LEGE no. 115 115 of 28 June 1999 (** republished) (* updated *) on ministerial responsibility * *) ((updated until 1 February 2014 *)
ISSUER
PARLIAMENT
--------------- _____________ ** **) Republicated pursuant to art. II of Law no. 90/2005 on approval Government Emergency Ordinance no. 3/2005 to amend and supplement Law no. 115/1999 on ministerial responsibility, published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 322 of 15 April 2005, giving the texts a new numbering. Law no. 115/1999 on ministerial responsibility was republished in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 334 334 of 20 May 2002. Law no. 115/1999 on ministerial responsibility has been amended and supplemented by: - Law no. 161/2003 on certain measures to ensure transparency in the exercise of public dignities, public functions and in the business environment, prevention and sanctioning of corruption, published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 279 of 21 April 2003, with subsequent amendments and completions; - Government Emergency Ordinance no. 24/2004 on the increase of transparency in the exercise of public dignities and public functions, as well as the intensification of measures to prevent and combat corruption, published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 365 of 27 April 2004, approved with amendments and additions by Law no. 601/2004 , published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 1.227 1.227 of 20 December 2004; - Government Emergency Ordinance no. 3/2005 to amend and supplement Law no. 115/1999 on ministerial responsibility, published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 116 of 4 February 2005, approved with amendments by Law no. 90/2005 , published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 322 322 of 15 April 2005. + Chapter I General provisions General provisions + Article 1 The government, in its entirety, and each of its members are obliged to fulfill their mandate in compliance with the Constitution and the laws of the country, as well as the governing program accepted by Parliament. + Article 2 (1) The Government shall respond politically only to the Parliament, following the vote of confidence granted by him on the occasion of the investiture. ... (2) Each member of the Government shall be jointly and severally liable to the other members for the work of the Government and its acts. ... + Article 3 (1) The political liability of the Government consists in its dismissal, following the withdrawal of the trust granted by the Parliament, by adopting a motion of censure, under the provisions of art. 113 and 114 of the Romanian Constitution, republished. ... (2) The Government and other bodies of public administration shall be obliged to present to the Chamber of Deputies and to the Senate, as well as to the parliamentary committees the information and documents required 111 111 para. (1) of the Romanian Constitution, republished, within a maximum of 20 days from the receipt of the request. ... (3) The government and each of its members have the obligation to answer the questions or interpellations made by deputies or senators, pursuant to art. 112 112 para. (1) of the Romanian Constitution, republished, under the conditions provided by the regulations of the two Houses of Parliament. ... + Article 4 (1) Within 15 days from the date of termination of the mandate of the Government or of one of the members, according to art. 106 and 110 of the Romanian Constitution, republished, they will present the situation regarding the management of the ministerial activity they responded to, as well as the ongoing problems, based on a teaching-reception protocol. ... (2) The structure and content of the protocol shall be established by Government decision *). ... _____________ * *) See Government Decision no. 2/2001 for the approval of the structure and content of the delivery-reception protocol drawn up by the members of the Government and the heads of the other specialized bodies of the public administration at the expiration of the mandate Romania, Part I, no. 3 3 of 5 January 2001. (3) The provisions of par. ((1) and (2) shall also apply to the heads of the other central and local public administration authorities from the date of their release from office. ... + Article 5 In addition to political liability, members of the Government may also respond to civil, contravention, disciplinary or criminal law, as the case may be, according to the common law of these subjects, in so far as this law does not contain derogatory provisions + Article 6 Within the meaning of this law, there are members of the Prime Minister's Government, ministers and other members established by organic law, appointed by the President of Romania on the basis of the vote of confidence granted by Parliament. + Chapter II Criminal liability Criminal liability + Article 7 (1) Enter under this law the acts committed by the members of the Government in the exercise of their office and which, according to the criminal law, constitute crimes ... (2) For the commission of other crimes, outside the exercise of their office, the members of the Government shall be