cannot exceed twoconsecutive sessions.

• The exclusion from the works of the council andof the specialty commissions has as directconsequence, in case of opposition, theinterdiction to take part to the sessions and it isexecuted with the help of the public forceavailable to the president.

• For serious and recurrent breaches, committedduring the exertion of the mandate by the mayor,the president or the vice-presidents of the countycouncil, the following sanctions can be applied tothe persons in question:a) Reprimandb) Warningc) The decrease of the indemnity with 5-10% for

1-3 monthsd) The dismissal

The criminal liability

• The following act represent contravenes and aresanctioned with a fine from 1000 lei to 5000 lei:a) The failure to apply, in bad faith, the decisions

of the local council by the mayor.b) The failure to apply, in bad faith, the decisions

of the county council by the president of thecounty council;

c) Not presenting within the term provided bythe Law of local public finances of the budgetproject of the administrative-territorial unitby the mayor, or by the president of thecounty council, because of their own fault;

d) The mayor or the president of the countycouncil not presenting the reports requestedby law;

e) Not taking the necessary measures, establishedby law, by the mayor or the president of thecounty council, under their quality as repre-sentatives of the state in the administrative-territorial units.

• The notice of the contravenes and the applicationof the fines are made by the prefect, under thequality of public authority, representative of theGovernment at local level.

a. Measures of the central authorities

Central authorities establish the generalframework regarding the liability of the local electedrepresentatives, individually or jointly with theinstitution, for the acts or the omissions inaccomplishing their tasks. At the basis of theframework are the following principles:• Any natural or legal person who suffered an

unjustified prejudice as a consequence of an actof omission from the local elected representative,will have the right to it being remedied;

• The liability of the staff of the local elected represen-tatives in case of serious or intentional violation;

• During the working session, the local electedrepresentatives will not be made responsible forany decision to which they opposed;

• There will be no automate sanction of the localelected representatives, without a procedure ofinvestigation of the act;

• The analysis of the facts and the sanctioning ofthe local elected representatives is made only byspecialized commissions, founded by law and theorganization and functioning of which isestablished through a normative act;

• The restraint, the arrest or the suing of localelected representatives, as well the committedacts that determined adopting certain measuresare made known to the authorities of the publicadministration of which they are part, as well asto the prefect.


Local authorities:• Take measures for the indemnification of the

parties prejudiced by an act of omission of thelocal elected representatives;

• Take measures for the recovery of the costs fromthe local elected representatives that bring preju-dices through a serious or intentional breach;

• Count and make public the votes of the localelected representatives;

• Organize the concrete internal legal control;• Ensure the public access to complete information

regarding the liability of the local authorities andthe liability of the local elected representatives.

b. Measures of the local electedrepresentatives:

Local elected representatives:• Fulfill their responsibilities with professionalism

and correctness• Reduce to a minimum the risk of substantial or

irreversible prejudices resulting from an act oromission of them to third parties;

• Make available to the authorized organismscomplete information regarding the cases whenthey are held liable.


The payment and the career of localelected representatives

• For the participation to the works of the counciland of the specialty commissions, the councilorshave the right to a session indemnity.

• The presidents and the vice-presidents of thecounty councils do not receive session indemnity.

• The session indemnity for the members of thecouncil that take part to ordinary session of thecouncil and of the specialty commissions will bein an amount of up to 5% of the monthlyindemnity of the mayor, president of the countycouncil or the general mayor of Bucharestmunicipality, depending on the case.

• The maximum number of sessions for which anindemnity is offered is of 1 council session and 1-2 session of the specialty commission per month.

• The payment of the established indemnity isexclusively made from the personal revenues ofthe local budgets, or county budgets.

• The local elected representatives have the right tohave the expenses occurred during the exertionof their mandate reimbursed.

• The same principles of payment areappropriately applicable to the village delegate.

• The mayors and vice-mayors, as well as thepresidents and vice-presidents of the countycouncils have the right to a monthly indemnity,established by law.

• They have the right to have the expenses occurredduring the exertion of the mandate reimbursed.

• The monetary rights of the local electedrepresentatives can be cumulated with theirpension or with other revenues.

• The councilors and the village delegate who takepart to the session of the councils exceptionallyorganized during the working program, are givenleave of absence, without their salary of otherrights being affected at their working place.

• The length of the exertion of the mandate by themayor and the vice-mayor, by the president andthe vice-president of the county councilrepresent seniority and seniority in specializationand it is counted for promotion and for the offerof all monetary rights resulting from this,including the computation and the re-computation of the pension.

• The loss of the quality of member of a politicalparty or of an organization of the nationalminorities on this list of which the representativewas chosen leads to the ceasing of the mandate oflocal elected representative.


Central authorities establish a general frameworkof the payment, the working conditions and thecareer of the local elected representatives based onthe following principles:• The central authorities will prepare national

statistics concerning these indemnities and willmake them available to the public.

• The councilors have the right to a sessionindemnity for having participated to the works ofthe council and of the specialty commissions;

• The amount of the session indemnity and themaximum number of ordinary sessions idestablished through a normative act.

• The payment of the established indemnities ismade exclusively out of the personal revenues ofthe local or county budgets;

• The monetary rights of the local electedrepresentatives, according to the law, can becumulated to the pension or to other revenues,under the conditions established by law.

• The amounts of the indemnities received by thelocal elected representative will be made public;

b. Measures of the local authorities

The local authorities:

• Ensure the equipment and the necessarypersonnel for the activity of the local electedrepresentatives (space, secretary personnel,computers and, if necessary, transportation);

• Make public the amounts of the indemnities,remunerations and compensations received bythe local elected representatives.

• Support the costs of the professional trainingcourses or of improvement of the abilities of thelocal elected representatives.

c. Measured of the local electedrepresentative

Local elected representatives:

• Honestly declare and make proof of the expensesresulting from the achievement of their tasks;

• Do not conduct actions that bring themprofessional advantages in the public or privateentities that they control, with which they comeinto contractual relations or they did during theexertion of the function and as a results of exertingtheir official responsibilities and when expressingthe length of exerting the function – at least for areasonable period of time since its expiry – avoidto work with this kind of companies.


5. The payment, the working conditions and the carriersof the local elected representatives

• Observe the legal regime of the conflict ofinterests and of the incompatibilities.

• Will not exert their function or prerogativesderiving from it according to their privateinterest, with a view to obtaining a direct orindirect personal interest;

• Must not take part to any debate or vote of anissue in which local elected representatives canhave a direct or indirect personal interest;

• Must not hold functions, mandates, jobs orresponsibilities that generate a conflict ofinterests with their mandate.

The training

a. Measures of the authorities

• The local authorities support the costs of theprofessional training courses or of improvementof the abilities for local elected representatives.

• The training courses must be organized by theinstitutions qualified by law;

• Ensure the existence of a general framework forthe training of the local elected representatives

• Suggest subjects of interests to be take intoaccount in the moment of elaborating thecurricula by the National Institute of Adminis-tration or by the regional centers of training;

• Concludes contracts with different forms ofeducation or with different institutional forms ofperfecting.

• Encourages the exchange of experience betweenlocal elected representatives by means of seminaries,conferences and forums of online discussions;

• Encourages and assists the initiatives of the localauthorities in what concerns the training of thelocal elected representatives.

b. Measures of the local electedrepresentatives

• The local elected representatives are under theobligation to perfect their training in the field oflocal public administration, by attending trainingcourses organized with this aim by the qualifiedinstitutions.

• The local elected representatives benefit frompaid training courses organized by qualifiedinstitutions, during their mandate, according tothe decision of the local or county council

• The local elected representatives are under theobligation to take part to at least one trainingcourse in the field of local public administration,during their first year of mandate.

• The local elected representatives that previouslyheld another mandate of local councilor, countycouncilor, president of the county council,mayor or exerted the function of prefect, werecivil servants, held a mandate or member of the

parliament or have economy, juridical oradministrative studies are not under theobligation to follow any other training course inthe field of public administration.

• The local elected representatives are under theobligation to perfect their training in the field oflocal public administration, attending thetraining courses organized with this aim in thequalified institutions.

• Participate – after having been elected – totraining courses, organized by the regionalcenters of continuous learning or by otherspecialized institutions and qualified by theNational Institute of Administration;

• Request to the institutions with attributions in thefield of informational training needed for accom-plishing the task objectively and impartially.

Informing

a. Measures of the local authorities

• The session of the local council are public• The works of the session are conducted in

Romania• In the local councils in which local councilors

belonging to a national minority represent atleast one fifth of the total number, at the councilsession their mother tongue can be used. In thesecases, interpretation will be ensured asresponsibility of the mayor.

• In any cases, the documents of the councilsessions and all official papers are mandatoryconcluded in Romanian;

• The debates of the local council, as well as theway in which h=the vote of each local counciloris exerted is noted down in an official minutes,signed by the sessions;’ president and by thesecretary of the administrative-territorial unit.

• The official minutes and the papers having beendebated during the session are file-in in a specialfolder of the session in question that will receivea number, will be signed and sealed by thesession’s president and by the secretary, after theapproval of the official minutes.


6. The training, informing and cooperation with the local elected representatives

• In three days after the end of the session, thesecretary of the administrative-territorial unitposts at the city hall and, depending on the case,on the website of the administrative-territorialunits a copy of the official minutes of the session.

• In the relations between the citizens and theauthorities of the local public administrationRomanian language is used;

• In the administrative-territorial units wherecitizens belonging to a national minority have apercentage of more than 20 % of the totalnumber of the inhabitants, the authorities of thelocal public administration, the publicinstitutions that are under their control, as wellas all the public services de-concentrated willensure the use of their mother tongue, accordingto the provisions of the Constitution and of theinternational treaties Romania is part of.

• In the administrative-territorial units in whichthe citizens belonging to a national minority havea percentage of over 20% of the total number ofthe inhabitants, in their relation with theauthorities of the local public administration,with the specialty body and the subordinatedorganisms of the local council, they can address,in a spoken or written format, in their mothertongue and will receive the answer both inRomanian and in their mother tongue.

• On the jobs that involve attributions regardingpublic relations persons that know the mothertongue of the citizens belonging to the nationalminority in question will be appointed.

• The authorities of the local public administrationwill ensure the inscription of the names of placesand of public institutions under their authority,as well as the posting of the announcement ofpublic interest in the mother’s tongue of thecitizens belonging to the minority in question.

• The decisions of the county council are manda-tory communicated to the prefect of the county.

• The flow of papers between the authorities of thelocal public administration and the prefect of thecounty is made by means of the secretary of theadministrative-territorial unit.

• The papers of the authorities of the local publicadministration will be made public by thesecretary of the administrative-territorial units.

b. The measures of the local electedrepresentatives

• The mayor is under the obligation to makeavailable to the local councilors, by means of thesecretary and of the personal body of specialty, attheir request, in no more than 10 working days, thenecessary information in exerting their mandate.

• The local councilors are under the obligation toperiodically organize meetings with the citizensand to offer audience in exerting their mandate.

• Every local councilor, as well as the vice-mayor isobliged to present an activity annual report, whichwill be made public by means of the secretary.

• The mayor presents the local councilor, duringthe first trimester, an annual report regarding theeconomic, social and environment status of theadministrative-territorial unit, but also otherreports and informing;

• The local elected representatives are under theobligation to make public their personal intereststhrough a declaration on their own account, filedin a double copy to the secretary of the commune,town, municipality and sector of Bucharestmunicipality, or to the secretary of the county ofBucharest municipality, depending on the case.

• A copy of the declaration regarding personalinterests is kept by the secretary in a special foldernamed register of interests.

• The second copy of the declaration of interests issent to the secretary of the prefect’s institutionthat will keep it in a special folder called generalregister of interests.

• The register of interests has a public characterand it can be consulted by anyone

• Make available to the local elected representatives theinformation necessary for the fulfillment of tasks.

• Collect and forward to the central authorities thenecessary information for creating statistics,analyses, studies and normative acts in the fieldfor local authorities.

Cooperation


• The Government support the association of theadministrative-territorial units through nationaldevelopment programs

• These programs are annual finances through thestate budget and are distinctively stipulatedwithin the budget of the Ministry of InternalAffaires and Administrative Reforms accordingto the legislation of the local public finances.

• The initiative of the administrative-territorialunits to cooperate and to associate toadministrative-territorial units from abroad, aswell as that of adhering to an internationalassociation of the administrative-territorial unitswill be communicated to the Ministry of theExternal Affaires and the Ministry of InternalAffaires and the Administrative Reform.

• The notes mentioned above must be issued in omore than 30 days since having received therequest. Otherwise, it will be considered thatthere are no objections and that the project inquestion can be submitted to be approve to thelocal or county council interested. Theresponsibility regarding the agreements ofcooperation concluded by the administrative-territorial units is exclusively theirs.

• Elaborates a frame for different forms of interna-tional, interregional and inter-municipalitiescooperation that have as goal the identification of


the best practices concerning the statute of thelocal elected representatives, encourage them andtake part in them.


• Two or more administrative-territorial units havethe right to cooperate and to associate by formingassociation of inter-communal development,with legal personality, or private law and publicutility, within the limits of the competences of thedeliberative and executive authorities.

• The associations of inter-communal developmentare constituted, with a view to conductingprojects together, development projects ofregional interest or to provide public servicestogether.

• The metropolitan areas and urban agglome-rations constitute with the express approval ofthe local councils of the administrative-territorialunits components that have as main purpose thedevelopment of the infrastructures and of theobjectives of development of common interest.

• For the protection and the promotion ofcommon interests, the administrative-territorialunits have the right to adhere to national orinternational associations.

• The administrative-territorial units can concludebetween themselves agreements and can takepart, even through fund allocation, to theinitiation and to the realization of programs ofzonal and regional development, based on thedecisions adopted by the local or countycouncils, depending on the case;

• They participate to different exchanges ofexperience concerning the statue of local electedrepresentatives at local, regional, national andinternational level.

• The administrative-territorial units outsideboundary areas can conclude between themselvesagreement of trans-boundary cooperation withsimilar structures from neighboring villages.

c. Measures of the local electedrepresentatives

• The administrative-territorial units, throughtheir mayors, and the president of countycouncils, send to the Ministry of ExternalAffaires, to be standard approved, the project ofagreements of cooperation that they intend toconclude with the administrative-territorial unitsfrom other countries, before submitting them tobe adopted by local or county councils,depending on the case.

• The administrative-territorial units have theright to cooperate and to associate withadministrative-territorial units from abroad,through decisions of local or county councils,within the limits of the competences of thedeliberative and executive authorities.

• The administrative-territorial units thatconcluded trans-boundary cooperationagreements have the right to take part in otherstates to organisms created by means of theagreement in question, within the limit of thecompetences they have.

• Through the trans-boundary cooperationagreements it is possible to create, also onRomania territory, organisms that have,according to the internal law, legal personality,but will not have administrative-territorialcompetences.

• The deliberative and executive authorities at thelevel of every administrative-territorial unit keeptheir local autonomy

• Are permanently informed in what concerns thelegislative novelties and the managementinstruments;

• Is involved in the exchanges of experienceorganized by central and local authorities,domestic or foreign.

Bibliography• The Constitution of Romania• Law no. 393/2004 regarding the statue of local

elected representatives• Law no. 67/ 2004 for the election of the

authorities of the local public administration • Law no. 249/2006 for the modification and

completion of Law no. 393/2004 regarding thestatue of local elected representatives

• Decree no. 860/2006 regarding the validation ofthe Law for the modification and completion ofLaw no. 393/2004 regarding the Statue of localelected representatives

• Law no. 215/2001 regarding public administration • Law no. 286/2006 for the modification and

completion of the Law of local publicadministration no. 215/2001

• Decision no. 108/2006 regarding the exceptionof unconstitutionality of depositions of art. 19,art. 20 paragraph (1) and art. 24. Paragraph (3)of Law no. 154/1998 regarding the system ofestablishing the base salaries in the budgetarysector and of the indemnities for people that holdjobs of public dignity, as well as the provisions ofthe art. 35 of Law no. 393/2004 regarding thestatue of local elected representatives.

• Procedures and efficient practices for localcouncilor, Center for Political Studies andComparative Analysis, 2003

•• Country Report regarding Public Ethics and thenational debates on the Good Practice Manual(initiated by the Council of Europe), 2003

• The European Code of Conduct regardingpolitical integrity of the local and regional electedrepresentatives, Bucharest, 2001.



In Romanian society the pluralism is a conditionand a warranty of constitutional democracy.According constitutional stipulations, politicalparties “contributes to defining and express citizens’political will, respecting national sovereignty andterritorial integrity, law order and the principles of

democracy1”, constituting and activating by thismeans in according to law.

Nowadays, the juridical framework that leadspolitical parties’, political associations’ and electioncampaigns’ finance is the Law No. 344/2006,concerning the finance of political parties’ activitiesand election campaigns, corroborated withdispositions for allocation given from the statebudget and from the Accounts Court.

This legislative stipulations aims to assure equalchances in political competition and the transpa-rency of financing political parties’ activities andelection campaigns.

According to the dispositions of the Law forRepresentative Chamber and Senate and of the Lawfor Romanian President’s Election, organization andproceedings of election involves executive andjuridical institutions, Constitutional Court andPermanent Election Authority.

Permanent Election Authority (PEA)

• PEA is an autonomous administrative institutionwith general competency in elections’ field and isan institutional premiere and a modern solutionaccepted at global level. The organization and theoperation of PEA are stated both by Romanian


Chapter 2

The financing of political parties and organizations of national minoritiesand independent candidates

This chapter is a collection of norms related to the financing of political parties andorganizations of national minorities and independent candidates, as well as to theprocesses of tracking and analyzing their practicability in order to draft a good practiceguide in ethical procedures at both central and local level.

For this experience to be a precise and concise one, similar to the Model of Initiatives ofthe Council of Europe, it was conceived accordingly to the chapters and the structure of theforegoing manual.

The present chapter was made so that it can be used independently from the other partsof the models of initiative package; still, for a better consistency the other chapters mustalso be consulted.

Legal provisions regarding financing apply to political parties, national alliances andorganizations of national minorities and all of their candidates, as well as to independentcandidates.

According to law, political parties can associate by creating political alliances - or otherlegally constituted non-political associations, with the purpose of promoting some commonobjectives, while still maintaining their own juridical personality and organizationalpatrimony.

As the law stipulates, political parties are also organized by territorial-administrativecriteria and they operate according to it, with the possibility of hainvg subdivisions andterritorial organizations.

Election period includes the time between public announcement of the election day andthe starting date of election campaign, the election campaign itself, the real voting,counting and centralizing of votes, the computation of results for the election, theassignment of seats and the publishing of results in The Romanian Official Gazette.

1. General framework

1 Romanian Constitution, article 8

Constitution and by Romanian organic lawsregarding elections. The Authority is lead by apresident assigned by Parliament and two vice-presidents assigned by the Romania’s Presidentand Prime Minister. President’s and vice-presidents’ mandates are available for 8 years.PEA’s own board is lead by a general secretaryassigned by the Prime Minister throughcompetition. Permanent Election Authority canfound branches in each of the eight developmentregions in Romania.

• PEA’s attributions carry on between two electionperiods, in logistics, legislation, study and docu-mentary fields. The most important attributionsare:o elaborating security systems for voting

stations, voting ballots and other documentsand materials used during voting;

o monitoring and controlling of the prepara-tion and updating of permanent elective lists,of the realization and distribution of theelectors’ cards according permanent lists;

o assuring the logistic for voting station andtheir rooms;

o uniform application of the law regardingelections, support, organization and theunfold of partial elections;

o realizing studies and suggesting proposals forimproving the voting system

o realizing programs for educate electors onRomanian voting system, mayors, countysecretaries and wannabe members of theElecting Desks, illiterate or disable population;

o realizing a report as a White Charter forParliament on the organization and theprogress of the elections / referendum and anannual report

o realizing some activities related to votingresults like supporting the implementation ofan informational system at national level,useful for establishing the results of theelections; organizing auctions for selectingcomputer software for Electing Desks’centralizations; certification for maintainingselected software and offering them to thepolitical organizations participating toelections;

o keeping the record of the administrative-territorial units with open jobs for mayor orwith no local councils (this is where theAuthority make proposals to the Governmentfor establishing a date for new elections)

• According Law no 33/2007, the PermanentElection Authority exchange information withmember states of European Union with similarresponsibilities regarding Romanian and

European citizens rights in exerting vote forelecting Romanian members for EuropeanParliament and at the same time to decide overthe accomplishing law’s conditions by thecommunitarian elector regarding the possibilityof choosing Romanian members for EuropeanParliament

• As part of exerting attributions the president ofPermanent Election Authority sends outrestraining orders and make laws: sentences andinstructions counter-signed by vice-presidents

• PEA’s activity is not only about the period oftime between electoral periods. During elections,the president and the vice-presidents aremembers of the Central Election Desk (CED)and PEA’s board support CED and local ElectionDesks for accomplishing their legal attributions.

Central Election Desk (CED)

• Its purpose is to organize and monitor activitiesduring election period, its’ main attributes’categories are monitoring the implementation oflegal procedures regarding elections over thecountry and ascertain that they are uniforminterpreted.

• Assures the checking of the updated electorallists. Considering that, Central Election Desksearch for relevant information, check in thecitizens’ enrolment on lists; ask for competentauthorities to remove the obstacles that mightimpede respecting legal electoral deadlines.

• Issues sentences for interpreting the law,necessary for all other Election Desks.

• Solves problems regarding its activity and appealsregarding activity, the way it developed and thestructure of local election desks. The appeals aresolved by compulsory sentences for the electiondesk with the problem and for all authorities andpublic institutions referred to, penalized by law.

• Records elections’ results, realizes centralrepartition and local deployment of the senators’and member of parliaments’ mandates, certify amember of parliament mandate to nationalminorities organizations etc

• Cancels elections in a local district if there wereany frauds during voting or results giving.

Local District Election Desk (Local ElectionDesk - LED) leads district election activities and isorganized in each local district, be it county orBucharest Municipality.

Pooling Bureaus of Bucharest Municipalitysectors – are organized at Bucharest Municipalitysectors’ level because of their size: both populationand surface.


Local Election Desk of voting departments – leadselection activities realized in voting departments. Theyare basic level local election authorities and the mostnumerous.

Pooling Bureaus from foreign countries – canbe organized by Romanian diplomatic missions andconsular offices for electors, members of diplomaticsatellites and their families, for Romanian citizensfrom the country or from foreign countries passingby there in the Election Day. The law also foresawthe way these bureaus should be incorporated innaval pooling bureaus and maritime platforms.

b. Local authorities’ measures

Prefect Institution

The Government assigns a prefect institution foreach county and for Bucharest Municipality. He isthe representative of the Government at local leveland leads deconcentrated public services ofministries’ and other central public administrationbodies in administrative-territorial units. Itsattributions are assigned by organic law.

