The Romanian Constitutional Court found illegal a 2009 secret agreement by which the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) provided “technical assistance” to the Prosecutor General’s Office in ongoing investigations. When first asked about the existence of such an agreement in 2017, the National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA) – then led by Laura Codruţa Kövesi, who signed the agreement on behalf of the Prosecutor General’s Office – denied in a press statement the existence of any such agreement.
Under public pressure, the SRI declassified and published the agreement in March 2018. The Constitutional Court has now concluded that while both sides attempted to stay within the law, the agreement was still in breach of the law that allows the SRI to investigate only matters of national security. The issue sparked a major public debate in Romania, with defenders of the agreement saying the DNA would have been unable to close its high-profile cases because until 2016, state prosecutors and the police had only limited mandates to use wire-tapping, surveillance and other undercover investigation methods.
On the other hand, those on the side of rule of law said the agreement gave the secret service almost unchecked license to interfere in regular criminal investigations. But the entire issue is especially sensitive because it revived old fears – the SRI is the legal successor of Communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu’s infamous Securitate. It was, in fact, built on the existing structure and personnel of the former Securitate.
The Constitutional Court, however, expressly said in its ruling that court verdicts that included evidence gathered by or with the cooperation of the SRI remain valid. It also pointed out in its decision that Parliament – tasked with supervising the SRI – also has its share of blame for failing to keep tabs on the agency’s activities.