responsible ... (3) Persons referred to in art. 6 are criminally liable for the acts committed in the exercise of their office, according to the procedural rules established by this law ... + Article 8 (1) It constitutes crimes and is punishable by imprisonment from one year to 5 years the following acts committed by the members of the Government in the exercise of their function: ... ------------ Part introd. a para. ((1) of art. 8 8 has been amended by section 4.2 1 1 of art. 71 of LAW no. 187 187 of 24 October 2012 published in MONITORUL OFFICIAL no. 757 757 of 12 November 2012. a) preventing, by threatening, violence or by using fraudulent means, exercising in good faith the rights and freedoms of any citizen; ... b) the presentation, in bad faith, of inaccurate data to the Parliament or to the President of Romania on the activity of the Government or of a ministry, in order to hide the commission of facts likely to affect the interests of the state. ... (2) It also constitutes crimes and is punishable by imprisonment from 3 months to 2 years or with a fine the following acts committed by a member of the Government: ... ------------ Part introd. a para. ((2) of art. 8 8 has been amended by section 4.2 2 2 of art. 71 of LAW no. 187 187 of 24 October 2012 published in MONITORUL OFFICIAL no. 757 757 of 12 November 2012. a) unjustified refusal to present to the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate or their permanent commissions, within the period provided for in art. 3 3 para. (2), the information and documents required by them within the information activity of the Parliament by the members of the Government, according to art. 111 111 para. (1) of the Romanian Constitution, republished; ... b) issuance of normative orders or instructions of a discriminatory nature on the basis of race, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, social category, beliefs, age, sex or sexual orientation, political affiliation, wealth or social origin, of nature to prejudice human rights. ... (3) The attempt of the facts provided in par. ((1) shall be punished. ... + Article 9 (1) In case of commission by the members of the Government of crimes in the exercise of their office, other than those provided in art. 8, the punishment provided by the criminal law for those crimes is applied. ... (2) In the cases provided in art. 7 7 para. ((1) and in art. 8, in addition to the main punishment, the complementary punishment of the prohibition of the right to occupy a position of public dignity or a public leadership position for a period of one year to 5 years will also be applied. ... ------------ Alin. ((2) of art. 9 9 has been amended by section 3 3 of art. 71 of LAW no. 187 187 of 24 October 2012 published in MONITORUL OFFICIAL no. 757 757 of 12 November 2012. + Article 10 The criminal liability is personal and it concerns each member of the Government, for the acts committed in the exercise of his office. + Article 11 The members of the Government shall be criminally liable for the acts committed in the exercise of their office, from the date of the swearing-in and until the termination of the office + Chapter III Procedure for prosecuting and prosecuting Procedure for prosecuting and prosecuting + Article 12 Only the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate and the President of Romania have the right to ask for the prosecution of the members of the Government for the acts committed + Article 13 (1) The debate on the proposal to start the prosecution in the Chamber of Deputies or in the Senate shall be based on the report drawn up by a permanent committee which, within its competence, carried out an investigation regarding the activity carried out by the Government or by a ministry or a special commission of inquiry set up for that purpose. ... (2) The report provided in par. (1) shall be entered as a priority on the agenda of the Chamber of Deputies or the Senate, as appropriate. ... (3) After the beginning of the criminal investigation, the member of the Government who is also a deputy or senator may be searched, detained or arrested only with the consent of the Chamber to which he belongs, after his obedience, in compliance with the provisions of 72 72 para. (2) of the Romanian Constitution, republished, and the rules of procedure contained in the Regulation of the Chamber of which it belongs. ... + Article 14 (1) In the proceedings of the two Houses of Parliament the presence of the person concerned is compulsory. The unjustified lack of the Government member does not prevent the works. ... (2) If the one in question is in objective impossibility to present himself, the Chamber of Deputies or the Senate, on the occasion of the debates, will set a new deadline. ... (3) The person concerned has the right to make his point of view on the act that is the object of the application to be prosecuted, as well as the request for the lifting of parliamentary immunity, when applicable. ... + Article 15 The request for prosecution of the members of the Government and, as the case may be, of lifting the parliamentary immunity shall be adopted in compliance with 67 67 and art. 76 76 para. (2) of