Prefect Institution’s attributions in electiveprocess according Law no. 67/2004 for local publicadministration authority election:• assigns numbers for elective division• makes a list of jury with the president of the

Courthouse for the local elective office (townoffice or municipality office)

• receives the release from the president of the localelective desk regarding the order of thecandidates on the ballot, in 24 hours

• takes care of the ballots printing and theirdistribution in the territory by elective offices

• the headquarters and supplying county electiveoffices or, depending on the case, of the countyelection desks are municipalities mayors’responsibility, prefect institutions’ and countycouncils’ presidents, while the village and towndistrict election desks and voting section aremayors’ and prefect institutions’ responsibility.

Prefect Institution’s attributions in electiveprocess according Law no. 373/2004 for The and forthe are:• prefect institutions are compelled that in 10 days

from setting the election day to number thevoting stations from the county and to bring intopublic attention the bounders and the number ofeach voting station through publications thatdisplay also the place

• voting sections are assigned by prefect institutions:o with the garrison commander, for voting

sections that belong to military units

o with Transportations Ministry, for the votingsections organized in railroad transportationstations, bus stations, ports and airports forthe electors that travel during election day

o with commanders’ of naval registration ports,for the voting stations organized on theRomanian ship, navigating during the electionday and also on maritime platforms. Thisvoting sections are part of the election districtwhere the ship is registered, the electiondistrict the platform is registered respectively

• realizes with the president of the Court and arepresentative of each parliamentary politicalparty, the list of juries that might be part of thelocal election desk of the voting unit

• the printing of the ballots is assured by districtelection desk through prefect institutions’ attention

• the distribution of the ballots to the electiondistricts is done through prefect institutions’attention

• the mayors of communes, towns, municipalitiesand other territorial-administrative subdivisionsadd the prefect institutions provides the lodges,the ballot-box, the stamps and other materialsfor the election desk of the voting station

• the prefect institutions and the presidents of thecounty councils provide the headquarters andthe facilities for the district election desks (exceptBucharest Election Desk). The headquarter andthe facilities of election bureaus of voting stationsare provided by the mayor and the prefectinstitution.

• Prefect institutions are responsible with checkingthe correct fulfillment of the mayors’ tasks and ifascertaining some frauds or infringements of thelaw they notify the competent institutions.

• Prefect institutions and competent institutionshand over to economic agents the ballots threemonths after the results of the election arepublished in the Official Gazette.

The mayor

“Public administration in administrative-territo-rial units is organized and works grounding on thedecentralization, local autonomy, deconcentratedpublic services, eligibility of local public administra-tion authorities, legality and citizens’ consultationsin solving local public interest issues principles.

(Article 2 of Law no 215 from 23rd of April 2001 –The Law of Local Public Administration Repu-blished). Local autonomy in communes, towns andmunicipalities is assured by public administrationauthorities like: local, communal, town andmunicipalities councils as deliberative authoritiesand the mayors as executive authorities.


Mayor’s attributions in the elective process forlocal public administration authority election are:• The mayors, local and county councils are

chosen by universal, equal, direct, secret andfreely expressed vote as it follows:o the mayors of commune, towns, municipa-

lities and Bucharest Municipality districts andthe general mayor of Bucharest are chosen byelection districts through uninominal voting

o local and county councils are chosen byelection districts accordingly to proportionaterepresentation principle, based on list voting

• The number of election district is made public bythe mayor in the same time with the boundersand the number of each voting station.

• The mayor disposes the bounds of the votingsections and conveys it to the prefect institution in5 days term from appointment of the election date.

• The mayor and the communes, towns,municipalities and administrative-territorialsubdivisions secretaries are compelled to providethe data, information and all support to theprefect institution so that is able to fulfill itsattributions regarding bringing into publicattention the bounders and the number of eachvoting station in the county.

• The mayor and the local education institutiondirectors establishes the voting stations for full-time daily classes students and pupils with votingrights that have the residence in different localitya voting station for each 250-1.000 electors.

• The mayor and the social insurance and healthinstitutions directors organize voting stations bythe military units, hospitals, maternities, andsanatoriums, disabled persons centers, nursinghouses, assistance and recovering for adults worthdisabilities and houses for old persons in whomthere are at least 25 citizens with voting rights.

• The mayor and the services of persons’ records ofMinistry of Interior and Administrative Reformmake electoral lists and update them.(Permanent electoral lists include all citizens withvoting rights that have residence in the localitythe list is made for.)

• The mayor and the services of persons’ recordsupdate yearly the permanent electoral lists untilthe 1st of March and inform the court in maxi-mum 15 days the updates made. In the electoralyear, the update is made 15 days beforeestablishing the voting day.

• The mayor must enlist the citizens with votingrights, residents in the election district for lessthan 3 months before elections, on their identitycard.

• In 10 days time from establishing the ElectionDay, the mayor is compelled to make available

for political parties, political alliances andelectoral alliances on their request and on theirexpenses copies of the permanent electoral listsand of the supplementary electoral lists.

• The mayor is compelled to make available forelectors, for consultation, the permanentelectoral lists and to offer them informationabout the checking. The mayor will answerelectors’ suggestions about the correction ofsome mistakes in the list in 3 days term aftertheir deposition.

• The mayor reports to the district election deskthe number of electors from the permanentelectoral lists in 24 hours term after their aremade. The final number of electors is reported tothe district election desk with 5 days beforeelections on copies of the permanent andsupplementary electoral lists basis.

• European Union’s citizens with voting rights thatreside in the electoral district area where therewill be elections and are not registered in theofficial records of Romanian ImmigrationBureau are registered on request by mayor in thecomplementary electoral list on a identity card ora residence document basis.

Mayor’s attributions in the electoral process forPresidential elections

The election of the Romanian President is basedon uninominal elections and might have 2 tours incase the first one is no candidate with a majority of votes.• The number of electoral district and the

bounders and numbers of voting section arepublicly announced by the mayor.

• The mayor delimitates and number votingsections through an order and is publiclyannounced after maximum 20 days from the dateof elections assignment.

• The mayor also delimitate voting sections,through an order, and reports it to the prefectinstitution in 5 days time from the date ofelections is assigned.

• Permanent electoral lists are realized andupdated by the mayor.

• The mayor and the services of persons recordsupdate yearly the permanent electoral lists untilthe 1st of March and report to the court, inmaximum 15 days-time, the updates made. Forthe year with elections, the update is done inmaximum 15 days from date of elections isassigned.

• The mayor reports to the district election deskthe number of electors from the permanentelectoral lists in 24 hours term after they aremade. The final number of electors is reported to


the district election desk with 5 days beforeelections on copies of the permanent andsupplementary electoral lists basis.

• The mayor establishes through an order specialplaces for electoral billing.

• They also take care of the removal of billings,marks and registrations from previous campaigns.

• The mayor display at the city hall headquarter 3days after the printing term is off, one ballot foreach type, after it was approved and canceled bythe president of the election district desk.

• The mayors and the presidents of the electiondistrict desks or of the electoral office hand in onminutes’ basis, with at least a day beforeelections, the stamps and other voting materials.

Mayor’s attributions in organizing elections forThe and for the are:• Permanent electoral lists are made up in two

original samples and are signed by mayor and thechief of the service of digitalized persons’ records.

• The mayors and the services of persons’ recordsupdate yearly the permanent electoral lists until1st of March and report to the court in at least 15days the updates done. In the year with elections,

the update is done with at least 15 days before thedate of elections is assigned.

• The enrolment on the permanent electoral lists ismandatory.

• In maximum 10 days after the date of elections isestablished the mayor is compelled to make avai-lable for the political parties, political alliancesand electoral alliances, on request and on theirexpenses, copies of the permanent electoral lists.

• The delimitation of the voting sections is done bythe mayor and reported to the prefect institutionin 5 days-time after the date of elections isassigned.

• The mayor establishes the voting sections andthey are organized:o in urban localities: one section for each 1.000-

2.000 inhabitantso in villages: one section for each 500-2.000

inhabitants; there are sections organized foreach small village; voting sections can also beorganized in villages and group of villageswith maximum 500 inhabitants.

• Voting Sections can be organized with militaryunits, hospitals, maternities, sanatoriums, housesfor persons with disabilities, day-care centers,old-people centers and centers for assistance andrecovery of disabled people that encounter atleast 25 citizens with voting rights

• They are also voting sections nearby trainstations, bus stations, ports and airports for

electors that during elections’ day are traveling.For full-time daily classes students and pupilswith voting rights that have the residence in adifferent locality there should be organized avoting station for each 250-1.000 electors.

• The mayors are compelled to establish specialplaces for electoral billboards until the beginningof the electoral campaign starts.

Mayor’s attributions in organizing elections forEuropean Parliament are:• The mayor makes public for the electors the

number of electoral district and the bounds andthe numbers of voting sections.

• The mayor bounds the voting sections, on order,and report it to the prefect institution in 5 daysafter the day o elections was established.

• The mayor and the school directors establishesthe voting sections for full-time daily classesstudents and pupils with voting rights that havethe residence in different locality a voting stationfor each 250-1.000 electors, make the electorallists and update them.

• The mayor is compelled to hand in to thedirector of the election desk of each voting

section, on a minute basis, the copies of thepermanent and special electoral lists three daysbefore the reference day. In the same day electiondesks will be provided with models of thesupplementary lists in which there will beenlisted the electors omitted from the permanentlists and the electors that vote in a differentvoting section than the one they belong toaccording to their residence.

• The mayors receive freely, on request, theupdated permanent electoral lists and theircopies, containing the names of the electors ineach voting section from the National Center forthe Administration of the Database of PersonsRecords of the Ministry of Interior andAdministrative Reform.

• Mayors are compelled that, in 5 days term fromupdating the permanent electoral lists to makeavailable their copies for the political parties,political alliances, electoral alliances and citizens’organizations belonging to the nationalminorities, on request and on their expenses.

• Mayors are compelled to establish by injunctionuntil the electoral campaign starts special placesfor the electoral billboards, taking into accountthe number of political parties, of politicalalliances and of electoral alliances that declare tosubmit candidates’ lists and also independentcandidates.


Mayor’s attributions in organizing the refer-endum are:• The problems for the local voting are decided

with the local council or with the county council,on case, at mayor’s suggestion or at county’scouncil president or a third of the number oflocal or county counselor suggestions.

• The permanent electoral lists are made up andupdated by mayor with the services of persons’records of the Ministry of Interior andAdministrative Reform. (Permanent electorallists entail all citizens with voting rights thatreside in the locality the list is made for.)

• The mayor and the services of persons’ recordsupdate yearly the permanent electoral lists untilthe 1st of March and report to the court, inmaximum 15 days, the new modifications. In theelection year the update is made in maximum 15days after the date of elections is established.

c. Measures of candidates andelected representatives

Candidates and elected representatives:• respect the norms regarding political parties,

national minorities citizens’ organizations andindependent candidates finance, and the normsregarding electoral campaigns finance;

• do not behave improper towards leading or beingled by preferring private interests to publicinterest, even if such a behavior is not explicitlyforbidden by law;

• support the spread of the information regardingthe juridical framework for electoral campaignsand parties;

• independent candidates for counselor must besupported by minimum 1% of the total numberof electors enlisted on the permanent andcomplementary electoral lists from the specifiedelection district, but no more than 50 cases forvillages, 100 for urban areas and 1000 forcounties, Bucharest Municipality, Bucharest’ssectors and other larger localities;

• for the mayor position, independent candidatesmust present a supporters’ list that must entail atleast 2% of the total number of the electorsenlisted on the permanent and complementaryelectoral lists from the election district he isrunning for, but no more than 200 cases forvillages, 300 for towns, 1000 for Municipalitiesand sectors of Bucharest Municipality and 5000for Bucharest Municipality;

• independent candidates for county councilpresident position must hand in a list of

supporters, that must entail at least 2% of thetotal number of the electors enlisted on thepermanent and complementary electoral listsfrom the election district he is running for, butno less than 3000;

• European Union citizens can candidate for theterritorial-administrative unit they reside in andcandidates’ proposals are deposited as for theRomanian citizens.

• For a European Union candidate, the acceptanceof candidacy statement must contain the name,surname; member state the candidate belongs to,Romanian address, profession and politicalaffiliation, his special consent for candidate forthe role and a specification that it contains thelegal procedures for candidate. The acceptance ofcandidacy statement is accompanied by a docu-ment that proves the address in Romania or aformal paper from Romanian Immigration Office.

• Once the candidacy statement is deposited,besides the papers needed for Romanian citizens,European Union Citizens must prove theiridentity and show a responsibility statement thatmust entail the followings:a) they are not banned by a final penal or civil

juridical order from candidateship in theorigin state

b) they do not hold positions in other memberstate of European Union, equivalent to theincompatible ones in Romania with localelected statute.

• In 24 hours time from the candidacy deposit, theelectoral district desk rejects through order allcandidacy proposals that do not contain in theresponsibility statement the aforementionedendorsement.

d. Measures of the political parties

Political parties:

• respect the governing law of financing politicalparties and electoral campaigns;

• report the financial sources, according to law;• make available the requested documents to the

control bodies empowered by law;• the candidacies for local council and county

councils, as well as the mayors’ and countycouncil’s presidents candidacies are stated bypolitical parties or alliances formed according toLaw of political parties mo. 14/2003. Thecandidacies can also be submitted / ran for byelectoral alliances formed in law’s limits., bycitizens’ organizations belonging to the nationalminorities and independent candidacies.



Candidates’ lists for local councils and countycouncils must be realized as long as they assuregender equality in the two gender representation.

• political parties, political alliances and electoralalliances can propose each, a candidates’ list foreach election district for local council, countycouncil and a candidate for the mayor, acandidate for mayor position and a another onefor the county council president;

• also, Romanian citizens’ associations of nationalminorities represented in Parliament can alsopropose candidates.

• other Romanian citizens’ organizations belon-ging to legally constituted national minoritiescan also propose candidates if they present to theCentral Electoral Desk a members’ list. The

number of members cannot be less than 15% ofthe total number of citizens that at the last censusdeclared to belong to a specific minority.

• candidates’ proposals for local counselor, countycounselor, mayors’ and for the presidents of thelocal counties are made by election districts andare submitted to the district election desks with40 days before the election day the latest;

• candidates’ proposals must be written in 4 copiesby political parties, political alliances, electoralalliances or national minorities’ citizens’ organi-zations that take part in elections and signed bytheir county management, and for the independentson a sustaining list.

• candidates’ list must be accompanied by candidacyacceptance statements, signed and dated by candidates.

Legal dispositions hint at both private financing(subscriptions, donations or other resources) andpublic financing (state budget subsidiaries) orelectoral campaigns financing.

Public financing


• The normative framework through which areestablished the financial resources of politicalparties and their transparency is mainlyestablished through Law no. 334/2006 regardingfinancing the activity of political parties andelectoral campaigns and through theGovernment Resolution no 749/2007 forapproval of Methodological Norms of applyingthe Law no 334/2006 regarding financingpolitical parties and electoral campaigns.

• According to the Law’s 334/2006 stipulations theactivities of political parties can be financed alsofrom state budget subsidiaries.

• The total sum allocated for the political partiescannot be larger than 0.04% of the revenues fromthe state budget.

• The state budget subsidiary is annually, conside-ring the following:o The number of votes at the parliamentary

elections;o The number of votes at the local elections.

• Starting with 2008, political parties receive thesubsidiary through the Permanent ElectoralAuthority’s budget, within the limits imposed bythe Law no 334 from 2006, as follows:

o 75% of the annual budget given to politicalparties will be give in proportion to thenumber of votes received at the parliamentaryelections, respectively the mean of the validdeclared votes for Representative Chamberand Senate, if they accomplished the electoralthreshold

o 25% of the annual budget given to politicalparties will be given in proportion to thenumber of the declared received votes at localelections for electing county counselors andcounselors from Bucharest, if they received atleast 50 seats per county counselor and perBucharest counselor.

• The state budget subsidiary for political partiesthat promote women on electoral lists on eligiblepositions will grow in proportion to the numberof seats gained at elections by women candidates.

• In case of political or electoral alliances, the statebudget subsidiary will be split, according to anagreement between alliance members or, if thereis a lack of agreement, according to the numberof seats.

• The state budget subsidiary will be monthly ineach party’s account through the PermanentElectoral Authority.

• Political parties’ revenues from the state budgetsubsidiaries can be used exclusively for:o financial expenses for maintaining and

function of the headquarters;o staff expenses;o press and propaganda expenses;o expenses for organizing activities with

political feature;

2. Financing political parties, national minoritiescitizens’ organizations and individual candidates

o expenses for traveling in the country and inforeign countries;

o expenses for communications;o expenses for foreign delegations;o expenses with subscriptions owed to the

international political organizations that theparty belongs to;

o investments in mobile and immobile,necessary to the activities of the respectiveparties;

o protocol expenses:o administrative expenses;o electoral campaign expenses.

• It is forbidden to use these revenues (state budgetsubsidiaries) for any other purpose than thedestinations aforementioned.

• The efficiency and the opportunity of theseexpenses are decided by leading committees ofpolitical parties, according to their statute andlegal dispositions.

• Permanent Electoral Authority can temporarysuspend the payment of the state budgetsubsidiary if, after the controls of the politicalparties there are some deviations in applying thelegal dispositions of Law no 334/2006.

• Permanent Electoral Authority notifies inadvance the political parties on the disordersfound and the term of their remedy.

• The term given for political parties to remedy thedisorders found cannot be longer than 15 days.

• The temporary adjournment decision for themonthly payment can be disputed in 15 daysterm from the notification of the decision to thequalified administrative legal departmentinstance that must bring in a decision in 15 daysfrom the intimation. Its decision is final andunalterable.

• In 10 days term from the written notification ofthe political party concerning the repair of thedisorders found, the Permanent ElectoralAuthority must bring in a verdict regarding theadjournment of monthly payment.


• Public local administration authorities ensure,with priority, in 90 days term from requirement,spaces for political parties’ local and centralheadquarters and their due lands, on their arguedrequest.

• Political parties can mostly receive a headquartersper territorial-administrative unit.

• Renting spaces for headquarters of politicalparties by local authorities follows the juridicalregime stipulated for renting spaces for living.

• Political parties that cease their activities as a

consequence of reorganizing, self-dissolution ordissolution by final decisions of juridicalinstances are compelled to give in to public localadministration authorities, in 30 days, the spacesthey rented. The spaces owned will betransmitted according to law.

Private financing

• Through Law no 334/2006 it was ensured chanceequality in political competition and transpa-rency in financing political parties’ activities andelectoral campaign.

• Private financing sources of political parties are:o party’s member subscriptions’o donations, legacies and generositieso other earning from own activities.

Subscriptions

• The quantum of subscriptions, distribution andtheir advantage are established by decisions ofthe political party, according own statute.

• Total amount of revenues from subscriptions isunlimited.

• The total amount of subscriptions a partymember should pay per year cannot exceed 48minimum gross incomes at country level. Theminimum gross income at country level is theone recorded on 1st of January of the year inprogress.

• Political parties are compelled to publish in theRomanian Official Gazette, part 1, the totalquantum of the revenues from subscriptionsuntil 31st of March the coming year and theparty’s member list with those who paid in thatyear subscriptions with a quantum larger than 10minimum gross incomes at country levelpredicted per year is 0.0050% in the fiscal(financial) year when there are local,parliamentary, for European Parliament orpresidential elections.

• Donations received from an individual in a yearcan mostly be of 200 minimum gross incomes atcountry level, at the value from the 1st of Januaryof the year in progress.

• Donations made by a legal entity in a year canmostly be of 500 minimum gross incomes atcountry level, at the value from the 1st of Januaryof the year in progress.

• It is forbidden for political parties to accept,under any circumstances, direct or indirect,material or financial donations or free servicedelivery with the clear purpose of gaining apolitical or economic advantage.


• It is mandatory to check and record the identityof a donor when it comes to donations, no matterif the donation is public or restricted to public.

• All donations will be highlighted adequately inthe accountant’s papers and dated andcompleted with other information that allows theidentification of the financial supports.

• Voluntary activities are not take into account asdonations, according to law.

• Political parties are compelled to make public inthe Romanian Official Gazette, part 1, the list ofpersons and legal entities that have madedonations of more than 10 minimum grossincomes at country level and also the totalamount of the restricted to public donationsreceived until 31st of March of the following year.

• It is forbidden to use financial, human andtechnical resources of public institutions,autonomous administrations, national companies,commercial societies or bank societies where themajority of shareholders are the state or theadministrative-territorial units, in order tosupport the activities of political parties or oftheir electoral campaigns anyhow than accordingto law.

• Political parties cannot accept donations orcarrying out free services from an authority orpublic institution, from an autonomousadministration, a national company, commercialsociety or bank society with complete or majoritystate capital.

• It is forbidden to accept donations from asyndicate or a religious organization, no mattertheir feature.

• Accepting donations from other states or foreignorganizations, as from foreign persons or foreignlegal entities is forbidden.

• Donations consisting in material assets, usefulfor political activities but different of electoralpropaganda received from international politicalorganizations the political party belongs to or

from political parties or other political entitieswithin a political agreement, make an exception.

Other income sources

• Political parties cannot have activities specific tocommercial societies. There are some activitiesexcepted as other income sources for politicalparties:a) editing, realizing and distribution of own

publications or other propaganda andpolitical culture materials;

b) organizing meetings and political trainings onpolitical, economic and social issues;

c) cultural, sporting and entertainmentactivities;

d) internal services;e) renting own spaces for conferences or socio-

cultural activities or for the parliamentarydesks;

f) selling the lands and buildings from thepatrimony, only after 10 years fromregistration in the patrimony, excepting thepolitical parties that will be dissolved. Theterm of 10 years do not apply in case ofinherited estate assets

g) to estrange mobile assets from patrimonyonly if it does not represent commercialactivity.

• Political parties can obtain income from bankinterests.

• Political parties are compelled to make public inthe Romanian Official Gazette, part I, thequantum of the total amount of the income fromother sources until the 31st of March of thefollowing year.


• Local authorities are compelled, according tolaw, to support PEA’ activity of controlling thefinancing of political parties.



• Financing during electoral campaigns is alsoestablished according to Law no. 334/2006,considering the attributions for electoralcampaign, the financial assignee and themaximum limits of the expenses.

• It is forbidden to use financial, human andtechnological resources of public institutions,autonomous administrations, national compa-nies, commercial societies or bank societieswhere the majority of shareholders are the stateor the administrative-territorial units, forsupporting political parties’ activities or theirelectoral campaign, anyhow than according toelectoral law.

• Political parties cannot accept donations or freeservice delivery from an authority or publicinstitution, from an autonomous administration,national company, commercial society or banksociety with a complete or majority state capital.

• It is forbidden to accept donations from asyndicate or a religious organization, no mattertheir feature.

• It is forbidden to persons or foreign legal entitiesto finance directly or indirectly the electoralcampaign. The amounts given are sequestratedand sent to the state budget.

• Public authorities, public institutions, autono-mous administrations, national company,commercial or bank societies where the majorityof shareholders are the state or the adminis-trative-territorial units or the commercialsocieties financed through public funds areforbidden to finance anyhow the electoralcampaign of a party, a political alliance or anindependent candidate. The interdiction is onlyfor commercial societies that, 12 months beforethe electoral campaign starts, had public fundsfinanced activities.

• Foreign syndicates, religious organizations,associations or foundations are forbidden tofinance the electoral campaign of a party, of analliance or of an independent candidate.

• Donations can be used, after beginning of theelectoral campaign, for the electoral campaign ofa party only after they are declared to thePermanent Electoral Authority.

• The financial assignee can be either a person or alegal entity.

• Receiving donations from persons or legalentities is allowed only through a financial

assignee, designated with this purpose by theleadership of the party. The financial assignee iscompelled to bookkeeping the financialoperations as follows:a) at national level, for elections of the

Romanian President and of the Romanianrepresentatives in the European Parliament;

b) for each electoral district circumscription forthe election of representatives for theRepresentative Chamber and Senate;

c) for each county electoral district circumscrip-tion for the election of the county counselors;

d) for each local electoral district circumscrip-tion for the election of mayors and localcounselors.

• A part can have more financial assignees atcentral or local level or for candidates; in this casetheir mandates’ attributions are delimitated andthere will be designated a coordinator financialassignee.

• More parties cannot use the services or the samefinancial assignee, except when the parties arepolitically or electoral allied. The financialassignee is official only after is registered at thePermanent Electoral Authority and is madepublic to press or by posting the information onthe party’s webpage.


Local authorities:

• co-operating with Permanent ElectoralAuthority use their infrastructure in order tomake public the financing declarations of thecandidates;

• the expenses for organizing and realizingelectoral activities are supported from the statebudget or, if necessarily, from local or countybudgets, according to electoral laws;

• have proper rules and settlements forguarantying that elected representatives do notuse their function for financing or facilitatingfinance of a electoral campaign or for advertising(even by posting the symbols of a political partyin the office) or for getting involved in theelectoral campaigns (representing the symbols ofa political party) or for sustaining publicly apolitical party or for trying to determine othercivil servants to get involved in sustaining theinterests of a political party.


3. Financing electoral campaigns


c. Measures of the candidates andof the elected representatives

The candidates and electedrepresentatives:

• respect the laws that govern the financing processof the electoral campaigns;

• candidates declare their financing sources and ananalysis of the expenses for electoral campaigns,according to law;

• elected candidates declare their wealth and theirfinancial interests;

• elected representatives declare wealth afterelections and at the end of the elected function;

these declarations can be available to the controlorganisms empowered by law;

• Officers and leading civil servants can be placedin public functions only after they complete theirworking activities, according to law;

• Officers can candidate only after they completetheir working duties, according to law; officers canbe placed in public functions only after theycomplete their working activities, according to law;

• Prefect Institutions, officers, cannot candidateand cannot take part in the electoral campaign,after resigning, only if they resign at least 50 daysbefore election day;

• Prefect Institutions cannot participate at theactivities of voting electoral campaign.


• Permanent Electoral Authority is the publicauthority qualified to control the following ofrules and legal procedures regarding thefinancing of political parties, political or electoralalliances, of independent candidates and ofelectoral campaigns.

• The control regarding the state subsidiaries willbe done simultaneously both by PermanentElectoral Authority and Account Court,according to injunctions from the Law no94/1992 regarding the organization andfunctioning of the Account Court, republished,with latter modifications and completions.

• In the Permanent Electoral Authority willfunction the Department of Control of FinancingPolitical Parties and Electoral Campaigns,therefore supplementing the existing flowchart.

• Annually and each time is informed, thePermanent Electoral Authority checks for eachparty the abidance by legal rules regarding thefinancing of political parties.

• Permanent Electoral Authority can be informedby anyone who presents evidence regarding thebreach of legal rules regarding the financing ofpolitical parties.

• The action of misinforming unfaithfully the PEAwith wrong statements regarding the breach oflegal rules regarding the financing of politicalparties represents misdemeanor and is punishedwith detention from 1 to 3 years.

• PEA can control the abidance by legal rules regar-ding the financing of political parties and, when

necessary, can notice every person interested orofficial.

• The results of every control must be published inthe Romanian Official Gazette, part I, and on thePEA’s website in 15 days term from effectuation.

• According to legal dispositions, PEA’s represen-tatives ascertain the contraventions, the sanctionbeing given by PEA’s resolution. The decision ofPEA can be contested in the qualified instance, inthe terms of the law.

• Sanctions can be applied, by case, to the politicalparty, independent candidate, to the financialassignee or the donor that infringed the law.

• For checking the legality of cashing and paymentspolitical parties made, PEA can solicit financialassignments and supplementary documents theyconsider necessary.

• Political parties are compelled to present toPEA’s officials in 15 days from request thereference material regarding incomes or, by case,electoral expenses.

• There are legal provisions regarding thepronouncement and the control of the wealth ofhigh officials, law-officers, of civil servants and ofleadership, with latter modifications andcompletions, that institute the obligation ofdeclaring the wealth of officials, law-officers andtheir assimilates, leadership and controlmanagement, precisely existing in the law for civilservants, as well as the procedure of control theirwealth in case there are certain evidence that someassets or values were not gained according to law.

• Thus, the President of Romania, deputies, sena-tors, members of the Government, presidentialcounselors, state counselors, state undersecretary

4. Monitoring the standard application for financingpolitical parties and elections


and their assimilates, county and local counse-lors, mayors, vice-mayors etc.

• Wealth statement must be published on thewebsite of the Parliament, Govern, miniseries,other public central authorities or institutions,institutions of prefect or county councils, by case,or in the Romanian Official Gazette, in 30 daysfrom the date of deposition, expenses forpublishing being supported by the legal entitiesthat those persons belongs to. The personnominated to receive and keep the wealthstatements release a receipt for the depositor andtake steps in assuring its publicity.

• Permanent Electoral Authority keep a fiscalregister of political parties, political alliances andindependent candidates in which will be writtenall the dates regarding their financial activity andtheir applied sanctions also.


• Local authorities are compelled to supportPermanent Electoral Authority in controlling thefinancing of political parties.

c. Measures of the candidates, of elected representatives and political leaders

• The candidates declared elected, members of apolitical party or independent candidates, musthand in, according to law, the detailed report ofthe revenues and of electoral expenses in order tohave their mandate validated.


• Annual report of PEA will be published in theRomanian Official Gazette, part I, and on theirwebpage until the 31st of March of the followingyear.

• PEA elaborates special materials and informationand training programs for electors on theRomanian electoral system and on respectingelectoral deontology and assuring theirpopularization.

• PEA elaborates special electoral trainingprograms for mayors and secretaries ofterritorial-administrative units, for persons thatcan become members of election desks, organizesthe way this training sessions progress withNational Administration Institute and regionalbranch offices.

• Access to public radio and television servicesduring the electoral campaign, special places forelectoral display are guaranteed and ensuredaccording to electoral laws.

• Parties and political alliances and independentcandidates are compelled to print on propagandamaterials the following types of information:a) name of the independent candidate, name of

the political party or of the political orelectoral alliance that made them, by case;

b) name of the economic operator that realizedthem.

• Expenses for electoral propaganda materials areexclusively supported by their beneficiaries –independent candidate, political parties or

political or electoral alliances.• Parties and political alliances and independent

candidates are compelled to declare to thePermanent Electoral Authority, throughfinancial assignee, the number of electoralpropaganda materials realized, on categories.

• During electoral campaign, informationregarding electoral system, voting technique,electoral campaign calendar, political programs,opinions and messages with electoral contentmust be presented only in the following types ofbroadcasts:a) informative broadcasts - there can be

presented information regarding electoralsystem, voting technique and campaignactivities of the candidates; for this purposethe length of time of the informativebroadcast can be lengthened with maximum15 minutes;

b) electoral broadcasts - in which candidates canpresent their political programs and electoralcampaign activities;

c) electoral debates – where candidates,journalists, analysts and other invitationsdebate electoral programs and public interestissues.


Local authorities use resources, especiallytechnology for:• make publicity to the juridical framework that

5. Information and publicity

governs the financing of political parties andelectoral campaigns;

• make public the local elected representatives andmake publicity to their statements regarding thefinancing of electoral campaigns;

• make public different decisions, reports andorders of PEA that refers to the municipality;

• advertise juridical orders regarding municipalityconcerning the financing of parties and electoralcampaigns;

• make available to the public the wealth statementsand interest statements of local representatives.

The mayor

• assures the adequate conditions of electors’consultations of the copies from permanentelectoral lists, both at the hall and at the votingsection;

• in 10 days from appointing the elections’ date, iscompelled to make available for political parties,political and electoral alliances, on request andon their expenses, copies of the permanentelectoral lists and of supplementary electoral lists.

• is compelled to make available for the electors,for consultation, the permanent electoral listsand to offer them information regarding theverification. He will respond to electors’ requestsregarding changes in these lists in three daysfrom deposition.

• ensures the adequate conditions for electors’consultations of the copies on the permanentelectoral lists, both at the hall headquarter and atthe voting section.

• displays at the hall headquarter, in 3 days fromexpiring date of printing of ballots, a copy of eachcategory, not before being regarded and canceledby the president of the election desk.

Jobs and activities included in interest statementare: • jobs in some associations, foundations or other

non-governmental organizations or politicalparties;

• paid professional activities;• stakeholder or associate in some commercial

societies, including banks or other credit institu-tions, insurance or financial societies.

c. Measures of candidates, elected representatives andpolitical leaders

Candidates, elected representatives and politicalleaders:• use available resources (including new

informational technologies) in order to makeavailable for PEA, for advertising, relevantinformation regarding financing political parties,political associations that support those partiesand electoral campaigns of these parties;

• join different cooperation forms and exchangesin the domain;

• complete wealth statements and interests’statements right after elections and at the end ofthe mandate.

Informative Bibliography

Romanian Constitution Law no 161/2003 – regarding some measures for

assuring the transparency in practicing publicfunctions and in business environment,preventing and approbating corruption

Law no 94/1992 regarding the organization andfunctioning of the Account Court, republished,with latter modifications and completions.

Law no 115/1996 regarding declaration and controlof statesmen wealth, magistrates, civil servantsand leadership persons, with latter modificationsand completions.

Law no 373/2004 for election of RepresentativeChamber and Senate

Law no 14/2003 regarding political partiesLaw no 334/2006 regarding financing the activities

of political parties and electoral campaignsLaw no 43/2003 regarding financing the activities of

political parties and electoral campaigns


General framework:

• It is conducted by specialized organisms and has aspecial influence on internal control, contributingto perfecting and rending the decisional act moreefficient.

• It can take the form of hierarchic control and ofthe control of administrative tutelage beingconducted by civil servants or by organismsoutside those being under control

• External control can be entrusted to one or moreorganisms which are different to the main organismsresponsible with the external control, according tothe specificity of the measures being controlled

• The competence of each control organism isclearly stated so as to avoid any suspicion regar-ding the authorities conducting the control

• The external control cannot give any verdict onthe opportunities of the management policy ofthe local authority

• The external control is conducted independentlyof the authorities under surveillance and accordingto the its organizing and development, thisinvolving the following principles:

• The obligation of local authorities of acceptingexternal control and the main agreements for thecontrol in question which are established at thehighest hierarchic level possible of the legislationapplying to local authorities;

• External controllers have unlimited access topapers, documents and information necessaryfor exerting the control function;

• The controlling authorities have a self budget,separately stipulated in the state budget;

• The controlling authorities are free to decidetheir own schedule and control hours;

• The control authorities are independent from thelocal authorities found under surveillance.


Parliamentary control

• It consists in verifying the executive activity,based on certain juridical reasons;

• The parliamentary control concerns both thelegality and the opportunity of administrativeacts, but through this form of control theillegality of administrative acts cannot besanctioned;

• The parliamentary control over the executiveactivity find its legitimacy in the Parliament’s roleas the supreme representative organisms of thepeople that exerts the attributes of the nationalsovereignty;

• The parliamentary control is stipulated in theRomanian Constitution, art. 110, whichstipulated the fact that the Government andother organisms of public administration, withinthe parliamentary control of their activity, areunder the obligation to present the informationand the documents requested by the Chamber ofDeputies and the Senate or by the parliamentarycommissions by means of their presidents.

The specialized external control

• It is conducted by organisms that are not in acertain hierarchic structure

• It applies to those activities that are not providedby law and can be found in the area of theirmaterial competence


Chapter 3

The control and audit within publicadministration

This chapter presents itself as a collection of norms concerning the measure of internaland external control that can be applied by central and local public authorities with a viewto observing the principle regarding the priority of the public interest against the privateone, as well as the efficient and effective use of the public money. In order for it to be aprecise and concise practice, similar the Model of Initiatives of the Council of Europe, it mustbe conceived according to the chapters and structure of the manual mentioned above.

The current chapter was elaborated so as to offer the possibility to be used separatelyfrom the other parts of the package of model initiatives; however, for an improvedconsistency, the other chapters should be consulted as well.

1. External control

The external control conducted bythe Romanian Court of Accounts

• The control exerted by the Romanian Court ofAccounts is regulated by Law no.94/1992,republished with the changes and subsequentcompletions and it is conducted through externalaudit procedures stated in the own standards ofaudit, elaborated according to the generallyaccepted international audit standards;

• The aim of the external control conducted by theCourt of Accounts is that of contributing to theproper management of the public funds, toprovide to the deliberative public authorities ofthe territorial administrative units reportsconcerning their use and administration,according to the principles of legality, regularity,economy, efficiency and effectiveness;

• The activity of the local public administrationauthorities is submitted to an exceptional verifyingconducted by the Court of Accounts whenever:a. The authority of the local public administration

does not reimburse all its payment obligationson short-term until the end of the budgetaryyear in which the loans were contracted;

b. At a given moment during the budgetary year,the short-term debts of the local publicadministration’s authority exceed the limitenforced by the legislation in force;

c. There is a justified intimation of at least onethird of the number of members that form thedeliberative authority.

• The Court of Accounts can request to theauthorities of the local public administration thatis in one of the situations mentioned above toelaborate and submit an improvement plan tothe Court of Account and to the GeneralDirectorate of Public Finances;

• The authorities of the local public administrationwill report monthly to the Court of Accounts andto the General Directorate of Public Finances theway of achieving the measures included in theimprovement plan;

• Given the situation in which the local publicauthority is considered to be in a financial crisisand an improvement plan has been elaboratedand approved by the deliberative authority, thecontrol of applying and achieving the measuresincluded in this improvement plan is under theresponsibility of the territorial structures of theCourt of Accounts.

• The control of the Court of Accounts involves:• Certifying the accounts. For local authorities,

after having verified the accuracy and veracity ofdata from the execution accounts no otherauthority is able to give a verdict concerning the

data included in the execution account in anyother way than temporarily. The verification canbe applied also to commercial companies withinwhich local authorities own more than half of thesocial capital, as well as to other legal personsbenefiting from governmental warranties forcredits, subsidies or other forms of financialsupport given by local authorities or to legalpersons administrating, according to a concessionor renting contract, goods belonging to thepublic or private field of the territorial adminis-trative units or to legal persons that administrateand/or use public funds, with the verificationsbeing conducted only with regard to the legality ofthe administration and/or the use of these funds.

• In case of ascertaining the existence of deviationsfrom legality and regularity, which led toprejudices, this layout is communicated to theleader of the local public authority. Establishingthe length of the prejudice and taking themeasures for recovering it becomes an obligationof the management of the local public institution.

• When the impossibility of concluding an auditreport is noticed, the external public auditordisposes towards the local public authority thecompletion and/or the redesign of the verifiedaccounts, establishing also a term for thismeasure. If the public authority does notconform in the established term, the completionor redesign of the accounts is made on the expenseof the public authorities by an accounting expertnamed by the Court of Accounts.

• A performance audit that represents anindependent evaluation of the economy, efficiencyand effectiveness with which a local authority, aprogramme, a project or an activity uses the publicresources allocated for the fulfilment of theforeseen objectives. The performance audit can beconducted both at the end of the activities and alsoduring the development of the project,programmes or activities.

• The external control cannot reflect on theopportunities of the decisions of the localauthorities, but can give a verdict on thejustification of the decisions of the localauthorities or on their coherence especially froma financial point of view.

The specialty external control conductedby the National Agency of Civil Servants

• The control body of the President of ANFP exertsthematic controls (a priori) and unforeseencontrols (a posteriori), whenever seized byinterested persons, civil servants or mere citizens,including the civil society through its differentinterested organisations.


• The objectives of the specialty administrativecontrol of the Agency are of two categories:general objectives such as: the observance of law,ensuring a good practice at institutional level inthe field of the public function and of the civilservants mainly found in the case of the thematiccontrols and special objectives, different fromcase to case, which are mainly found in the caseof unforeseen controls that have as purposesolving a certain cause the degree of complexityof which is different.

• The control action materializes in the controlrecord that is the basis of the control reportapproved by the president of the Agency.

• After the control conducted, the Agency, takinginto account the active trial legitimacyprerogative, can proceed with or request theabrogation or cancellation of certain acts oradministrative operations, the modification orreplacement of the acts or of the administrativeoperations considered illegal; it can also adopt thenecessary measures for reinforcing the legality.

The control of administrative tutelage

• It is exerted by the prefect on the administrativeacts of local public authorities concluded underthe principle of local autonomy.

• It concerns only the legality of administrative actsand it is conducted by attacking the illegal act atthe instance of the administrative solicitor’s job,with the act being suspended in law.

• The external control exerted by the prefectattracts the certification of the legality of theadministrative acts of county councils, localcouncils or of the city halls.

• The control conducted by the prefect concernsthe observance – by the adopted administrativeacts or issued by local authorities – of twoimportant legality conditions provided by thenormative acts in force: the fund condition(which involves adopting or emittingadministrative acts with the observance of thematerial competence and of the territorialcompetence) and the form condition (thatprovides for the written administrative acts, as itstems from the provisions of Law no.24/2000republished, regarding the norms of legislativetechnique for the elaboration of normative acts:preamble and device with all the necessaryinformation for identifying the issuing authority,the recipient of the act, the measure adopted, theterm and the conditions under which the adoptedmeasure is executed, the seal of the authority, thenumber of the act and the date of issue);

• The Prefect, in exerting the attributions, canattack at the instance of administrative solicitor’s

job the acts considered illegal, except the acts ofadministration. The act attacked is suspended inlaw. With at least 10 days before the beginning ofthe action at the instance of administrativesolicitor’s job, the prefect requests to the localauthorities having emitted the act, with thenecessary motivation, the reanalysis of the actconsidered illegal, with a view to modify it or,depending on the case, with a view to annulling it.

• The control exerted by the prefect is a subsequentcontrol, the secretaries of the administrativeterritorial units being under the obligation topass forward to the prefect the administrativeacts adopted or emitted by local authorities,according to Law no. 340/2004.

The jurisdictional administrative control

• It intervenes for solving moots within the sphereof public administration

• It is conducted after a procedure based in theprinciples of independence and of contradicta-torship

• It concerns only the legality of administrative actsand the control act bears the name of jurisdictio-nal-administrative act and it is irrevocable.

• The jurisdictional administrative acts can beattacked with appeal after having exhausted thejurisdictional administrative ways at the sectionof administrative solicitor’s job of the SupremeCourt of Justice, according to the Law ofadministrative solicitor’s job.

The juridical control

• It is exerted in order to defend the rights andlegitimate interests of citizens against theadministration’s abuses. The control isconducted by the instances of common law andby the instances of administrative solicitor’s job.

• A control from the Public Ministry is also exertedon the public administration authorities. Thiscontrol has a non-jurisdictional character andconcerns verifying the acts of the administrativeorganisms of research and penal proceeding aswell as of the administrative organisms ofdetention and punishment execution places.


Local authorities:

• Provide all relevant information to control authorities• Cooperate in good faith with the authority of

external control


General framework:

• The complexity of the task of publicadministration and the continuous diversifyinghas led to the necessity of specializing the controlaccording to the multiple areas of the economicand social activities

• The public administration exerts a control over itown activity that encompasses both the activityconducted under juridical form and the oneconducted through material and technicaloperations, by providing services and evenproduction operations.

• Within any authority and public institution thereis a certain system of internal control, since anyleader organises so as to lead the activity: theleader will define the individual tasks of thepersonnel, will establish the working methods,will be equipped with an informing system andwill supervise the activity of the personnel, etc.

• The most frequent form of specialized internalcontrol is the self-conducted prevention financialcontrol through which financial and budgetarydiscipline is ensured in all the departments of thepublic administration.


Central authorities establish a juridical frame thatsets the general principles of the internal control:• Law no. 672/2002, with the subsequent

modifications and completions, regulates theorganisation of internal audit within publicentities, both in the central administrations andin the local one, and defines it as being thatindependent and objective activity that reassuresand councils the leading management for a goodadministration of the revenues and publicexpenditures, perfecting the activities of publicentities; it helps the public entity to fulfils theobjectives through a systematic and methodicalapproach, which evaluates and improves theefficiency and effectiveness of the leading systembased on the administration of risk, of controland of the administration process.

• Government Decree no. 119/1999 regardinginternal control and the preventive financialcontrol

• O.M.F.P. no. 946/2005 for the approval of theinternal control of the Code including themanagement/ internal control standards ofpublic entities and for the development of thesystems of managerial control.

• The control must be regarded only as a checkingoperation; it is a managerial function. Therefore,through the control function the managementcan take notice of the differences between resultsand objectives, analysis the causes that led tothese differences and take the corrective orprevention measures required.

• It is an indispensable instrument of the decisionalprocess of the leading staff of the administrativeauthority

• This form of administrative control is theconsequence of the hierarchic structure of thedepartments of the administrative authority andof the civil servants that are part of them.

• This control had a general and permanent character,concerning both the legality and the opportunity ofthe acts and facts of those being controlled.

• The internal control is conducted ex officio orfollowing the request or the notification of otherpersons inside the administrative organism oroutside it.

• When the control has began due to a complaint ofa notification it bears the name of gracious appeal(administrative complaint) which, in case ofdispute, represent a preceding condition ofexerting the action of administrative solicitor’s job.

• According to the law, the internal controlrepresents the ensemble of control forms exertedat the level of the public entity, including theinternal audit, established by the leadingmanagement according to its objectives and tothe legal provisions in force, with a view toensure the economic, efficient and effectiveadministration of funds. At the same time, theinternal control included the organizationalstructures, the methods and control procedures.

Internal public audit

• It is an independently and objectively functionalactivity through which the leading managementof the public entity receives is reassured andcounselled for the good administration of thepublic revenues and expenditures and whichcontributes to achieving the establishedobjectives, through a systematic and methodicalapproach, improving the efficiency andeffectiveness of the leading system, based onhandling the risk, the control and theadministration processes.

• The internal audit represents the activity ofobjective examining the ensemble of activities ofthe institutions with a view to provide anindependent evaluation of the management ofrisk, control and leading processes of it.


2. Internal control

• The internal audit has as objectives:o Verifying the conformity of the activities of

the audited institution to its policies,programmes and management, according tothe legal provisions in force;

o Evaluating the degree of suitability andappliance of the financial and non-financialcontrols enforced and conducted by the leadingmanagement of the unit with a view to increasethe efficiency of the institution’s activity;

o Evaluating the degree of suitability of thefinancial and non-financial data/informationprovided to the leading management in orderto become acquainted with the realities of theinstitution in question;

o Protecting the patrimonial elements includedor not included in the balance sheet andidentifying the prevention measures for fraudand loses of any kind.

• The sphere of the internal public audit includes:o Financial activities with financial effects,

conducted by the public entity from the momentof concluding the obligation until the use of thefunds by the final beneficiaries including thefunds coming from external assistance;

o The creation of public revenues, licensing andestablishing the debt titles and the grantedfacilities at cashing them in;

o The sale, security, concession and rental ofgood within the private/public domain of thestate or of administrative-territorial units;

o The systems of financial and controlmanagement, including the accounting andthe afferent information systems.

• The types of audit are the following:o The system audit that represents an in-depth

evaluation of the leading and internal controlsystems, aiming at establishing whether theyfunction economically, efficiently andeffectively so as to identify the drawbacks andissue recommendations for corrective them;

o The performance audit that examineswhether the established criteria for theimplementation of the objectives and tasks ofthe public entity are correct for evaluating theresults and appreciates whether the results arerelevant for the objectives;

o The regularity audit which is the examinationof the actions in terms of financial effects onpublic funds or public patrimony, in terms ofobserving the ensemble of principles, proce-dural rules and methodologies being applied.

o The activity of internal public audit isconducted within the specialty department bythe internal auditors having the quality of civilservants, who were assigned the function by

the manager of the public institution, withnotifying the head of the department ofinternal public audit. Therefore, the auditinvolves analyzing and prospecting and canbe general or limited to a certain componentof the activity of the public entity.

Financial audit

• It represents the activity of examination so thatfinancial auditors can express their opinion onthe financial situations, according to the auditstandards, harmonized with the internationalaudit standards and adopted by the Chamber ofFinancial Auditors from Romania.

• According to Law no. 94/1992, the external publicaudit is the activity conducted by the Court ofAccounts and mainly includes the financial auditand the performance audit. Thus, the Court ofAccounts conducts the financial audit on theexecution accounts of local budgets. As aconsequence it is irrelevant for the internal control.

The preventive financial control

• According to the provisions of the GovernmentDecree no.119/1999, with the subsequentmodifications, regarding internal audit and thepreventive financial control, the Ministry ofEconomy and Finances is the authority ofcoordination and regulation of the preventivefinancial control for all the public entities.

• The preventive financial control is organised andconducted by the qualified authorities, unitarilyand according to the provisions of the decreementioned above and of the normative actsissued for applying it and it represents theverifying activity through which the legality andthe regularity of the operations conducted byusing public funds or public patrimony, beforetheir approval and registrations in the limits ofthe budgetary credits or of the obligation credits,depending on the case.

• The preventive financial control is organised andexerted under the following forms:

• The self-conducted preventive financial control,on all the public entities and on all the operationswith a financial impact on the public funds andon the public patrimony;

• The delegated preventive financial control on themain chief accounts of the state budget’s credits,of the budget of social state insurances, as well asof the budget of any special fund, to the NationalFund and the agencies of implementation of thecommunity funds, as well as on other publicentities bearing a high risk, through delegatedcontrollers of the Ministry of Public Finances.


The self-conducted preventivefinancial control

• It is conducted only through a visa by peoplefrom the specialty departments, designated to dothis by the manager of the public institution,other than those initiating the operationsubmitted to the visa.

• The nomination, the suspension, the dismissaland the change of personnel conducting activitiesof self-conducted preventive financial control aremade in the case of public entities in which thefunction of main chief accountant of credits of thestate budget, of the budget of social insurances ofstate or the budget of any special fund is exerted,only with the agreement of the Ministry ofEconomy and Finances.

• The people designated to conduct activities ofpreventive financial control of their own musthave the professional competences required bythis activity.

• The people qualifies to exert the self-conductedpreventive financial control are liable, accordingto the law, with regard to their guilt for thelegality, regularity and the conformity to thebudgetary credits or to the obligation creditsapproved, regarding the operation for which theyhave granted the visa for self-conductedpreventive financial report.

• The people qualified to exert the delegatedpreventive financial control grant or refuse thelegality visa only in a written format, on astandard form that bears the signature and theseal of the personnel of the qualified chiefaccountant delegated.

• Before issuing a denial of the visa, the chiefaccountant is under the obligation to write aninformative notification regarding the denialintention to the credits chief accountant,mentioning the reasons of the denial.

• The chief accounts are part of the Body of delegatedcontrollers who represent a distinct department inthe structure of the Ministry of Economy andFinances, both at central and territorial level.

a. Measures of local authorities

• The internal control represents the ensemble offorms of control exerted at the level of local publicauthorities, including the internal audit, establishedby the management according to its objectives andthe legal regulations, with a view to ensuring theeconomic, efficient and effective administration ofthe funds; this also includes the organizingstructures, the methods and the procedures.

• The internal control, at least within localauthorities of a certain size, is a specialized

structure that ensures the assistance of experts inconceiving the procedures for the operationaldepartments; the internal control structure isalso responsible with verifying the conformity ofthe adopted procedures; if they do notcorrespond, the internal control is responsiblewith establishing the causes and withrecommending solutions to this problem;

• The concrete instruments of internal control varyfrom a local authority to another according totheir size, complexity of internal structure, thedegree of dispersion of the activity centres, thenature of the activities, the legal norms applicable,the working habits of the managers, etc. however,they must reduce to minimum the risk of:

• Improper economic and financial management• Inappropriate administrative management as a

consequence of lack of knowledge of the normsin question;

• A weak rendering of services;• The administrative, civil and penal procedures;• The local public authorities that exceeded the

annual limit of 100. 000 euro, for three years in arow is under the obligation to constitute adepartment of internal public audit until the endof the first trimester of the following year.

• The local public authority that organised adepartment of internal public audit and becomesa small public institution, must notify thedepartment of internal public audit of theterritorial General Directorate of PublicFinances, of their new statute in 30 days frommeeting the conditions.

• For the small public authorities that have notexceeded that annual limit, the internal publicaudit is limited to the regularity audit and isconducted by the departments of internal publicaudit of the territorial General Directorates ofPublic Finances.

Bibliography

Law no.94/1992 regarding the organisation andfunctioning of the Court of Accounts,republished, with the subsequent modificationand completions

Law no.340/2004 regarding the Prefect’s institution,with the subsequent modification and completions

G.D. no.119/1999 regarding the internal control andthe preventive financial control, republished withthe subsequent modifications and completions

Law no.672/2002 regarding the internal public auditwith the subsequent modifications and completions

O.M.F.P. no.946/2005O.M.F.P. no.38/2003Law no.273/206


The legal framework governing the status ofprincipal officials from Romania consists of thefollowing acts: • Law no. 188/1999 on the status of civil servants,

republished, with subsequent amendments • Law no. 7 / 2004 on the Code of Conduct of

public servants, republished• Government Decision no. 611/2008 for the

approval of rules on the organization anddevelopment of career of civil servants, withsubsequent amendments

• Government Decision nr.1344/2007 rules for theorganization and functioning of the committeesof discipline

• Government Decision on nr.1066/2007 onprofessional training

• Package of law 161/2003

It is important to know that the legal system oflocal public officials in Romania does not differfrom the legal system of civil servants in state andterritorial administration.


• develop the legal framework for the public postand public officials;

• provide knowledge and respect of the legalframework for the public and public officials;

• call for methodological coordination form ANFPregarding problems in the public and publicofficials;

• send to ANFP regular reports of monitoring theoperation of law on the public and public officials;

• manage human resources of the institution orpublic authority under existing rules establishedby the ANFP;

• ensure the advertising of the code of conduct atthe level of authority or public institutionconcerned.

The National Agency of Civil Servants

• pursues the implementation and compliancewith the code of conduct for public servants;

• collaborates with NGOs aimed at promoting anddefending the legitimate interests of citizens inrelation to public officials;

• may draw attention to the administrative claimdepartments at those acts by the authorities orpublic institutions that violate the law adherentto the office and public officials, havinglegitimately active process;

• can be asked,by any person, together with adisciplinary committee regarding a breach ofconduct by a public servant, but this does not meanthat through the work of this institution therecan,in any way,be influenced the evolution of thework procedures of that discipline committee;

• methodologically coordinates, monitors, verifyand control the implementation and compliancewith legal provisions on rules of conduct ofpublic servants, organization and functioning ofcommittees with parity and the Boards ofdiscipline;

• develop studies and analysis on compliance withrules of conduct;

• is required to prepare an annual report on themanagement of the public post and of civilservants, which includes information on the


Chapter 4

Model initiatives relating to the statusof civil servants

This chapter is a collection of rules relating to the status of civil servants in Romania andadministrative procedures applicable to them, identified in the analysis performed on anumber of acts in force relating to the conduct of public servants. To be a precise andconcise practice, similar to the Model initiatives of the Council of Europe, it has beendesigned according to the textbook chapters and the structure above.

This chapter has been designed so that it can be used separately from other parts of thepackage of initiatives model, however, for a better consistency one also should consult andthe other chapters.

1. Legal framework

disciplinary and ethics situation within publicinstitutions and public Romanian authorities;

• introduces in the management of publicfunctions and public servants report data on thenumber and subject of complaints on cases ofviolation of rules of professional conduct; thecategories and the number of civil servants whohave violated rules of professional and moralconduct; causes and consequences of non-com-pliance with this code of conduct; highlightingcases in which civil servants were required to actunder the political pressure factor;

• sets up the database of ethics advisers, updates itpermanently, ensuring coordination andtraining, if necessary;

• creates and manages the database of publicfunctions and public servants, may offer differentstatistic statements at the request of statisticalinstitutions and public authorities in Romania.

b. Measures of the local authority

• complies with the law regarding public posts andpublic officials;

• provides knowledge and respect in the interior ofthe legal framework for the public post andpublic officials;

• appoints an ethics adviser, usually from withinthe departments of human resources;

• ensures the establishment and organization ofdiscipline committees and committees withparity;

• ensures publicity and dissemination of the codeof conduct at the level of authority or publicinstitution concerned.

• participates in the training, information andcomplement or update of the database on ethicsadvisers or public functions and public officials;

• Calls for methodological coordination fromANFP in aspects of management of publicfunctions and public servants;

• transmits to ANFP the data required for thepreparation of periodic reports (quarterly andhalf-yearly) of monitoring the implementation oflegislation on the public functions and publicofficials;

• transmits quarterly and half-yearly to ANFP, atthe deadlines and in standard form, the situationregarding compliance with the rules of conduct,having been previously approved by the managerof the institution or authority after previously hasalready been disseminated within those institutions;

• manages human resources of that institution inaccordance with the rules in force;

• adapts the code of conduct to the specificcharacteristics and requirements of theinstitution or the local authority, according tothe provisions of Law no. 7 / 2004 republished;

c. Measures of elected localrepresentative and civil servantsin public administration

Local representatives:

• are informed regarding the legal framework forthe public function and public officials;

• provide knowledge and respect of the legalframework for public function and publicservants in subordination;

• avoid exerting pressure on civil servants thatwould cause them to fail to comply with thescheme of service duties.

Public servants of local public administrationhave a legal regime that:• is sufficiently clear and comprehensive;• ensures the promotion and dissemination of

conduct rules which have a direct impact on theimage of the institution or authority they belongto;

• participate in the compliance of the rights andduties, provisions relating to the career of civilservants, evaluates performance, professionalimprovement, recruitment of civil servants, theappointment of civil servants and disciplinarysanctions and responsibility of civil servants,modification, suspension and termination of theservice, the redistribution and the spare body ofcivil servants;

• complies with the provisions relating to theconduct of public officials;


Remuneration and conditions of service

a. Measures of local authorities:

• The authorities and public institutions mayconclude annually, according to the law,agreements with unions representing civilservants and representatives of civil servants,which include only measures relating to: § establishment and use of funds for improving

conditions in the workplace;§ health and safety at work;§ the daily work schedule; § professional training;§ measures other than those provided by law

for the protection of those elected in the go-verning bodies of trade union organizations.

• Within the authorities and public institutions paritycommittees are constituted. Parity committees areconsulted in the following situations:§ to establish any measures on the professional

training of civil servants if their costs arecovered from budgetary funds;

§ to establish measures for the improvement ofthe activities of authorities and public institu-tions for which they have been established;

§ to establish the work program by the managerof the authority or public institution;

§ other circumstances stipulated by law. • Graduation steps in the pay amount are in

accordance with the law on the unitary salarysystem of civil servants.

• Provide in their annual budget amounts neededto cover the costs of advanced training of civilservants organized at the initiative or in theinterest of public authority or institutions;

• Communicate annually to the National Agencyof the civil servants a plan of professionaltraining of public officials, and provided funds intheir annual budget to cover costs of advancedtraining of civil servants.

• Prepare the annual report on the training of civilservants at the end of the budget year, the reportis an integral part of their annual activity report;

• Transmit to ANFP the annual plan ofprofessional training and allocated funds fromthe institution budget for the purpose of trainingtheir own staff for next year;

• May conclude annually agreements with unionsrepresenting public officials or representatives ofpublic servants, relating to the establishment anduse of funds intended to improve conditions atwork, and health and safety at work;

• Provide representative or representatives of tradeunions of civil servants the information necessaryfor the conclusion of agreements on workrelations, in accordance with the law;

• Follow the parity committees activities in theinstitutions concerned;

• Assess of individual professional skills of the civilservants shall be done annually, and qualifica-tions obtained in advance are used to advance onthe steps of the remuneration process.

b. Measures of public servants:

• Wages of public servants are established in accor-dance with the law provisions on the establishmentof uniform salary system for civil servants.

• For their work, civil servants are entitled to asalary composed of: a) the basic salary; b) salary increase according to the length of

service;c) supplement of the job;d) supplement appropriate to the salary step; e) premiums and other labour rights.

• For hours worked at the disposal of the chiefauthority or public institution over normalworking hours, in days or in times of publicholidays declared non-working public executionclerks are entitled to recovery or to a salaryincreased by 100% of base salary. (The numberof hours paid with the increase of 100% can notexceed 360 in a year.)

• The public servant has the right, besidesindemnity leave, at a premium equal to the firstbase salary in the previous month of thedeparture on leave, which is taxed separatelyPublic servants benefit by premiums and otherlabour rights, under the law.

• Civil servants benefit during the following periodof forms of advanced training, of all rightful wages.

• Civil servants who are in training programsorganized in the country or outside it in acalendar year, having a combined length of morethan 90 days, financed from the state budget or


2. Remuneration, conditions of service and careerdevelopment of public officials from local publicadministration

from the local budget, in order of entry into thebody of civil servants or,as appropriate,in acategory of civil service higher than that occupiedat the beginning of the program, are obliged tocommit in writing that they will work in publicadministration a determined period (between 2and 5 years starting from the ending of programs),in proportion to the number of days of training,if the program doesn’t last a different period.

• Civil servants who have followed types ofprofessional training in the above-mentionedconditions, but whose service relationships stopfor reasons attributable to them, prior to thefulfilment of the period, are obliged to repay theamount of the expenditure incurred for trainingand, as appropriate, rightful salary receivedduring the training period, calculated inaccordance with the law proportionally to thetime left until the fulfilment of the deadline (theprovisions do not apply in the case that thepublic servant no longer holds public office forreasons not attributable to him.)

• If the people who have a type of training, andhave not graduated from their fault, are obligedto repay the institution or public authority forthe expenditure incurred for training and salaryreceived during the training period, calculated interms of law, if they were supported by theauthority or public institution.

• Public officials are entitled to pensions and othersocial security rights of the state.

Career development of publicservants from local administration

Law no. 188/1999 on the status of civil servantswith subsequent amendments provides thatoccupying the public posts is done by:

• promotion; • transfer;• redeployment; • recruitment;• other ways expressly provided by law.

• Recruitment for the entrance in the body of civilservants is done through a contest, within thelimits of public functions vacancies reserved forthis purpose by the plan of occupancy of publicfunctions.

• The contest is based on principles of opencompetition, transparency, professional meritand competence, and the equal access to publicfunctions for every citizen who meets the legalconditions.

• The advertisement about the contest is publishedin the Official Monitor of Romania, Part III, andin a daily newspaper of broad circulation, with atleast 30 days before the contest. In exceptionalcases, 30 days may be reduced under the law, fora contest organized to occupy functions of publicexecution temporarily vacant.

• At the basis of the career development of civilservants is the function of forecasting, which ismaterialized through the development andcompliance of a plan of occupying public posts.

• The occupation of public functions plan iscentrally made on every original chief accountantand on each institution subordinated or financedthrough the own budget.

• The occupation of public functions plan isdeveloped annually, in consultation with tradeunions representing civil servants, as follows:

a) by the National Agency of Civil Servants, onthe basis of proposals of chief accountants, tothe authorities and public institutions of thecentral public administration;

b) by the mayor or, if necessary, by the countyboard president, through the specialist bodyfor the authorities and public institutions oflocal public administration.

• Promotion is the means of developing a career bytaking a higher public office;

• Promotion is done in the classroom and inprofessional degrees.

• Promoting in professional degree immediatelysuperior to that of the public servant is done byexamination or contest, organized annually byprocessing the station occupied by the public as aresult of the contest or exam promotion. (Thejob description of a civil clerk who promoted tothe public post is modified with new tasks andresponsibilities).

• Redeployment of civil servants is made in aposition of the same category, class andprofessional degree as the public function held bythe public servant, but can be done in a lowervacant public function, with the written consentof the public servant, by National Agency of civilservants, as follows:a) within the authorities or public institutions in

the same city or a village situated at a distanceof up to 50 km from the place of residence;

b) within the authorities or public institutions inanother county or at a distance greater than50 km from the place of residence, at therequest of the public servant.

• The transfer may be done in a public position forwith the specific conditions stipulated in the jobdescription are respected and may be held as follows:a) in the interest of service;b) at the request of the public servant.



• The recruitment contest for vacant positions ofpublic authorities and central public institutionsis organized under the law, as follows:a) by the commission for high officials. Techni-

cal Secretariat of the Commission is assuredthe National Agency of the civil servants;

b) by the National Agency of civil servants, to fillpositions of leadership, general public andspecific interest;

c) by the authorities and public institutions,with the agreement of the National Agency ofcivil servants, to occupy their functions publicof execution, general and specific.

• Redistribution can be done also in a publicmanagement, only if the public servant carriedout similar duties with those of public office inwhich redistribution is done.

• Redeployment in temporary vacant public officescan be done only as a result of the suspension of theholder for a period of at least a month, of the civilservants within the body of the reserve meeting theconditions for occupying that public function.

• Transfer in the service interest can be done onlywith the written consent of the transferred publicservant, in a public function of the samecategory, class and professional level with theposition held by the public servant or to a lowerlevel public function.

The National Agency of the civil servantsmanages the entire body of civil servants, so that:• it establishes the legal framework of recruitment

and career development of officials from centraland local administration;

• may delegate the authorities or publicinstitutions, under the law, the power to organizecompetitions for recruitment for filling publicpositions of general and specific management.

• has to postpone or suspend the organization andconduct of the contest, if it finds that legalprovisions regarding the organization andconduct of competitions have not been met.

• organizes the annual contest for rapidpromotion, within the limit of the number ofpublic functions reserved for rapid promotion,according to the annual plan of employment ofpublic functions.

• endorses the competition for admission inprograms organized under the law for obtainingthe status of public manager who organizes andadministrates the institutions empowered by law

• carries out the redistribution of public servantsfrom the reserve body.


Local authorities:

• The recruitment contest for vacant positions ofpublic authorities and public institutions of localpublic administration is organized under the law,as follows: a) by the National Agency of civil servants, for

the positions of public management in thefollowing areas: child protection, techno-logical evidence of a person, public internalaudit, financial accounting, architecture andtown planning, human resources, Europeanintegration, for the secretaries of territorial-administrative units, as well as for publicfunctions of execution within the domain ofpublic internal auditing;

b) by the authorities and public institutions, forfilling vacant public functions, other thanthose specified above, but in this situation theauthorities and public institutions of localadministration have an obligation to informthe National Agency of the civil servants 10days before the starting of the procedure oforganizing and carrying out the competi-tions. If the National Agency of the civilservants does not find that the conditionsregarding the organization and developmentof competitions have been met, it decidespostpone or suspend the organization anddevelopment of the contest.

• For the authorities and public institutions oflocal public administration, the draft plan foroccupying public functions is transmittedNational Agency of public servants 45 daysbefore the date of approval.

• In case the National Agency of the civil servantsfinds irregularities in its structure, authorities orpublic institutions have the obligation to amend thedraft plan for occupying public functions, based onobservations of the National Agency of the civilservants, in accordance with legal provisions;

• organize competitions to fill the public functionsof their own structures, in accordance with legalprovisions;

• hold the exam for promotion in professionaldegree, with the approval of the National Agencyof civil servants, within the limits of the numberof public functions reserved for promotion,respecting the allocated funds from the budget.

• Promotion is done by converting the postoccupied by the public servant as a result ofpromoting the exam, where he is acquiring astudies diploma in the specialty in which thepublic servant concerned operates.


Law no. 188/1999 on the status of civil servants,republished, with subsequent amendments establishesthe regime of rights and duties of officials fromcentral and local administration and Law no. 7-2004regarding the code of conduct, republished.


In applying the provisions of the law, the centralauthorities:• establish the legal framework concerning the

rights and obligations of civil servants; • bring to the attention of public servants, local

authorities and citizens the legal frameworkregarding the legal rights and obligations of civilservants;

• establish procedures to monitor and control therespect of rights and obligations by public servants;

• guarantee the right to an opinion to subordi-nated public servants;

• not operate any discriminations on politicalgrounds, membership of a trade union, religiousbeliefs, ethnic, gender, sexual orientation,material status, social origin or any other;

• inform regarding the decisions to be taken inimplementing the Status of civil servants and thatconcern them;

• guarantee the right of association to a tradeunion to clerks in subordination, with the

exception of clerks appointed as senior clerks,civil servants from management and othercategories of public servants who are prohibitedby the special statute;

• guarantee the right to establish trade unionorganizations, to join and to exercise anymandate within them;

• respect the right of association in professionalorganizations or other organizations aimed atrepresenting their interests, promoting trainingand protecting their status;

• guarantee the right to strike, under the law,respecting the principle of continuity andpromptitude of a public service;

• guarantee the right to a salary; • recognize the right to receive premiums and

other labour rights;• confer staff in subordination of the right to

improve its continuous professional training; • guarantee the right to recover or to a pay increased

by 100% from the base salary for overtime hoursperformed outside working hours;

• ensure public servants the right to be elected orappointed to a position of public dignity,according to the law.

• recognize the right to leave of rest, to medicalleave and other leaves, including the right to apremium equal to the base salary from theprevious month to going on leave;

• recognize the right to leave for sickness, maternityleave and for the child growth and childcare;

• In case that there are several officials who meetthe conditions for employment, the NationalAgency of the civil servants organizes, incollaboration with the authority or publicinstitution with the vacant public function, aprofessional test for selecting public servants tobe redeployed.

• If the leaders of public institutions and autho-rities refuse to take redeployed civil servants onstaff, the public servant can address the disputedclaims court of administrative authorities.

• authorities or public institutions have anobligation to ensure the advertising for vacantpublic functions that can be filled by transfer atrequest. In case two or more officials requireemployment in a vacant public office by transferrequest, selection is based on an interview.

• In case of transfer of work interest in anothercity, the public servant has the right to anindemnity equal to the net salary calculated at thelevel of salary in the month prior to the transfer,

to cover all the costs of transport and a paidholiday for 5 days. These rights shall be borne bythe authority or public institution to which thetransfer is made, not later than 15 days from thedate of approval of the transfer.

• Transfer at request is done in a public position ofthe same category, class and professional degreeor to a lower level post, following approval of therequest for transfer of the civil clerk given by theleader of the public authority or institution towhich he requests the transfer. (In this case, thetransfer may take place only between theauthorities and public institutions of the centralpublic administration, between autonomousadministrative authorities or, where appropriate,public authorities or institutions of local publicadministration.)

• In the case of civil servants of leading functionsthe transfer can be done on leading public postswhose responsibilities are similar to the duties ofpublic functions that the transfer was made from.


3. The rights and duties of civil servants

• recognize the right to normal work and hygieneconditions, aimed to protect the health andphysical and mental integrity;

• recognize the right to change the compartmentin which they operate, for good reasons;

• guarantee the right to medical assistance,prostheses and drugs for staff in subordination;

• guarantee the right to pensions and other socialsecurity rights of the state;

• respect right to a survivor’s pension for familymembers in case of death of the servant;

• provide special protection for public servantswith responsibilities of control and inspection,enforcement of budgetary debt and for othercategories of public servants engaged in high-riskprofessional activities; determined by normativeacts special protection measures at the proposalof the National Agency of civil servants or theauthorities and public institutions, with theapproval of the National Agency of civil servants;

• respect the right to compensation, when thepublic servant has suffered due to the fault of theauthority or the public institution, a materialinjury during service duties.


Local authorities, according to the legal framework: • have the obligation to ensure public servants

normal working conditions and hygiene, whichwill protect their health and physical and mentalintegrity;

• pay subsequently the rights provided by law,until a decision to grant the survivor’s pension,in the case that, from the fault of the authority orpublic institution, the decision for survivor’spension was not issued within 3 months from thedate of death;

• must ensure the protection of the public servantsagainst threats, violence, acts of offence whichthey could be the victims of when excising publicfunction or in connection with it (for thispurpose, the authority or public institution willask for assistance from the authorities);

• must compensate the public servant if hesuffered, from the fault of the authority or publicinstitution, a material injury during fulfilling hiswork duties;

• prohibit any discrimination between publicservants on political criteria, union membership,religious beliefs, ethnicity, gender, sexualorientation, material status, social origin or anyothers of such nature.

c. Measures of public servantsfrom local public administration

Rights

• Right of association to trade unions and the rightto have opinion of civil servants are guaranteed;

• To establish trade union organizations, to jointhem and to exercise any mandate within them,in freedom;

• may associate in professional organizations orother organizations aimed at protecting theprofessional interests

• in the situation in which high servants or publicservants, who have the quality of authorizingchief accountant, are elected in the governingbodies of trade union organizations, they arerequired within 15 days of the election in themanagement of trade union organizations to optfor one of the two functions. In case that thepublic favours the activities in the position ofleadership in trade union organizations, reportsof service shall be suspended for a period equal tothat of the mandate in governing position withinthe trade union organization;

• may be elected or appointed to a position ofpublic dignity;

• High servants and public servants withinmanagement may be appointed to positions ofdignity only after ceasing work relations;

• High servants and public servants withinmanagement can apply for positions dignity onlyafter ceasing work relations;

• may be members of political parties legallyconstituted;

• have the right to rest leave to medical leave andother leaves;

• have the right, besides leave indemnity, at apremium equal to base salary from the monthpreceding the holiday departure;

• during illness leave, maternity leave and those forchild growth and childcare, relationships can not

end slowly and can not be changed, unless it isdone at the initiative of the public servant incause;

• benefit, when exercising their duties, of protec-tion of the law;

• can not be punished or harmed in any way forreferral in good faith of the responsible disciplinecommittee, under the law, with regard to cases ofviolation of rules of conduct.

Obligations

• meet with professionalism, impartiality and in


accordance with the law, the duties of service andrefrain from any act which could bring harm toindividuals or legal persons or prestige of thebody of civil servants;

• public managing clerks supports the motivatedproposals and initiatives of the staff insubordination in order to improve the authorityactivity or public institution in which theyoperate, and the quality of public services offeredto citizens;

• comply with the rules of professional conductand civic provided by law;

• Respond for the duties devolving from the publicfunction and the duties delegated;

• comply with orders received from superiorsreceived from superiors, unless they have theright to object in writing and motivate, and whenit is a manifestly illegal situation, but the superiorgives an immediate written order in this regard,they have the right to inform superiorhierarchical higher than their superior;

• are prohibited to occupy positions of manage-ment in structures or governing bodies, elected orappointed, of the political parties, as defined bytheir status, the organizations who apply the samelegal regime as political parties or foundations orassociations operating besides political parties;

• high servants are prohibited to participate inpolitical parties, organizations who apply thesame legal regime as political parties orfoundations or associations that function besidespolitical parties. Public servants shall, inexercising their attributions, to refrain frompublic expressions or manifestation of beliefs andtheir political preferences, not to favour anypolitical party or any organization which isapplies the same legal regime as political parties.

• have an obligation to defend loyally the prestigeof the authority or public institution in whichthey operate, and to refrain from any act or factwhich may cause injury to the image or legalinterests of it;

• complete annually and update, whenevernecessary or a change arises, the declaration ofassets and interests, which it submitted to theDepartment of Human Resources;

• are prohibited: a) to express in public feedback inconsistent

with the reality about the work of theauthority or institution in which they operate,with its policies and strategies or projects ofnormative acts or individual acts, for a periodof 2 years if the provisions of special laws donot provide another period;

b) make unauthorized feedback about the pendingdisputes and in which the authority or public

institution in which they operate has the qualityof a party, for a period of 2 years if the provisionsof special laws do not provide another period;

c) to disclose information without publiccharacter, in conditions other than thoseprovided by law, for a period of 2 years, if theprovisions of special laws do not provideanother period.

d) to disclose information which they haveaccess to in the exercise of public functions, ifthe disclosure is possible to attract undueadvantages or to injure the image or the rightsof the institution or the rights of civil servants,as well as natural or legal persons for a periodof 2 years if the provisions of special laws donot provide another period.

f) to provide assistance and advice to individualsor legal entities regarding promoting legalactions or of other nature against the State orpublic authority or public institution in whichthey operate.

• While exercising public functions they areprohibited:a) to participate in fundraising activities for

political parties; b) to provide logistical support to candidates of

public functions; c) to engage in relationships outside of work,

with natural or legal persons who are makingdonations or sponsorship to political parties;

d) display in the authorities or public institu-tions, signs or objects labelled with the logo orthe name of political parties or their candidates.

• Can apply for an eligible position or may beappointed in a position of public dignity.

• In the event that he wants to run, the service ofthe public servants is suspended: a) during the election campaign, until the day

after the elections, if he is not elected; b) to termination of eligible office or of public

dignity office, in case that the public servantwas elected or appointed.

• Are prohibited to be members of the governingbodies of political parties and to express or defendtheir positions publicly in a political party.

• Those who, by law, belong to the category ofsenior public servants can not be members of apolitical party, under penalty of destitution frompublic office.

• Public servants should adopt an attitude impartialand justified for clear and efficient resolution ofproblems of citizens. Civil servants are bound torespect the principle of equality of citizens beforethe law and public authorities, through:a) promoting solutions similar or identical

reported in the same category of situations;


b) eliminating all forms of discrimination basedon nationality issues, religious and politicalbeliefs, material status, health, age, gender orother issues.

• must not solicit or accept gifts, services, favours,invitations, or any other benefit, which areintended for personal use, of the family, parents,friends or individuals with which they hadbusiness relations or political nature, which mayinfluence their impartiality in the exercising ofpublic functions held or may be a reward inrelation to these functions;

• are prohibited from using the official positionthat they own or the relationships they haveestablished in the exercise of the public functions

to influence external or internal investigations orto determine taking a particular measure.

• are prohibited to impose other clerks to enrol inorganizations or associations, regardless of theirnature, or to suggest this, promising to grantthem certain material or professional advantages.

• keep secret the state secrets or of service, andconfidentiality in relation to the facts,information or documents with which theyacquire knowledge in the exercise of publicoffice, except for information of public interest.

• neither seek nor accept, directly or indirectly, forthemselves or for others gifts or other benefits.

• comply with the legal regime of conflict ofinterest and incompatibilities.



Law no. 188/1999 on the status of civil servants,with subsequent amendments provides proceduresfor suspension and termination of the work relations.

The central authorities:

• issue the administrative law on the suspension ofwork relations of clerks from subordination;

• authorize the suspension at the initiative of apublic servant of the work relations of clerksfrom subordination;

• authorize termination of a work relationship ofcivil servants under subordination;

• authorize termination of a work relationship ofcivil servants under the agreement by theagreement in writing of parties;

• dispose the termination of public servants’contracts under the subordination, withagreement by the parties;

• have the dismissal right of the public servants ofsubordination;

• receive the resignation of civil servants ofsubordination;

The central authorities issue administrative actson the suspension of the work right of the publicservant when: • is appointed or elected to an office of public

dignity, for that period;• is assigned to a dignitary cabinet; • is appointed by the authority or public institu-

tion to conduct activities within the frameworkof diplomatic missions in Romania or in theinternational bodies or institutions for thatperiod;

• carry on trade-union activities for which thesuspension is provided;

• carry out military placement, alternative militaryservice, is concentrated or mobilized;

• is arrested preventively;• carries out medical treatment abroad, if the public

servant is not on sick leave temporarily, and toaccompany her husband, as appropriate, the wifeor a first degree relative, according to the law;

• is on leave for temporary incapacity to work,under the law;

• is in quarantine;• is on maternity leave; • is gone, and the disappearance was noted by

irrevocable court order; • is in the case of force majored; • when an order was given to be sent in court for

committing a crime; • during the administrative investigation, where

the public official who committed a disciplinaryoffence can influence the investigation, at thereasoned proposal of the discipline committee.

The central authorities may approve thesuspension of the work relationship of publicservants at his motivated initiative for a period ofbetween one month and 3 years in the followingcircumstances:• leave for raising a child aged up to 2 years or, a

child with disabilities until the age of 3; • leave for taking care of sick children aged up to 7

years or, if a child with disabilities triggeredduring his life, up to the age of 18;

• conduct activities within the international bodiesor institutions;

• to participate in the electoral campaign; • to participate in a strike, under the law.

4. Suspension and termination of service relationships

Termination of work relations of civil servantstakes place under the following conditions: • rightful termination;• agreement given by the parties in writing;• the release from the public function;• the removal from the public function;• the resignation.

The work relations rightfully cease: • at the date of death of the clerk; • at the irrevocable date of the decision of the court

declaring the death of the civil clerk; • the date of notification of the decision of

retirement at the limit age or the incurrence of adisability of the public servant;

• as a result of finding the absolute invalidity of theadministrative notice of appointment to a publicoffice, from the date in which the nullity has beenproven by irrevocable court decision;

• when the public servant was convicted by a courtdecision or through which the court applies asanction depriving him of liberty, the dateremaining definitive from the conviction;

• as a result of the prohibition of exercise of theprofession or function as a safety measure or as acomplementary punishment, the date remainingdefinitive from the conviction;

• at the date of expiry of the period in which thefunction was exercised.

The central authorities may require the release ofstaff under subordination through an administrativeact in the following cases:• the authority or public institution that has ceased

operating or moved to another locality and thepublic servant does not agree to follow;

• the authority or public institution reduced itsstaff following the reorganization of the businessby reducing the post number occupied by thepublic servants;

• as a result of the admission of the application forreinstatement to the public position occupied bythe public servant of a public servant dischargedor dismissed for unlawful or unfounded reasons;

• for professional incompetence, where obtainingthe qualificative “unsatisfactory” in assessingindividual professional skills;

• health or physical / mental state of the publicservants, recorded by a decision of the competentmedical expertise, would not allow him to fulfilhis duties appropriate to the public functionheld;

• as a result of the unfounded refusal of the seniorpublic servant to accept of the appointment infunction.

The central authorities may require the dismissalof the public servant through administrative act as adisciplinary sanction imposed for reasons attribu-table to the public servant in the following cases: • for committing repeated disciplinary offences

which had serious consequences; • if a legal reason arose referring to incompati-

bility, and the public servant does not act to endit in a period of 10 days from the date ofinterference in the case of incompatibility.


According to legal powers, local authorities:• have the right to suspend work relations of local

civil servants; • have the right to suspend at the initiative of the

public servant of work relations local civil servants; • have the right to terminate work relations of local

civil servants; • have the right to terminate work relations of local

civil servants by the agreement of the parties,recorded in writing;

• provide the public release of a local civil clerk; • have the dismissal right of local public servants; • are notified regarding the resignation of local

public servants.

c. Measures of public servantsfrom local public administration

Public servants:

• may require suspension from their own initiativein the circumstances described above;

• may require termination of work relations byresignation;

• bring to attention, within the period prescribedby law, the incurrence a legal reason to suspendthe termination of work relationships (exceptdeath);

• inform superiors of any circumstances thatwould imply an incompatibility or a conflict ofinterest;

• comply with disciplinary liability regime, infrin-gement, civil or criminal penalties prescribed bythe laws in force;

• comply with the provisions of the Code ofConduct of civil servants and codes of conductspecific to authorities and local institutions;

• may challenge the sanctions imposed by theadministrative court.


Liability is disciplinary, civil, contravening, andcriminal.

In disciplinary matters, the legal framework inforce provides the following disciplinary offences ofclerks from local and central administration: • the systematic delay in carrying out work; • repeated negligence in solving work; • unmotivated absences from work; • repeated incompliance with the work program; • interventions or insisting for the settlement of

claims outside the legal framework; • breach of professional secrecy or confidentiality

within works with this character; • events which affect the prestige of the authority

or public institution in which they operate; • conducting political activities during working

hours; • refusal to carry out their duties; • violation of the laws relating to duties, incom-

patibilities, conflicts of interest and prohibitionsestablished by law for public servants;

• other facts provided as disciplinary offences inthe regulations of the civil service and publicservants.

Disciplinary sanctions applicable to the carryingout of disciplinary irregularities are:• written reprimand; • reduction of pay rights of 5 to 20% over a period

of up to 3 months; • suspension of the right to advancement in the

pay grades or, for promotion in public office fora period of 1 to 3 years;

• demotion in the steps of pay or demotion inpublic office for a period of up to a year;

• dismissal from public office.

Civil liability of public servants undertakes,where they have committed an infraction duringand in connection with the tasks of service in thefollowing circumstances:• damage made intentionally to the heritage of the

public authority institution in which theyoperate;

• they do not repay in the legal time of theamounts that were wrongly granted;

• for damages paid by the authority or publicinstitution, as the principal, to third persons,pursuant to a final and irrevocable juridical decision.

Contravening responsibility of public servants isset in if they have committed an infraction duringand in relation to the tasks of work.

Criminal liability of the public servant iscommitted for offences committed during service orin connection with the tasks of the public functionheld.

a. Measures of the centralauthorities

The central authorities, according to the normativeframework in force: • determine the legal framework regarding

responsibility of public servants that the rulesissued by the National Agency of the civilservants provide;

• ensure that the legal framework in force on theliability of public servants in respected, bycomplying with rules relating to the disciplinaryregime of public servants;

• ensure compliance with the regime of conflicts ofinterest that may arise in the exercise of publicfunctions (The public servant is in conflict ofinterest if he is called to make decisions or toparticipate in decision making process relating toindividuals and legal entities with which he hasrelationships of patrimonial right, if theyparticipate in the same committee, constitutedunder the law, with civil servants who have thequality of husband or first degree relative, if his,the husband or first degree relative’s economicinterests, can influence decisions to be taken inpursuit of public duties.)

• approve the composition of committees ofdiscipline within the public institution concerned;

• have the right to summon disciplinarycommittees to review disciplinary irregularitiescommitted by public servants;

• determine how the constitution is made,organization and functioning of the disciplinecommittees and the composition, powers, thecomplaint and working procedure at the proposalof the National Agency of public servants;

• prohibit clerks to access the public documentswho can influence research or, where appro-priate, have it temporarily moved in the other


5. The liability of public servants from local publicadministration

compartments or other authority or publicinstitution during the administrative research,where the public servant who has committed adisciplinary offence may influence administrativeresearch;

• the application of disciplinary sanctions recom-mended by a disciplinary committee;

• call ANFP to issue the administrative record forclerks investigated, as well as for members of thediscipline committee;

• establish by administrative act cancellation ofdisciplinary sanctions for public servants, underthe law;

• issue orders or provisions of imputation, within30 days after finding the damage, or, where appro-priate, by undertaking a commitment to pay;

• where the public servant is sent to trial forcommitting a crime, they suspend the publicservant from its function;

• move temporarily the public servant in anothercompartment or other structures without legalauthority or public institution, where the publicservant can influence the research of a crime.


Local authorities:

• ensure that the legal liability of civil servantsframework set by the central authorities isrespected;

• the leader of the authority or public institution,at the proposal of the hierarchical boss he isdirectly subordinated to, will appoint anotherpublic servant, who has the same level of trainingand experience, where there is a conflict ofinterest and the public servant announces it.

c. Measures of clerks from localpublic administration

Public servants:

• comply with the disciplinary regime of civilservants;

• comply with the duties appropriate to thefunction and the rules of professional and civicconduct provided by law;

• comply with the regime of conflicts of interestand incompatibilities of public servants;

• denounce any attempt to corrupt / influence theclerk to violate the regime of incompatibilitiesand conflict of interest;

• in the case of a conflict of interest, the publicservant is obliged to refrain from solving therequest, taking a decision or participating in adecision making process and inform thehierarchical superior as soon as possible. He isbound to take measures to ensure the impartialityof the civil service, no later than 3 days after thesituation is brought to his attention.

• Can address the claim department of theadministrative court, asking for the cancellationor alteration, as appropriate, of the order orprovision for punishment;

• if the public servant is considered an injuredperson in his right or in a legitimate interest, hemay address the court, under the law, against thepublic authority or institution that issued the actor refused to resolve the request of a subjectiveright or a legitimate interest. If the action ispermitted, and the public servant is found guilty,that person will be required to pay damages,together with the authority or public institution;

• avoid committing certain irregularities thatwould attract contravening liability of publicservants;

• the public servant may address a complaint to thecourt in whose domain is established theauthority or public institution in which thesanctioned public servant against the report forestablishing the contravention and application ofthe penalty;

• avoid committing acts that would involve civilliability, such as: production, with guilt, ofdamage to the heritage of the authority or publicinstitution in which they operate or not repayingwithin the legal time limit the amounts that werewrongly granted;

• the public servant can address the administrativecomplaint department of the court against theorder or the provision of imputation;

• avoid committing of crimes that could lead tocriminal liability of public servants;

• report the facts of violation of the law, asprovided by law as disciplinary offences, contra-ventions or crimes, in accordance with Law no.571/2004 on the protection of personnel frompublic authorities, public institutions and otherestablishments that report violations of the law.



The legal framework relating to information,cooperation and transparency is composed of: • Law no. 7 / 2004 on the Code of Conduct of civil

servants republished, with subsequent amendments; • Law 161/2003 with subsequent amendments;• Law no. 544/2001 on free access to information

of public interest, with subsequent amendments; • Law no. 52/2003 on decision-making transparency

in the public administration.



• ensure access to information of public interest, exofficio or upon request, through the compartmentfor public relations or the person designated forthat purpose;

• have an obligation to communicate ex officio theinformation of public interest;

• are obliged to ensure that individuals, at theirrequest, receive information of public interest,requested in writing or orally;

• have an obligation to organize specializedcompartments for information and publicrelations or to appoint persons responsible in thisarea and appoint public servants from subordi-nation to manage the relationship with the media;

• authorize disclosure of information that do nothave public character or re-submittingdocuments containing such information, at therequest of the representatives of other authoritiesor public institutions;

• have an obligation to provide publicity and todisplay the code of conduct on the premises ofthe authorities or public institutions, in a visibleplace through the compartments of publicrelations of the authorities and public institu-tions, in order to inform citizens;

• are in charge with protecting informationbelonging to the categories exempted of free access;

• are required to prepare and make public anannual report on the transparency of decision-making. (Annual Report on the transparency ofdecision-making will be made public by thedisplay at their headquarters in an area accessibleto the public or by public presentation in thepublic meeting.);

• have the obligation to provide to the publicityoffice a regular report of activity, at leastannually, which is published in the OfficialMonitor of Romania;

• have the obligation to publish and updateannually a newsletter, which contains theinformation given above.


Local authorities:

• apply the same legislative framework as thecentral authorities.

c. Measures of elected localrepresentatives and publicservants

Public servants:

• have the obligation to ensure a quality publicservice for the benefit of citizens, through activeparticipation in the decision-making process andtheir translation into practice, in order to achievethe powers of the authorities and the publicinstitutions;

• are required to have a professional behaviour,and to ensure, in accordance with the law,administrative transparency, in order to gain andmaintain public confidence in the integrity,impartiality and effectiveness of the authoritiesand public institutions;

• are prohibited: § to express in public feedback inconsistent

with the reality about the activity of theauthority or public institution in which theyoperate, with its policies and strategies orprojects of normative or individual acts;

§ to make unauthorized feedback about thepending disputes and in which the publicauthority or institution in which they operateare involved;

§ to disclose information that does not havepublic character, in conditions other thanthose prescribed by law;

§ to disclose the information they have access toduring the exercise of their function if thisdisclosure might draw undue advantages or toinjure the image or the rights of theinstitution or of any civil clerk, as well as thoseof individuals or legal entities;

§ to provide assistance and advice to individualsor legal entities by promoting legal actions orof other nature against the State or publicauthority or institution in which they operate.

• must adopt an impartial and justified attitude forthe clear and effective resolution of the citizens’problems;

• are required to specify the conditions and formsin which the access to information of publicinterest is made and provide the information

6. Information, cooperation and transparency

requested on the spot, for those informationrequested verbally;

• have the obligation to respect the principle ofequality of citizens before the law and publicauthorities, through: § promoting similar or identical solutions

reported to the same category of cases; § elimination of all forms of discrimination

based on nationality issues, religious andpolitical beliefs, material status, health, age,gender or other issues.

• must comply with the limits of the mandate ofrepresentation entrusted by the leader of theauthority or public institution in which theyoperate when they are designated to participatein activities or public debate, in official quality;

• can participate in activities or public debate, withthe obligation to make known the fact that theview expressed does not represent the officialview of the public authority or institution withinwhich they operate, when they participatewithout a mandate from the institution;

• are prohibited to allow the use of their name orimage in advertising activities for the promotionof commercial activities, as well as electoralpurposes;

• are prohibited to promise that decision will bemade by the authority or public institution, byother clerks as well as fulfilling attributions inprivileged manner;

• can not use in private interest symbols that arerelated to the exercise of their functions ordignity;

• are prohibited to use or to allow others to use thename accompanied by the function of the personin public posts, in any form of advertising;

• are prohibited to use or to allow to use the publicimage, name, signature, voice of the personexercising public functions, for any form ofadvertising, for an activity that brings profit,except free publicity for charitable purposes;

• are prohibited to use or direct and indirectexploitation of information that are not public,but obtained in connection with the exercise ofthe powers, in order to obtain benefits forthemselves or for others;

• have an obligation to promote a favourable imageof the country and authority or public institutionthat they represent, when participating in theframework of international organizations,education institutions, conferences, seminars andother activities of international nature;

• are forbidden to express their personal views onissues of national aspects or internationaldisputes in relations with representatives of otherstates;

• are obliged to have a proper conduct towardsrules of protocol and are prohibited to infringelaws and customs of the host country, whentravelling outside the boundaries;

• are prohibited to use, for purposes other thanthose prescribed by law, the powers held publicoffice.

Bibliography Law no. 188/1999 on the status of civil servants,

republished with subsequent amendments Law no. 215/2001 of public local administration,

with subsequent amendmentsLaw no. 544/2001 on free access to information of

public interest Law no. 52/2003 on decision-making transparency

in the local administrationLaw no. 7 / 2004 on the Code of Conduct of civil

servantsLaw no. 571/2004 on the protection of personnel

from public authorities, public institutions andother establishments that report violations of thelaw

GD. no. 611 / 2008 for approval of rules on theorganization and development of the career ofcivil servants

Law nr.161/2003 on some measures to ensuretransparency in the public dignity of publicfunctions and in the business environment,prevention and punishment of corruption, withsubsequent amendments

GD. 609/2008 for the approval of the nationalanticorruption strategy on vulnerable sectors andlocal public administration during the period2008-2010

GD. 1268/2008 on amending and supplementingGovernment Decision no. 1344/2007 on rules oforganization and functioning of the committeesof discipline

GD. 1344/2007 on rules of organization and functio-ning of the committees of discipline, withsubsequent amendments

Law no. 554/2004 on administrative litigation, withsubsequent amendments

Law no. 7 / 2004 (r1) Code of Conduct for publicservants, with subsequent amendments

Methodology on the organization and functioningof one-stop-shop services in the local communityfor person’s evidence

Order no. 37/2005 on the information of publicinterest and secrets of service

Order no. 4500/2008 to establish a unitaryframework for methods of completion andtransmission of data and information relating tocompliance with the standards of conduct bypublic servants and to implement disciplinaryprocedures


a. Measures of the local authorities

Local authorities establish the general frameworkfor the administrative transparency and access toinformation based on: • budgets and financial documents should most of

all be available to the public• it is not necessary for one to manifest an indivi-

dual interest about a certain set of information inorder to access it, therefore any interested personmay solicit the right to access public interestinformation

• there are strict terms concerning official repliesto the solicited information

• controlling bodies have absolute and immediateaccess to any information they solicit as a need offulfilling their obligations

• there are well defined sanctions for the acts whichbreak the law in what concerns the transparencyof decision and access to public information

• it is forbidden to classify as state secrets the infor-mation, data or documents with the intention ofhiding illegal acts or administrative errors,limiting the access to public information, illegallyrestricting the manifestation of one’s rights orprejudicing other legitimate interests, as well asfavoring or hiding the obstruction of justice

• the information regarding personal identificationdata of a citizen may become of public interest onlyif it affects the capacity of exercising a public function

• public information of personal interest may notbe transferred between public authorities unlessthere is a legal obligation preceded by the writtenapproval of the one holding the information

• access to information of public interest is free ofcost

• in case the request is not in the frame of compe-tencies of the institution or public authority, itwill be sent to competent institutions orauthorities within 5 days and the solicitor will beinformed about the transfer

• public access to proof and the procurement ofdocuments and copies is not a means of gettingan honorarium; local authorities are not trying toincrease their revenue with it, nothing more thanwhat’s necessary for public access to proof andcovering the costs for these copies

• the cost of copying services will go to the solicitor• the bodies or persons responsible with directly

informing the public keep evidence of the repliesand receipts of the solicitors for covering thecosts of copying the requested materials

• for public access to information of public interestdisseminated ex officio, information anddocumentation centers will be organized at theheadquarters of each institution or publicauthority

• at the level of the Presidential Administration,the working body of the Chamber of Deputiesand the Senate, the working body of theGovernment, the ministers, the other specialbodies of the central public administration, themain headquarters of the autonomous officesand the other central public institutions, as wellas at the level of the autonomous administrativeauthorities, the prefects’ institutions and theregional and local councils, the existentcommunication structures will be reorganized in


Chapter 5

Model initiatives regardingtransparency, access to information and administrative procedures

This chapter represents a collection of norms regarding transparency, access toinformation and administrative procedures identified during the analysis conducted onpublic ethical issues at a local level. In order to be a precise and concise practice similar tothe Model of Initiatives of the Council of Europe, this was conceived according to thestructure and chapters of the manual before mentioned.

The present chapter may be used separately from the other parts of the package ofmodel initiatives; nevertheless, for a better consistency, one should go through the otherchapters as well.

1. Transparency and access to information

departments of information and public relations;it is compulsory that they include at least onepublic information office and one publicrelations office

• access to information of public interest commu-nicated ex officio is gained:a.) by displaying it at the headquarters of the

authority or public institution, by posting it inthe Official Monitor of Romania, through mass-media, in own publications or on own web page

b.) by consultancy in centers of information anddocumentation at the headquarters of theauthority or public institution, in speciallydesigned offices

• the displaying at the headquarters of theauthority or public institution is the minimumcompulsory method of broadcasting informationof public interest communicated ex officio, incase of all authorities and public institutions

• authorities and public institutions have theobligation of informing mass-media aboutconferences or any other events in useful time

• authorities and public institutions are cannotinterdict the access of mass-media to publicactions by any means

• public authorities obliged by their own law offunctioning to run specific activities in the pre-sence of a public must allow the press to attendthose activities; when the materials designed bythe press are made public, only professionaldeontology will be taken into account

The Romania Ombudsperson

• Can address to public authorities, requestinginformation, documents or papers concerningthe complaints received from citizens injured intheir rights and liberties by the authorities of thepublic administration

• Public authorities are under the obligation tocommunicate and to make available to theRomanian ombudsperson, the requestedinformation and documents, offering thenecessary support

• Requests to the public authority in question,whenever it notices a violation of the citizens’rights and liberties, to take measures in order toeliminate the illegalities, to repair the damagesand to reinstate in rights the injured person

• Informs the petitioner in what concerns the factsor acts that have been notified or solved

• Can act out of its own will or ex officio when itfind out in any other way that citizen rights andliberties have been violated by an authority of thepublic administration.

• Notifies the qualified instance of administrativesolicitor’s office whenever it appreciates the

illegality of the act of the refusal of the admi-nistrative authorities to fulfill their attributionaccording to the law in force.

The Prefect’s Institution

• Can ask for the reanalysis of the acts with a viewto modify or cancel it, in the situation when theexistence of an illegal administrative act is notices,act issued by the local or county council, or by themayor in his quality of superior civil servantappointed by the prime minister, as being therepresentative of the Government at local level

• Can request public information also toassociations and foundations of public utility,documentation, data and information, whichthey are under the obligation to provide as soonas possible and free of charge

• It ensures, through its specialty compartment therelation with the media and the application of thelegal provisions regarding the free access toinformation of public interest

• Solves requests, petitions and claims filed bycitizens

• Is under the obligation to post a schedule withaudience for citizens

• Is under the obligation to release extracts orcopies of papers from the prefect’s institution’sarchive, expect those containing informationclassified as state or service secretes

• The normative orders issued by the prefect arepublished and become executor only after theyhave been made public

• The order with individual character issued by theprefect become executor the moment they havebeen communicated to the interested persons

• Must communicate the order issued to themanagers of the public institutions hierarchicallysuperior to the deconcentrated public service

• Directly attacks to the administrative solicitor’soffice the papers issued by local publicauthorities, if it considers them illegal

• Must fulfill the following obligation designed fora better functioning of the unique office:a) To cooperate with the local councils and offer

support, within the limits of its competences,for ensuring the development of the activitiesof unique office in optimal conditions

b) To make available for local communal publicservices for the evidence of persons allnecessary information for informing thepublic and the civil servants who conducttheir activity within the unique office,regarding the competences of the qualifiedauthorities to issue the papers in question

c) To verify through its own staff, especiallydesignated, as well as based on the


notifications received, the fulfillment of theconditions provided by the legislation and,depending on the case, to notify the localcouncils on possible dysfunctions noticed infulfilling these conditions;

d) To support, within the limits of its owncompetences, the authorities of the localpublic administration for the exclusion of thedysfunctions notices, as well as for theexclusion of those notices for the exclusion ofwhich it requests its support

e) To offer specialty assistance to local communalpublic services for the evidence of thepopulation through specially designedpersonnel who will participate to the activitiesconducted within the unique office

f) To support, at request, the personnel thatconducts its activity within the unique office,in solving special situations, identified whenreceiving the requests and the issue ofdocuments;

g) To organize meetings at the level of specialistsin specific fields, aimed at facilitating mutualinformation concerning the problems iden-tified in exerting their own attributions and ofthose implying collaboration between them.

The Public Ministry

• Notifies the qualified instances of administrativesolicitors whenever they consider that theviolations of rights, liberties and legitimateinterests of the persons have been caused bysome unilateral individual administrative actsemitted by administrative authorities through anexcess of power

• Can act out of its own will whenever it noticesthat by the emission of a normative administra-tive act a public legitimate interest is prejudiced

• Central authorities encourage and support theefforts of the local authorities to increasetransparency in the local administration

• The National Electronic System, as aninformational system of public utility, with aview to ensuring the access to public informationand providing of computerized public services tonatural and legal persons, facilitates the followingservices by electronic means:

• The declaration, notification and payment byelectronic means in what concerns taxes whichmust be paid by natural and legal persons to localbudgets;

• Services of job finding by means of recruitmentagencies

• Services for obtaining authorizations and certificates• Services for obtaining functioning licenses• Services for obtaining environment licenses

• Services for public acquisitions by electronicmeans (any contracting authority, as it is definedby law, is under the obligation to make availableto the natural of legal person interests, thecontracts of public acquisitions);

• Services for consulting the Official Journal ofRomania


Local authorities establish clear normsconcerning transparency and access to information,as it follows:• The activity of the local authorities is based,

among others, on the principles of transparencyand of free access to information of public interest,as well as on the principle of citizen-orientation

• The administrative transparency is provided as aprinciples not only for the relations betweenadministration and the citizen, but also for thestandards of professional conduct o civil servants;

• Local authorities inform the citizens on theadopted measures

• At the level of decentralized structures of theauthorities and central public institutionsinformative and public relations offices will beorganized and the attributions in what concernsthe relation to the press and the direct informingof the people will be separately fulfilled byspecially appointed persons

• At the level of the communes the attributions inwhat concerns the relation with the press and thedirect informing of the persons can be fulfilled bya person specially appointed for this by the localcouncil

• The local authorities establish a list with theirown information considered to be of publicinterest that they publish ex officio

• The local authorities establish a list with theirown information classified as state or servicesecretes, setting different levels of secrecy,without limiting the free access of the citizens toinformation of public interest

• As much as possible, the public information isavailable on the Internet; any authority or publicinstitution must have a personal website

• The information provided by the office concernmatters regarding the organizational structureand financial matters of public authorities, witheach public institution having the obligation toupload and annual update them in aninformative brochure

• Local public authorities are under the obligationto make public ex officio a periodic activityreport, at least annually, which is published in theOfficial Journal of Romania, third part.


• In order to ensure the access of the media toinformation of public interest, the authoritiesand public institutions are under the obligationto appoint a spokesperson, usually within theinformation or public relations compartments.

• The archives and administrative folders are keptso as to ease public access to them, allocating asufficient number of staff for this activity

• There are limitations justifies by the need toprotect personal data of certain people ororganisms (other local organisms, the RomanianOmbudsperson, the press) for which there is aspecial access to information;

• There are disciplinary penalties for inobservanceof the norms regarding decisional transparency

• The sessions of local elected organisms take placein public; therefore, the documents and theinformation regarding the procedures and theirdecisions are available to the public, except thecase when exceptional situations impose theprotection of personal or confidential data

• In the administrative-territorial units where anational minority holds a percentage of at least20% of the total number of the population, theinformation communicated ex officio will also besent in the language of the minority in question.

• Within the local communal public services ofevidence of persons the unique office isorganized that has to function in everycommune, city and municipality in which theseservices are constituted

• The way of organizing and functioning of theunique office is established by the local councilsunder the control of which the local communalpublic services of evidence of persons areorganized

• The authorities of the local public administrationmust mediate by all means they have at hand theexistence of the unique offices, their attributions,the address of the places they work in and theschedule of the work with the public.

c. Measures of the local electedrepresentatives and of the civilservants from the local publicadministration

• They observe the right to access to officialinformation and do not try to hide informationthat could or should be made public;

• They treat appropriately, by observing theprinciple of confidentiality, all information anddocuments obtained within the fulfillment orregarding the accomplishments of task and mustnot abuse of them;

• They will not try to access information theyshould not have access to

• They will not disseminate information aboutwhich they do not know whether they are true orhave reasonable doubts to believe that they arefake or wrong.

• They will not disclose information that are notconsidered to be of public interest, but to whichthey have access through the nature of theirfunction

• They do not limit the liberty of persons to haveaccess to information of public interest

• They will observe the terms provided by law foranswering requests of public interest

• They will not refuse explicitly or tacitly the freeaccess to information of public interest, exceptunder the disciplinary sanction entailed by thiskind of breach

• They will allow the free access of the people thatwant to take part to public sessions, within thelimits of the maximum capacity of the roomsspecially allocated for those events

• They will strictly solve the petitions passed tothem by hierarchic superiors and will not take forsolving works directly from the petitioners

• Will not insist, make promises or pressures witha view to solve the petitions in question in acertain manner

• They will supervise the solving and elaboration interm of the answer to the petition

• The inobservance of legal terms or the unjustifiedrefusal to solve a request and, consequently therefusal to apply the law of free access toinformation of public interest is punished, as it isconsidered disciplinary misconduct and thusentails the liability of the civil servant

• If the refusal or the information will becommunicated, but with an overrun of the legalterms, the one guilty for the delay cannot beabsolved of disciplinary responsibility

• The civil servant that limits the completeexertion of the rights provided by law by thecitizens can be sanctioned;



a. Measure of central authorities

Central authorities constitute the general frame-work for administrative procedures, as it follows:• ensures to the persons, at their request, the access

to information of public interest written orverbally requested

• Write an answer to the requests for informationof public interest in 10 days time, or, dependingon the case, in no more than 30 days from theregistration of the request, based on the diffi-culty, complexity, volume of the documentarywork and the urgency of the request. If the lengthof the identification and the communication ofthe requested information are over 10 days, theresponse will be communicated to the personhaving requested it in maximum 30 days, withthe condition that they will be announced inwriting about this fact in 10-days time.

• Denial of the communication of the requestedinformation will be justified and communicatedin no more than 5 days from the receipt of thepetition.

• The information of public interest requestedverbally will be communicated during a mini-mum schedule established by the administrationof the authority, which will be displayed at itscentre and will be deployed compulsory duringthe institution’s functioning, also including oneday per week, after the functioning schedule.

• The information of public interest requestedverbally by the media will be communicated,usually, immediately or in no more than 24 hours.

• It organises periodic press conferences, usuallyonce a month, to make known the informationof public interest.

• During the press conferences the publicauthorities are obliged to respond regarding anyinformation of public interest.

• Grants credential without discrimination tojournalists and the media representatives.(Credential is granted in a 2-days term from itsregistration)

• Public authorities and institutions have theobligation make available for interested personsthe privatisation contracts signed after theenforcement of the present law, by consulting atthe centre.

• The tacit approval procedure as an alternativemodality to emit or renew licences by theauthorities of public administration applies to alllicences emitted by the authorities of publicadministration, except those emitted in the

nuclear activity domain, those regarding thepolicy for fire weapons, ammunition and explo-sives, the policy for illegal drugs and precursors,as well as the licences in the national securitydomain; licence emitting procedures; licencerenewal procedures; re-licensing procedurespursuant to the expiry of the licences’ suspensionterm or fulfilling the measures set by thecompetent control authorities.

• The authorities of public administration areobligated to resolve the licence claim in a 30-daysterm since the claim has been filed.

• The authorities of public administration qualifiesto emit licences are obliged to display at theircentre or on their own Internet page, for everytype of licence, standard forms which have to befilled in or the necessary papers in view ofrespecting this procedure.

• The negative response of the competentauthority of public administration, in legal termfor licence issuance, does not equate with tacitapproval.

• In case an abnormity of filed documentation isobserved, the authority of public administrationwill notify the petitioner about this fact with atleast 10 days before the legal term for the licence’sissuance in question expires, if this term is morethan 15 days, or with at least 5 days before thelegal term for licence’s issuance in questionexpires, if this term is less than 15 days.

• The authority of public administration willspecify there the way to remediate the observedabnormity.

• After the legal term for in question licence’sissuance expires and in the absence of a writtencommunication from the authority of publicadministration, the petitioner can conduct theactivity, provide the service or exert theprofession for which the licence was requested.

• Whenever the authority of public administrationin question does not respond or refuses to issuethe requested official document through whichconduction of an activity, providing a service orexerting a profession is permitted, the petitionercan address the legal instance according to thetacit approval procedure.

• Whenever the instance observes the fulfilment ofthe conditions regarding the tacit approval, it willtake a decision through which it obliges theauthority of public administration to issueofficial documents through which the petitioneris permitted to conduct a certain activity, providea service or exert a profession.

2. Administrative procedures

• Whenever after obtaining the official documentthrough which conduction of an activity,providing a service or exerting a profession ispermitted, the authorities of the publicadministration notices the unfulfillment ofimportant conditions provided for the emissionof the licence the document cannot be cancelled,instead the holder will be notified, in no morethan 3 months since the date of expiry of thelegal note for the emission of the licence, thenoticed abnormities, the way to remediate all theidentified deficiencies, as well as the term withinthe holder has to respect this obligation. (Thisterm cannot be less than 30 days)

• The authority of the public administration willcancel the official document through whichconduction of an activity, providing a service orexerting a profession is permitted, grantedaccording to the tacit approval procedure,whenever the unfulfillment of certain conditionswhich bring serious prejudice to public interest,national security, order or public health isnoticed and which cannot be repaired or whenthe identified deficiencies have not been repairedwithin the legal term.

• Against the administrative paper which cancelsthe official document, the holder can address thequalified administrative solicitor’s office.

• The qualified authorities of the public adminis-tration have the obligation to control the wayactivities are being conducted based on the tacitapproval and can take the necessary legal measures.

• Extraordinarily, the Government can establish, atthe justified proposal of each interested authorityof the public administration, derogations fromthe application of the tacit approval procedure.


At the level of each municipality, local authoritiesestablish standards for the administrativeprocedures based on the following norms:• naming one person within the institution to be

responsible for the relationship with civil society, toreceive proposals, suggestions and opinions ofthe persons interested in the normative actproposed; the announcement on the elaboration ofa project on a normative act will be made public atleast 30 days before, in order to be analyzed,approved and adopted by the public authorities

• the initiating authority or public institution hasthe obligation of transmitting the announcementabout the elaboration of a normative act for thebusiness environment to the business associa-tions and other legally constituted associations,on specific domains of activity

• the public authority is obliged to decide uponorganizing a meeting to publicly debate on thenormative act initiated, if requested in writtenform by a legally constituted association or anyother public authority

• announcing ordinary or extraordinary meetingsof the local or regional council by posting it at theheadquarters on informative panels or throughmass-media or on websites; the agenda of themeeting will be made public through mass-mediaor any other means

• the meetings of the Local Council are public,except the cases when the councilors decide bymajority that it should take place in private; at apublic meeting, the topics concern the following:local budget, public and private administration,participation to development programs, organi-zation and development of urban territory,association and cooperation with other publicauthorities, non-governmental organizationsand Romanian or foreign juridical persons

• the meetings of the Local Council are public,except the cases when local councilors decide bymajority to have it otherwise; the minute of thepublic meeting, together with the vote of eachmember, except the cases when the vote is secret,will be posted at the headquarters and publishedon the website

• at the works of the council, other public local(president or representative of the regionalcouncil etc) or central (members of theParliament, the Government, secretaries etc)authorities, civil servants (prefect, heads ofpublic services at a local or regional level etc) orpersons invited by the mayor may also take part

• the points of view presented at the publicmeetings by the guests or the persons attendingby their own initiative are taken as recommen-dations and the public authority must analyze allrecommendations made towards that specificnormative act

• public authorities are obliged to elaborate andarchive the minutes of the public meetings;whenever it is necessary, public meetings may berecorded; the recordings will be made public atrequest

• in case of regulating a situation which imposesthe adoption of an immediate solution, out ofextraordinary circumstances, in order to avoid anoffense to public interest, the projects of nor-mative acts are adopted under emergency regime

• public authorities are obliged to write an annualreport on the decisional transparency and makeit public on own website, by posting it at theheadquarters in a space accessible to the public orby presenting it in a public meeting


• when an administrative procedure is initiated,one must mention the responsible department,communicate the name, function andadministrative address of the contact persons; theinformation has to be sent to all interested partiesat the beginning of the procedure and in any latercorrespondence with those persons

• disrespecting the terms may bring administrativerepairs or require the intervention of a judge; theinstitution or public authority will not bereleased from the obligation of paying moraland/or material damages to the solicitor for thebreaking of law

• local authorities guarantee that the evidence ispreserved so that it can be easily accessed andused by the public and the investigating bodies

c. Measures of the local electedrepresentatives and of the civilservants from the local publicadministration

• The manager of the public authority will appointa person from the institution, responsible withthe relation with the civil society, who will receiveproposals, suggestions and the opinion ofinterested persons regarding the project ofnormative act initiated by the public authority inquestion.

• The councilors are under the obligation toperiodically organize meetings with the citizensand to offer audiences during the exertion oftheir mandate

• Each councilor must present an annual activityreport, which will be made public by thesecretary

• The mayors and vice-mayors are forbidden toemit an administrative act or to conclude a legalact or to give a decision, during the exertion oftheir function that would entail a personalmaterial benefit or a material benefit for theirspouse of first degree relatives.

• The administrative acts issued or the legal actsconcluded or the decisions take by violating theprevisions above mentioned are declaredabsolutely null.

• If, as a consequence of the control over thelegality of the juridical acts concluded or emittedby these persons, it results that the local electedrepresentative had material benefits, the prefectwill decide, depending on the case, thenotification of the organisms of penalinvestigation or of the qualified commissions forthe investigation of the wealth for the declaration

and control of wealth.• At the same time any interested person can

notify, in a written format the prefect in whatconcerns the facts mentioned above.

• The person that is considered injured in one ofthe rights or in a legitimate interest as aconsequence of the existence of a conflict ofinterests, can address to the qualified legalinstance, according to the law, depending on thenature of the issued or concluded act.

• The persons exerting a public function,irrespective of the way they were appointed,within public authorities and institutions, beingable to take part to decision making or toinfluence decision making, within publicservices, have the obligation to declare, in nomore than 30 days since the receipt, any direct orindirect donation or any gifts received which areconnected to the exertion of their functions orattributions, expect those who have symbolicvalue.

• Civil servants must not ask or receive gifts,services, favors, invitation or any kind ofadvantages which are personally address, or arefor their family, parents, friends or people withwhom they have had business relations or ofpolitical nature that can influence theirimpartiality in exerting the public functions heldor can constitute a reward connected to thesefunctions.

• The act of the civil servant because of which theauthority of the public administration has notanswered within the term established by law,applying the procedure of the tacit approval foroffering or renewing a license is sanctioned, andit can entail the material, civil or legal liability ofthe civil servant

• The act of the civil servant who, being aware ofthe request of licensing and of its documentation,intentionally refuses to solve the request withinthe term provided by law and lead to theintervention of the presumption of the tacitapproval represents a criminal offence and ispunished with prison from 1 to 5 years.

• It is forbidden to persons exerting a publicfunction to use or exploit directly or indirectlythe information that are not public, obtainedduring the exertion of their attributions, with aview to obtain advantages for them or for others.

• It is mandatory for persons with managementfunctions and control functions to declare theirwealth and also for civil servants, as well as theprocedures of the control of their wealth whenthere is concrete evidence that certain goods andvalues have not been earned legally.

• The persons mentioned above are under the


obligation to update their wealth declarationannually. They file an interests declaration ontheir own account regarding the functions andthe activities they are conducting, except thoseconcerning the mandate or the public functionthey are exerting

• The functions and activities that are included inthe interests declaration are:

• The functions held within associations, founda-tions or other nongovernmental organization orpolitical parties

• The remunerated professional activities• Their quality of shareholders or associate/partner

in a commercial company, including banks orother credits institutions, insurance and financialcompanies.

• These persons will update their interestsdeclarations everything chances occur. The nameof the persons that unjustifiably fail to file theirinterests declaration according to the legislationin force, is published on the websites of theinstitutions in which they regularly conduct theirprofessional activity

• The citizens can sue the public authority,through the solicitor’s office, if it bringsprejudices to the rights provided by law, and incase their refuse or delay unjustifiably, can file anadministrative complaint

• If the administrative complaint has no effect,they can address to the tribunal. Against thedecision of the tribunal, they can make an appealto the Court of Appeal

• The evidence of the interests declaration is noteddown in a special register, named “the Register ofinterests declarations, the model of which isestablished through a Government decision.

Bibliography

LegislationLaw No. 544/2001 regarding free access to

information of public interest, with thesubsequent modifications and completions.

Methodological norm of application of the law no.544/2001 regarding free access to information ofpublic interest.

Law no. 52/2003 regarding decisional transparencyin public administration, with the subsequentmodifications and completions.

OUG no. 27/2003 regarding the tacit approvalprocedure, with the subsequent modificationsand completions.

Law no. 281/2006 regarding the local public admi-nistration, with the subsequent modificationsand completions.

Law no. 340/2004 regarding the prefect’s institution,with the subsequent modifications and completions.

OUG no. 179/2005 for the modification andcompletion of the law no. 340/2004 regarding theprefect’s institution.

HG no. 1844/2004 regarding the prefect’s specialtybody.

Law no. 35/1997 regarding the Romanian Ombuds-person institute and the Romanian Ombuds-person set of regulation and functioning.

HG no. 246/2006 for the approval of the nationalstrategy regarding the acceleration of thecommunal service of public utility development.

The frame law for decentralisation no. 195/2006Measures programme to fight against bureaucracy

in public relations activities, updated version on09/12/2005.

Romanian Government’s updated strategy regar-ding the acceleration of the public administra-tion reform 2004-2006

Law no. 161/2003 regarding some measures forensuring transparency in exerting public posts,public functions and in the business environ-ment, preventing and punishing corruption,,with the subsequent modifications and completions.


General framework

There is a legislative framework for public acqui-sition contracts that: • Establishes the principles, framework agreements

and general procedures for granting publicacquisition contracts;

• Promotes competition between economic opera-tors, guaranteeing equal and non-discriminatorytreatment; ensure transparency and integrity ofthe public acquisition through the effective use ofpublic funds by applying granting procedures,regardless the persons’ nationality or country inwhich he is established;

• Establishes the procedures for granting a publiccontract based on the values of these publicacquisition contracts;

• Sets criteria that disqualify potential suppliers:they may include conflicts of interest, not havinga specified proportion, a lack of financialcredibility and experience in the field or presenceon the national list of companies and personsdisqualified;

• Established rules to ensure confidentiality andprotection of trade secrets and intellectualproperty of the bidders regarding acquisitionprocedures.

• Sets up a system of electronic public acquisitiontenders at a national level;

• Preparing and distributing standard requests foracquisition procedures, specifications, publicacquisition contracts and other documents to beused by local authorities;

• Assures the necessary technical and financialmeans for publishing lists containing individuals

and consolidated companies penalized for viola-tions of rules relating to public acquisition contracts;

• Encourages the local authorities to apply newtechnologies and, in particular, means of electro-nic communication to public acquisition proce-dures by: providing these new technologies,establishing platforms for transactions andapplications for the auction and ensuring the mainapplications, financial aid for the local investing innew technologies and training their staff.



• plan public acquisitions, implement public acqui-sition procedures, grant contracts and administerpublic acquisition contracts;

• the planning process of necessary public acqui-sition is performed through the following steps: o identify the objective needs of the contracting

authority; o analysis of each opportunity to meet

identified needs and prioritize those needs; o identification procedure for the acquisition to

be applied; o elaboration of an Annual program of public

acquisitions; o obtaining all necessary approvals; o establishing a work schedule for each

application procedures.• Carry out the following activities, after determi-

ning the procedure to be applied for a specificacquisition:


Chapter 6

Model initiatives regarding relationswith the local private sector authorities

This chapter presents best practice regarding relations with the local private sectorauthorities, identified in the analysis of public ethical issues at the local level. Centraland local authorities should recruit practices that might be relevant to their specificsituation.

This chapter has been designed so that it can be used separately from other parts of thepackage of model initiatives; however, for better consistency the other chapters should beconsulted.

1. Public acquisition contracts concluded by the authoritiesfor the supply of goods, services and public works

o Developing a attribution documentation; o Formation of an evaluation committee or a

jury; o Drawing up a notice / invitation to participate

or ad regarding the procedure and trans-mitting it for publication, as appropriate, inthe Official Journal of the European Union,the Electronic System for Public Acquisitionsor in the Official Monitor of Romania;

o Receive and evaluate tenders; o Designation of a winning bid.

• After the evaluation committee or jury reviewedthe bids received, it awards the contract to thetendered declared winner on the basis oftechnical and financial proposals contained inthe offer (by applying one of two possible criteriafor the award, provided by the law framework ofacquisitions: the offer with the most economicadvantages or the lowest price).

• The award of the contract is formalized throughthe preparation and publication of a notice ofaward.

• Most of the documents used during theprocedure and award of the public acquisitioncontract are part of the public acquisition file,compulsory drafted by the contracting authority,having public nature.

• Against the development of public acquisitionprocedures, any person who believes injured inhis right or in a legitimate interest, by an act ofthe contracting authority, in violation of laws inthe field of public acquisition, has the right useone of the remedies provided by law (theopposition action in court).

• Contest is sent to the National Council forSettling Disputes (CNSC), the body withadministrative and juridical activity, which worksalongside the National Authority for Regulatingand Monitoring Public Acquisitions (ANRMAP).o the administration of the contract involves

going through certain stages by the centralauthorities:

o a management of expected results; o a relationship between contractor and

contracting authority; o legal, financial, accounting aspects of

managing a contract; o using information within a contract to

improve the public acquisition process. • Based on documents and information from the

public acquisitions files, authority is required tocomplete an annual report on public acquisitioncontracts awarded in the previous year, to be sentto the National Authority for Regulating andMonitoring Public Acquisitions (ANRMAP),usually in electronic form no later than 31 Marcheach year.

• After completion, the service provider, the workcontractor, and products provider must offer theauthority a report on the implementation of thecontract. Based on this report, and also on otherinformation available, the contracting authoritycan make an overall assessment of how execution(realization) of the contract was carried out andhow the services were rendered, work performedor products supplied.

• They establish procedures for rapid and fairresolution of complaints and appeals; forresolution of complaints, the injured part has theright to address the National Council for SettlingDisputes.

• In the public acquisition domain, there are threecentral institutions that ensure control of thelegislation implementation:o The Court of Accounts, verifies economies,

effectiveness and efficiency of publicacquisition;

o ANRMAP, aiming to ensure a framework forimplementing correctly the legislation ofpublic acquisitions;

o Ministry of Public Finances,, realizes theverification of procedural aspects adherent tothe attribution process of contracts that areunder the incidence of legislation regardingthe attribution of public acquisition contracts.

b. Measures of local authorities:

Provide clear documentation needed on thepurpose of the contract and on the auction andselection conditions;• Establish a task notebook that mandatory

includes technical specifications (the technicalspecifications must allow any tenderer equalaccess to the attribution procedure and must nothave as outcome the introduction of unjustifiedobstacles capable of restraining competitionbetween economic procedures) withoutinfluencing compulsory national technicalregulations, as long as they are compatible withcommon law, the contracting authority has theobligation to define the technical specifications;

• Set up the objectives of the selection procedures:quality, cost, total time allocated, continuity,risks, sustainable development, work place andenvironment protection etc.;

• Establish precise, objective, quantifiable, certainselection criteria, facilitating as much as possiblethe achievement of specified objectives;

• Define clearly the rights and obligations ofcontracting parties;

• Ensure sufficient personnel for organizing in acorrect manner the acquisition procedures;


• Inform the disqualified officers on the reasons oftheir disqualification;

• Evaluate the auctions only through theperspective of the specified objectives and theselection criteria previously established;

• Enquire for specialist and interested parties;opinions and what the general public desires,before launching the invitation for a majorcontract, thought organizing a public debate inwhich citizens, experts, business people andrepresentatives of municipal opposition areinvolved.

• As many times as possible,, employ the electronicmeans of communication in order to spreadinformation regarding public contracts, publicacquisition file; the public acquisition file has theform of a public document;

• Have the obligation to exclude from the appliedprocedures for attributing the public acquisitioncontract any offerer/candidate regarding whomthey have knowledge that, in the last 5 years wascondemned through the irrevocable decision of ajuridical court, for the participation at the acti-vities of a criminal organization, for corruption,for fraud and/or money laundering.

c. Measures of local electedrepresentatives and publicservants

Local representatives:

• Do not participate at the organization of auctioninvitations and, especially, cannot be part ofcouncils and committees of selection if they ortheir family members have a personal gain fromthe contract attribution;o Do not discriminate between tenders, especially

when it comes to supplying informationregarding the auction invitation;

o Do not attempt to influence the members ofthe councils all select committees in thefavour or against one or more tenders

o Decline any personal benefits (expensive gifts,excessive hospitality, paid trips etc.) offeredby firms or individuals that wish to concludea contract with institutions or local publicauthorities;

Public servants:

• Report to their superiors and/or to the statutoryauthority supervising any disorder in theselection procedure;o By all means try to avoid any conflict of

interest and, if one should occur, disclose itand withdraw from the procedures;

o Can purchase a good belonging to the privateproperty of the state or the territorial-administrative units, sold according to theprovisions of the law, with the exception ofthe following cases :

o When they have been informed during or dueto fulfilling their work tasks, about the valueor quality of the goods that are to be sold;

o When they have participated, while caring ontheir duties, at the organization of the sale ofthat good;

o When they can influence sales operations orwhen they have acquired information closedto the persons interested in buying the good;

o Are forbidden to supply informationregarding public/private property goodsbelonging to the state or the territorialadministrative units, subject to salesoperations, granting or rental, in conditionsothers than those provided by law;

o Must ensure protection of public/privateproperty and of territorial administrative units,must avoid prejudice from occurring, by actingas a fair owner, regardless the situation;

o Are obliged to use a working hours, as well asa goods belonging to the authority or thatpublic institution only with the purpose tocarry on the activities adherent to the publicposition they possess;

o Must propose and assure, according to theirattributions, the efficient use of public funds,as provided by law



General framework

• Public utilities services are the responsibility ofthe local public administrations authorities andare set up, organized and administrativeaccording to the decisions adopted by thedeliberative authorities of the administrativeterritorial units;

• Establishment, development, rehabilitation,improvement of technology works of publicutilities systems, such as revision works,overhauling and remediation of damages arepublic utility works: that delegation ofadministration of a public utility service is donewhen administrative saw real unit attributes toone or more licensed operators, either theadministration of a service itself all or of anactivity from the public utilities aria of which heis responsible, as well as the concession of thattechnical municipal infrastructure adherent to it;

• The delegation of administration of a publicutility service implies the rights and obligationsof the operator to administrate and exploit thepublic utilities system adherent to theservice/activity delegated;

• The delegation of administration can be carriedon by the inner community developmentassociations with the object of activity/services, inthe name of or on behalf of the member andadministrative territorial units, on the basis of aproxy granted by them;


Central authorities

• The government ensures the fulfilment of generalState policies in the field of public utility services,according to the Governance program and theobjectives of the National Social EconomicalDevelopment plan of the country through :o Approval and actualization of the National

strategy regarding community public utilitiesservices

o Guiding the local public administration autho-rities through setting up, organizing, exploitingand administrating effectively the public utilityservices, respectively for the rehabilitation,modernization and development of technicalurbanistic infrastructure of cities;

o Granting governmental subsidies for obtai-ning internal and external credits necessary

for the development of technical urbanisticinfrastructure of local or regional interests;

o Granting transfers from the budget for thedevelopment of technical urbanisticinfrastructure of the local, inter-communityor regional interests, by respecting theSubsidiary and proportional principles

• The government exam as periodically the state ofthe public utility services and establishesmeasures for sustainable development andincreasing quality, according to the requests ofthe users and the city’s needs, on the basis of thespecific sector strategies;

• The government supports local public adminis-tration authorities through administrative, thelegislative and finance-economical measures,with the purpose to develop and improvequantity and quality of public utilities servicesand to assure function and exploitation in safetyconditions and the economic efficiency of thetechnical urbanistic infrastructure adherent .

Ministry of interior andadministrative reform

• Exercises functions of analysis, synthesis, deci-sion, coordination, monitoring and planificationat a central level for the field of, in the position ofspecialized central public administrationauthority, and the following attributes :o Elaborates and promotes the National

strategy of communitarian and public utilitiesservices;

o Elaborates and promotes the sector strategieson the medium and long run regarding thedevelopment of public utility services and thetechnical urbanistic infrastructure adherent:

o Initiates, and promotes law projects, thegovernment decisions and other normativeacts for its field of activity;

o Fundaments, gives a notification and coordi-nates, at the central level, the establishment ofpriorities when allocating financial govern-mental resources for the services area;

o Monitors, centralizes and evaluate theaccomplishment of performance indicatorsfor communitarian public utilities services;

o Coordinates and the monitors the implemen-tation of governmental investment programsin the communitarian public utilities servicessector;

o Elaborates policies of restructuration, reorga-nization and privatization of suppliers of goodsand services founded by the local public

2. Delegation Of public services in the private sector

administration authorities, through consultingpublic local administration authorities;

o Notify normative act projects elaborated byother authorities of the central publicadministration that have implications andconsequences on the activities specific tocommunitarian public utilities services;

o Initiates and proposes measures for perfectingthe institutional and legislative frameworknecessary for consolidating the decisional andmanagerial capacity of the local publicadministrations authorities regarding thesetting up, the organizing, the coordinatingand control over the function of communi-tarian public utilities services, as well as whatconcerns administration and exploitation oftechnical urban infrastructure adherent;

o Collaborates with organizations and similarauthorities from other countries andrepresents the government in internationalrelations regarding communitarian publicutilities services;

o Collaborates with the central and local publicadministration authorities possessingattributions and responsibilities in the field ofcommunitarian public utilities services orrelated to them;

o Solicit information from ministries, otherauthorities of the central and local publicadministrations, as well as natural and legalpersons, regarding specific activities ofcommunitarian public utilities services;

o Supply information regarding specificactivities of communitarian public utilitiesservices to other authorities of the central andlocal public administration.

Other central authorities

• A.N.R.S.C., A.N.R.E. and A.R.R. as regulatingauthorities

• A.N.R.S.C. is the competent regulating authorityfor the following public utilities services :

• Water supply• Sewerage system and used water disposal• Collecting directing and evacuating rainwater;• Producing, transporting, distributing and

supplying thermic energy within a centralizedsystem

• Sanitary engineering of cities;• Public illumination• Administration of public and private domain of

administrative-territorial units• Local public transportation, according to the

competences granted by the special law.• A.N.R.S.C., according to the competences

granted by the law in force, issues licenses,

elaborates methodologies and frameworkregulations for the field of public utilities servicesof its area of reglementation and for their marketand monitors if the law applicable to the servicesis respected and implemented.

• Production of heat in cogeneration is subject tolicensing, regulation and control ANRE

• A.R.R. is the regulatory authority responsible forlocal public transportation services and, accor-ding to the competence granted by legislation,elaborates methodologies and develops theframework regulations for public transport ofpersons, grants licenses of transport, controlsand monitors compliance of legislation on roadtransport by the operators, and the conditionsimposed by the transport licenses.


• base their decisions of delegating public servicesfulfilling only the public interest and on the basisof clear and reliable data and in particular on therelationship cost / benefit for users andcontributors;

• the delegation of services must not jeopardize thefundamental rights and freedoms of persons,securities or other legal principles of goodadministration (including the right of the publicto be consulted on issues that concern them, needto motivate decisions and the right to appeal)

• determine the duration of contracts of delegationof services in relation to the need of operators todevelop policies and offset investments, but alsowith the need to encourage improvement ofefficiency and thus to guarantee the renewal ofthe contract (usually a period of between five toten years should satisfy both requirements);

• after deciding the amount of the public costs thatshould be covered, they finance that side,primarily by collecting damages for specificconstraints of “public service” (cover peripheralareas, deducted fees and costs, etc.);

• identify any hidden subsidy (assured location,tax concessions etc.) an take these into accountwhen evaluating the management and grant it onthe basis of clear decisions;

• with the assistance of the central authorities,encourage operators to improve efficiencythrough the use of sure relevant indicators(establishment of references), to makecomparisons with other operators working insimilar conditions and publishing the results,particularly on the Internet;


• advertise the criteria underlying the decision todelegate a service and the choice of operator, andalso the results of any assessment.

• have exclusive competence in everything regar-ding the establishment, organization, coordi-nation, monitoring and controlling the operationof public utilities, as well as the creation,development, modernization, management andoperation of public or private assets of territorial-administrative units, adherent to systems ofpublic utilities.

• In exercising their powers and duties incumbenton them in the sphere of public utilities, localgovernment authorities make decisions.

• legal relationship between local government andusers, established under the provisions of the presentlaw, are legal relationships of an administrativenature, subject to legal norms of public law.

• The local public administration authorities havethe following obligations towards users of publicutilities: o to provide a management and administration

of public utilities services based on criteria ofcompetitiveness and economic efficiency andmanagement, aimed at achieving complianceand performance indicators of serviceestablished by the delegation of managementcontract, respectively by the decision ofputting under administration, in the case ofdirect management;

o to develop and approve their own strategies toimprove services and development of publicutilities services, using the principle ofmultiannual strategic planning;

o to promote a development and / or rehabilita-tion of technical-urban infrastructure adherentto the public utilities sector and programs forthe protection of the environment againstpolluting activities and services;

o to adopt measures to ensure funding of techni-cal-urban infrastructure related to utilities;

o to consult user associations to establishpolicies and local strategies and ways oforganizing and running the services;

o to inform the users, on a regular basis, on thestate of public utilities and developmentpolicies of them;

o to mediate and resolve conflicts between usersand operators, at the request of the parties;

o to monitor and control the compliance withobligations and responsibilities assumed byoperators through contracts of delegation ofmanagement with respect to: compliance withperformance indicators and service levels,periodical adjustment of tariffs under theformulas for adjusting contracts negotiated atthe conclusion of delegating managementcontracts, exploitation efficiency and in safetyof systems of public utilities or other propertybelonging to public and / or private territo-rial-administrative units, affected to services,ensuring environmental and public domainprotection, providing protection to users .

• The public local administration authorities havethe right to unilaterally terminate the contracts ofdelegation of management services and toorganize a new procedure for the delegation oftheir management, if they find and proverepeated violations by operators of the contractobligations and if operators do not adoptmeasures to comply contractual conditions andto ensure achievement, in an established period,of assumed quality parameters.

• The public local administration authorities havethe following obligations to supply operators /service providers of public utilities: o to ensure an equal treatment for all operators,

whatever form of ownership, country oforigin, their organization and mode ofmanagement adopted;

o to a secure a competitive, transparent and fairbusiness environment;

o to respect commitments towards the operatorthrough the decision of putting in serviceunder management, and the contractualterms set by the delegation of management ofa service;

o assure necessary resources to provide fundingof technical-urban infrastructure for servicesaccording to contractual terms;

o Assure confidentiality of data and informa-tion on economic and financial activityoperators, other than public interest.




• The Government, through the Ministry ofEconomy and Finance, will prepare strategy inthe field of public investments, based onproposals of investment programs developed bythe main chief accountants of credit.

• Ministry of Economy and Finance is empoweredto establish the content, form and informationregarding the investment required in the processof drafting the budget.

• Ministry of Economy and Finance establishesthrough methodological norms the criteria forevaluation and selection of targets for publicinvestment.

• MEF will analyze the investment program fromthe point of view of complying with theestablished spending limits, fulfilling the criteriaof selection and prioritization and differing ofbudgetary credits depending on the duration ofthe execution of goals.

• MEF coordinates the monitor of the entireinvestment program, purpose for which it willrequire chief accountants to present thenecessary information.

• The main chief accountants of credit will presentthe annual public investment program, based onthe functional classification.

• The main chief accountants of credit willtransmit for each target of investments includedin the investment program the financial andnon-financial information.

• Technical and economic documentation relatedto public investments are made on the basis offoreign loans contracted or guaranteed by thestate, regardless of value, are subject togovernment approval.

• Value limits regarding the powers of approval oftechnical and economical documentation ofobjectives of new investment can be changed bythe decision of the Government, depending onthe evolution of price indexes.

• Technical-economic documentation related toobjectives of new investment funding, accordingto the law, from public funds are approved by theGovernment, the main or other chiefaccountants;

• During the budget execution the main chiefaccountants will follow the progress ofinvestment, in accordance with the provisions ofthe law at force, and will prepare quarterlymonitoring reports, which they will transmit tothe Ministry of Economy and Finance.

• In the event that during the investment,problems in implementing an objective occur,the chief accountant will record in the monitorreport the cause and the necessary measures toremedy it.

• If, for objective reasons, implementing aninvestment project is not feasible under thebudgetary projection, the main chief accountantsmay require the Ministry of Economy andFinance, until October 31, the redistribution offunds between projects enrolled in the programof investment Annex to the budget.

• The main chief accountants are responsible forthe achievement of investment targets includedin the investment programs.


• Expenditure for public investment and otherexpenses of investment financed from publicfunds are comprised in the projects within thebudget, on the basis of the public investmentprogram of each administrative-territorial unit,created by the main chief accountants, which ispresented in the development section as theAnnex to the initial budget and, ratified, andapproved by deliberative authorities.

• The main chief accountants of credits of localbudgets prepare annually a public investmentprogram based on functional classification.

• For each goal included in the investmentprogram are given financial and non-financialinformation.

• technical-economic documentation of newinvestments’ objectives, which have ensured fullfinancing or in completion from local budgets aswell as those funded from internal and externalloans, contracted directly or guaranteed by localpublic administration authorities, are approvedby the deliberative authorities.

• technical-economic documentation of newinvestment objectives, that are funded fromexternal loans and, in addition, from transfersfrom the state budget and from other sources, aswell as those funded wholly or in completionfrom foreign loans contracted or guaranteed bystate, regardless of value, are subject togovernment approval.

• For investments designed to prevent or avert theeffects of incidental actions or natural calamities,economic and technical documentation, as wellas the background notes on other investment

3. Owning stocks


expenses included overall position, costs ofinvestment developed and approved according tothe laws, are approved by the main chiefaccountants, with the immediate informing ofdeliberative authorities.

• The main chief accountants, on their ownresponsibility, update and approve the value ofany new investment objective regardless of thesources of financing or the competence of theirapproval, depending on the evolution of priceindexes. This operation is subject to ownfinancial preventive control.

• In case that, during budget execution, for objec-tive reasons, implementing an investmentproject is not feasible under budgetaryprojection, the main chief accountants of localbudget may propose the deliberativeauthorities, until October 31, the redeploymentof funds between projects registered in theinvestment program.

• The main chief accountants are responsible forthe efficient use of funds allocated to invest-ments, as well as the achievement of investmentsobjectives included in the investment program.


• Principles on which privatization based regardensuring the transparency of the process ofprivatization, the sale made at the market pricedetermined on the basis of supply and demandratio, taking into account all elements of the offerto purchase, the institution of the special admi-nistration procedure during the privatizationperiod; insurance of equal treatment for allbuyers; realization of restructuration programsbefore privatization, with emphasis on transfer ofassets, in particular the social ones, reconsideringthe debt of the enterprise to increase its activityhaving as goal privatization.

• In the case of delegated management, concessionsupplies and public / private or territorial-administrative units of the public utilitiessystems, used for the supply / provision ofservices and / or activities which are subject todeployment of management, is intrinsically partof delegation contracts management; these goodsare transmitted operators / regional operators tobe managed and exploited during thedeployment of management through one of theways provided by art. 30 of the law in force, alongwith the administration itself of the services and/ or delegated activities on the basis of thedelegation of management contract

• Public and / or private goods of territorial-administrative units of the public utilitiessystems, used for the supply / accomplishment ofservices may be: - data administrated and exploited by opera-

tors, based on the decision of giving theadministration - in case of direct management;

- granted to operator under the law, based onthe decision to award and the contract ofdelegation of management service - in thecase of delegated management.


• Operators /providers / suppliers of services ofpublic utilities subordinated to local adminis-tration authorities, having the status ofcompanies with capital of the territorial-administrative units, may be privatized, underthe law, provided the object of activity is kept atleast 5 years after privatization.

• Decision on privatization and choice of methodof privatization belong to the local council,county council, the General Council of Bucharestor association of community development, asappropriate, depending on the operator’ssubordination.

• Privatization is organized and operates inaccordance with the procedures within the law inforce, based on a task notebook.

• Goods made in the investment programs of theterritorial-administrative units belong to thepublic domain of administrative-territorial units,if they are financed from public funds, or re-enter public ownership as return goods, if theywere made with private funding in theinvestment programs undertaken by the operatorby the contract of delegation of servicemanagement at its expiry.

• The objectives of public investments specific tothe technical-urban infrastructure adherent toservices of public utilities, involving funds fromlocal budgets, transfers from the state budget orcommunity funds, promoted by local publicadministration authorities or, if necessary byassociations of inter-communal developmentwith the aim of offering public utilities services,in the name and on behalf of member territorial-administrative units, they are nominated withinannual lists of investments annexed to the localbudgets, respectively of associations communitydevelopment with the aim of offering public

4. Privatization of public enterprises

utilities services, as appropriate, and areapproved along with them through the decisionof deliberative authorities of territorial-administrative units or, if necessary, of thegeneral meetings of the association.

• Aims of investment are accomplished incompliance with the laws in force on theelaboration, notification and the approval ofdocuments of execution, of the laws in force onauthorizing the execution of construction works,as well as the documentation of urban andregional planning in accordance with the law.

c. Measures of elected localrepresentatives

• local representatives can not occupy the positionof manager or member in the board of autono-mous administrations or manager of companiesset up by local councils or county councils;

• local councils and county councils decide thatassets belonging to public or private domain, oflocal or county interest, where appropriate, beput under management of autonomous admi-nistration and public institutions, to be granted

or to be hired; they decide on buying goods orthe sale of assets belonging to the private domainof local or county interest, under the law in force;

• the local / regional councils determine entry intomanagement, concession or rental of goodsbelonging to public, communal or city property,where appropriate, as well as the public servicesof local interest,under the law in force; decidethe sale, concession or renting goods belongingto communal or city property, as appropriate,under the law in force; pursue, analyze andmonitor their activities, exercise, in the name ofadministrative-territorial unit, all rights ofshareholders in companies that they haveestablished; decide on the privatization of thesecompanies; call and released from office, underthe law in force, members of the Board ofAdministration by autonomous administrationsunder their authority;

• the sale, concession and rental shall be made bypublic auction, organized under the law;

• against the auction, till the time of the award, anyinterested person can contest at the law court inwhose territorial radius auction takes place;

• A contest suspends that auction until its finalsettlement.



• The Government carries out national programsfor development in order to stimulate further theassociation of territorial-administrative units andto increase their administrative capacity, fundedannually from the state budget by the Ministry ofInterior and Administrative Reform;

• In the Chambers of Parliament, PresidentialAdministration, apparatus of Government,Institution Ombudsman, the autonomous admi-nistrative authorities, ministries, the other bodiesof central public administration authorities andlocal public function structures for relationship swith the associative environment; and therewhere such structures are lacking, they are goingto be constituted.

• The public authorities mentioned above shallconsult with representatives of associations andfoundations operating in their area ofresponsibility, in order to establish programs orjoint activities.

• administrative authority has the obligation toprovide consulting of the constitutive act and of

their status, as well as activity reports and annualfinancial statements to any interested person andan obligation to communicate to the competentadministrative authority any changes in thesedocuments;

• administrative authority has the obligation toprovide consulting of these documents to anyinterested person;

• after their establishment, associations, foundationsand federations concerned will ask theautonomous administrative authorities,ministries, other special bodies of central publicadministration and authorities of local publicadministration to be taken in their records,depending on the area in which they operates.

• public authorities are obliged to keep track ofassociations and foundations which haveaddressed them in this purpose.

• recognition of public utility confers theassociation or foundation the right to apportionfor free use public property assets, the obligationto communicate to the competent administrativeauthority any changes to the act of constitutionand the status, as well as activity reports andannual financial statements;

5. Relations with the non-profit sector


• Granting licenses for the supply / services publicutilities come in the sphere of competence of thecompetent regulatory authorities.

• Licensing is done by committees formed for thispurpose, at the level of public administrationauthorities.

• Regulations on granting licenses to operators ofpublic utilities are developed by the regulatoryauthority in whose jurisdiction they are it and areapproved the decision of the Government or bythe Minister of Transportation, Constructionsand Tourism, as appropriate.

• Participation operators to procedures for delega-ting management of public utilities organized bythe local public administration authorities or, asappropriate, by the development inter-communal associations with the aim of offeringpublic utilities is permitted only under licenseissued or recognized, as appropriate, by thecompetent regulatory authorities.

• Possession of a license is required, regardless ofthe type of management of services adopted atthe local public administration authorities, aswell as legal status, type of organization, thenature of capital, property type or country oforigin within EU of operators.

• Providing services public utilities is permitted onlyunder license issued or recognized, as appropriate,by the competent regulatory authorities and acontract of management delegation, respectivelythe decision of putting in administration.

• The license issued by the competent regulatoryauthorities is valid up to 5 years from the date ofissue and entitles the operator, during its validity,to an unlimited number of participations in theprocedures of awarding contracts by delegatingthe management of services, organized andconducted under the legislation in force.

• The license may be suspended or withdrawn asfollows:

6. Issuance of licenses / authorizations and certificates(in particular those relating to urban planning)

• to recognize the public utility permanently;where the association or foundation no longermeets one or more of the conditions that formedthe basis of recognition of public utility,government, at the proposal of the competentadministrative authority or of the Ministry ofJustice, will withdraw the recognition act;


• deliberative authorities may approve theassociation or collaboration to achieve works andlocal public services.

• collaboration or association is made on the basisof contracts of association, which providefinancing sources representing the contributionof each local administration authority involved.

• contracts association end by the main chiefaccountants, under the mandates approved byeach local council involved in co-operation orassociation.

• deliberative authorities may decide on theparticipation with capital or assets, in name andin the interests of local communities that theyrepresent, at the establishment of companies orthe setting up of services of public local or countyinterest , as appropriate, under the law in force.

• deliberative authorities may decide on theparticipation with capital or assets, in name andin the interests of local communities that they

represent, at the formation of associations ofcommunity development, within limits andunder the conditions of the law, in order toachieve joint projects of local or regionaldevelopment, of local or regional interest andjoint provision of public services.

• Associations of community development arefunded through contributions from local budgetsof the member territorial-administrative units,from other sources attracted from other sourceson the basis of projects, loans or public-privatepartnerships, under the law in force.

• Financial obligations resulting from cooperationagreements, twinning or accession of territorial-administrative units to domestic associationsorganized at the national level or at internationalorganizations with legal authority, agreed bydeliberative authorities, under the law in force,are support by their local budgets.

c. Measures of elected localrepresentatives

Elected local representatives:

• do not arrange for or against associations; thecouncil decisions should be based only onobjective reports regarding the associationsseeking or already have received grants; thesereports should be public and available to all.

a) by the Romanian regulatory authority issuinglicenses in the case of licenses granted toRomanian operators;

b) by the Romanian regulatory competentauthority, in the case of suspension of licensesof operators licensed in a foreign country.

• Operators of the European Union countries thatown licenses in their native country, recognizedby the Romanian corresponding regulatorybodies, have the same rights and obligations asRomanian operators, throughout the duration oflicenses.

• Withdrawal or termination of the license validityattracts revocation of the decision of giving theadministration or the decision on awarding thecontract of delegation of management, asappropriate, and leads to the organization of anew procedure for selecting an operator, underthe law in force.

• Withdrawal of the license is notified to theoperator at least 90 days before, period in whichthe operator concerned is obliged to supply /provide the service under the contract.

a. Measures of the central authority


• The planning of the territory and city planning atthe national level are coordinated by theGovernment, which establishes, in relation to thecontent of Government Programs priorityprograms, guidelines and sector policies.

• Ministry of Development, Public Works andHousing is a specialist agency of the Governmentin the territorial arrangement and urbanismdomain, having in this position the followingpowers:

• developing a plan for arranging the nationalterritory;

• developing a Plan of regional territory arrange-ment, which is the basis of regional developmentplans;

• drafting a general urbanism plan;• to endorse draft regulations programs on

territory planning and urbanism; • collaboration with the ministries, and other

bodies of central public administration, forsubstantiation, in terms of territorial and urbanarrangement, of strategic sector programs;

• a collaboration with the regional developmentcouncils, county councils and local councils, aswell as tracking the way in which the governmentprograms are applied and guidelines in theterritorial and urban arrangement domain atregional, county and local level;

• an endorsement documentation of territoryarrangement and urbanism, according tocompetences established by the present law;

• in fulfilment of his powers,Ministry ofDevelopment, Public Works and Housing usessummary information at the national level fromall areas of economic and social activity;

• ministries and other organs of the central publicadministration are obliged to provide the Ministryof Development, Public Works and Housing, atrequest, information necessary for the activities ofterritory arrangement and city planning;

• Ministry of Development, Public Works andHousing may require the local administrationauthorities to develop or modify a documen-tation of territorial arrangement or urbanism,with a view to deepening, detailing or theapplication of provisions contained in thestrategic sector programs of the government, atwell as for respecting general interests of the state.

b. Measures of the local authority

• In territorial arrangement and urbanism, countycouncils are supported by the Ministry ofDevelopment, Public Works and Housing, andother ministries and agencies of central publicadministration.

• The County Council may ask local councils todevelop or update a documentation of territorialarrangement or urban planning, to ensure theapplication of provisions contained in thedevelopment of the county programs; theapplication shall be transmitted to the localcouncil, accompanied by exposure of the reasonsthat have lead to the decision of the board andthe deadline to draft or amend documentation.

• In fulfilment of his powers in the Territorialarrangement and urban planning, county counciluses synthesized information at county levelfrom all fields of economic and social activity.

• Ministries and other organs of the central publicadministration are obliged to provide with a freetitle the information in their fields of activity forthe territory of that specific county, and the localcouncils are obliged to provide information onthe economic and social development and urbanplanning of villages.

• Local Council coordinates and is responsible forthe work of urban planning unfolded on theterritory of the administrative-territorial unitand ensures compliance with the provisionscontained in documentation of territorialplanning and urbanism approved, for theprogram of development of urban of villagescomponents,the commune or town.


• Local Council cooperates with the local countycouncil and is supported by it in the territoryarrangement and urban planning.

• Local Council cooperates in the process ofdrawing up the development of urban localitiesprogram with institutions, businesses,organizations and NGOs of national, county orlocal interest.

• In fulfilment of his powers in the territorialarrangement and urban planning, the localcouncil uses information from all fields ofeconomic and social activity.

• Decentralized public services of ministries andother central agencies, the economic agencies andnon-governmental organizations that operatelocally are required to provide free informationfor activity planning of territory arrangement andurban planning at the local level.

• Application of the approved documents ofterritory arrangement and urban planning areensured by issuing the certificate of urbanism.

• Certificate of urbanism is the act of compulsoryinformation, through which the publicadministration or local county’s administrationmake public the legal, economic and technicalregime of buildings and the conditions necessaryto achieve certain investments, real estatetransactions or other real estate operations,according to the law.

• Issuance of urbanism certificate is required forthe award, by auction, of works of design andexecution of public works and for thelegalization of documents of disposal, partitionor aggregation of property. In the case of sale orpurchase of real estate the urbanism certificatecontains information on the urban conse-quences of the juridical operation, the request ofthe certificate of urbanism being optional in this case.

• Urbanism certificate is issued at the request ofany applicant, natural or legal person who maybe interested in knowing the data and regulationsto which the immovable property is subject to.

• Urbanism certificate is issued by the sameauthorities of local administration authoritieswho, according to the competences set bylegislation, issue permits for the building.

• Urbanism certificate is issued to the applicantwithin 30 days from the date of the applicationregistration.

• Duration of validity of the certificate of urbanismis determined by the issuer under the law, inrelation to the importance of area and of theinvestment.

• Issuing incomplete urbanism certificates, withinaccurate data or breach of the provisions

contained in documentation approved attractsdisciplinary administrative, contravening, civil orcriminal prosecution, if necessary, according tothe law.

• Within the own device of the county, municipalor city board and within that of the GeneralCouncil of Bucharest is organized and operates,according to the law, specialized structures in theterritorial arrangement and urban planning, ledby chief architect of the county, the city ortown,respectively the chief architect of Bucharest.

• In order to improve the quality of the decisionrelating to sustainable development at local andcounty level, besides each district council,municipal and city hall, and respectivelyBucharest City Hall, a technical commission ofterritorial arrangement and urban planning mayestablished, an advisory body with powers toadvise, give technical expertise and consultancy.

• Technical commission for territorial arrange-ment and urban planning notices from atechnical point of view the documentation onplanning and urbanism, as well as studies orsurveys prior.

• Notices given by technical commission forterritorial arrangement and urban planning aresubject of deliberation and approval of countycouncil, the local council, and the GeneralCouncil of Bucharest, after the event.

• At meetings called to notice the technicalcommission for territorial arrangement andurban planning cannot participate in decision-making process members who have the quality ofauthor of documents - projects, subject toapproval.

• The initiative of elaborating documentation ofterritorial arrangement and urban planningbelongs to the local collectivises, through thedeliberative and executive authorities,government, as well as individuals or legalentities interested in regional planning anddevelopment of villages.

• Activities of territorial arrangement and urbanplanning, stipulated in the present Law, are fundedfrom local budgets of the territorial-administrativeunits, as well as from the state budget, through theMinistry of Development, Public Works andHousing, as well as by companies and individualsinterested in the development of a settlement orarea surrounding it.

• Local administration authorities are bound toprovide within the annual budgets funds fordeveloping or updating, as appropriate, ofterritory arrangement plans, urban planningplans and substantiation studies necessary todevelop them.


• To conduct joint activities territory arrangementand urban planning, for the achievement ofobjectives of general interest, councils can join or, ifnecessary, can collaborate, under the law, with legalentities or individuals in the country or abroad inthe purpose of attracting additional funds.

• The local administration authorities participateat the financing of territorial arrangement plans,urban planning plans that fall under the generalpowers of approval, and the pursuit of them,according to the law.

• Advising and approving the documentation ofterritorial arrangement and urban planning aredone by the central and regional authoritiesinterested.

• The central and local public administrationauthority ensures the organization and unfoldingprocess of participation of population withinactivities of territory arrangement and urbanplanning.

• Consulting population is the process by which itexpresses its options and opinions on theprogram of territory arrangement and urbanplanning, as well as those contained indocumentation of territory arrangement andurban planning, within the process ofelaboration and approval process, and is donethrough the publication of developmentprocedure of the ongoing consultation andcarrying out of the public investigation.




• vote laws that clearly define the characteristics ofpublic ownership and decide the procedure fortransfer from public ownership to the private one;

• help local authorities to train their staff inmanaging the assets;

• establish consistent systems of references, whichcan be used to compare performances betweenmunicipalities, ensuring greater transparencyand efficiency.


Local authorities:

• acquire the necessary experience for effectiveeconomic management of real estate goods,through recruitment and training of personnel;

• gather their immovable goods and classify themaccording to the variables that have relevance inmanagement purposes (eg, nature, use, technicalcharacteristics, the maintenance parameters, theamount insured, etc.);

• establish systems for data collection, to enablethem to measure the social impact of theirmanagement;

• in addition to mandatory accounting systems,they introduce accounting systems which provideaccurate information on costs and revenuesgenerated by the management of these assets(accounting systems of cost, control managementsystems, internal financial information systems);

• establish clearly transparent rules relating to thesale and rental of municipal property; transac-

tions with the economic purpose must begoverned by rules of public contracts;transactions that have primarily a social purposeshall be governed by rules that ensure that of thesetransactions benefit the most deprived persons,respecting the principles of good management;

• never make decisions with implications in urbandevelopment (transfer of public ownership inprivate property, reclassification of land to allowconstruction activity, the establishment ofinfrastructure and services etc.),only for thepurpose of maximizing the value of the asset orof the income derived from this good, but alwaysin the public interest.

c. Measures of elected localrepresentatives and publicservants of local publicadministration

• Local representatives should do everythingpossible to avoid conflicts of interest in managingreal estate good they are responsible of; if there isa conflict of interest, they need to mention it andnot take part in management decisions;

• Public servants are obliged to ensure protectionof public and private property of the state and ofterritorial-administrative units, to avoid anyinjury, acting in any situation as a good owner.

• Public servants are forbidden to provideinformation relating to the assets being public orprivate property of the state or of territorial-administrative units, subject to sales operations,concession or lease, under conditions other thanthose stipulated by law.

7. Management of public assets

Bibliography

GD. 766/1997 for the approval of regulations on thequality of construction

Law 350 of July 6 2001, on territorial arrangementand urbanism

Law no. 10/1995 concerning the quality of construction Law no. 51/2006 Community Services of public

utilities, with subsequent amendments Law no. 273/2006 on local public finances, with

subsequent amendments Law no. 500/2002 on public finance, with

subsequent amendments Emergency Ordinance no. 34/2006 concerning the

award of public contracts, awarded contracts ofpublic works and concession services contracts,with subsequent amendments

Methodology on criteria for evaluation and selectionof targets for public investment, the OfficialMonitor, Part I no. 627/2005

Regulation on granting of licenses in the field ofpublic utilities, Official Monitor, Part I no.531/2007

Regulation on supervision of how the award ofpublic procurement is made, concession forpublic works contracts and concession servicescontracts, the Official Monitor, Part I no.383/2008

Tools for monitoring public procurement guidelinesdeveloped by the PPI, the Center for LegalResources, Cornelius publishing house,September 2006


public ethics

Documents