the Romanian Constitution, republished. The vote is secret and is expressed by balls. + Article 16 (1) In exercising the right to seek the prosecution of a member of the Government, the President of Romania, on the proposal of the special commission established for the analysis of complaints about the commission of a crime in the exercise of the members of the Government, address to the Minister of Justice an application for this purpose, in order to proceed ... (2) The President of Romania is notified to request the prosecution of a member of the Government by the Prime Minister, the Prosecutor General of the Prosecutor's Office of the High Court of Cassation and Justice or the Chief Prosecutor of the National Directorate Corruption. ... (3) Any citizen who is aware of the commission of a criminal act by the members of the Government in the exercise of their office may address the Prime Minister, the Prosecutor General of the Prosecutor's Office of the High Court of Cassation and Justice or The chief prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, to request the complaint of the President ... (4) The special commission referred to in par. (1) consists of 5 members appointed for a 3-year term, which cannot be renewed, and its composition is approved by decree of the President of Romania, at the proposal of the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Administration and Interior. ... (5) Based on the analysis of the complaint, the evidence submitted in support of it, the statements and evidence invoked by the member of the Government against which the prosecution is requested, the special commission provided in par. (1) will present to the President of Romania a report with proposals on the prosecution or ranking of the complaint. The committee meetings are not public. The member of the Government for which the complaint was made has the right to be heard by the committee before the report is drawn up. ... (6) The President of Romania decides on the report presented by the special commission provided in par. (5) and shall provide the communication of the solution to the media. ... (7) If the member of the Government for whom the President of Romania has requested the prosecution is also a deputy or senator, the Minister of Justice or, as the case may be, the Prime Minister will request the competent Chamber to trigger the procedure for the adoption of of the prosecution. Art. 13 13-15 shall apply accordingly. ... (8) If the Minister of Justice is the one in question, the request shall be addressed to the Prime Minister. ... + Article 17 The President of Romania will be notified about the registration on the agenda of the meeting of the Chamber of Deputies or the Senate of the report provided for in 13 13 para. ((1). + Article 18 If one of the two Houses of Parliament or the President of Romania asked for the prosecution, the case file is immediately sent to the Minister of Justice or, as the case may be, the Prime Minister to proceed according to the law. + Article 19 The prosecution of members of the Government for acts committed in the exercise of their office shall be carried out, as the case may be, by the Prosecutor's Office of the High Court of Cassation and Justice or by the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, and their trial, by the High Court of Cassation and Justice, according to the law. + Article 20 If the prosecution against a member of the Government was requested, the President of Romania can order his suspension from office. + Article 21 If it was ordered the prosecution of a member of the Government, the Minister of Justice or, as the case may be, the Prime Minister communicates to the President of Romania the date on which the High Court of Cassation and Justice was notified, in order to suspend function of it. + Article 22 (1) In case of flagrant crimes, the persons referred to in art. 6 can be detained and searched. The Minister of Justice will inform the President of the Chamber to which the member of the Government or, as the case may be, the President of Romania ... (2) If the one in question is the Minister of Justice, the complaint provided in par. (1) shall be made by the Prime Minister. ... + Chapter IV Final provisions Final provisions + Article 23 (1) The rules of procedure provided for in this Law shall be supplemented by those contained in the Regulations of the two Houses of Parliament and in the Code of Criminal Procedure, in so far as this law does not have otherwise. ... ------------- + Article 24 (1) Until the final stay of the judgment of conviction, the persons referred to in art. 6 are considered innocent. ... (2) The final judgment of a member of the Government shall be published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I. ... (3) The member of the Government, convicted by a final court decision, will be dismissed from office by the President of Romania, at the proposal of the Prime Minister. ... + Article 25 (1) The present law shall enter into force within 30 days from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I. ... (2) On the date of entry into force of this Law, any contrary provisions shall be repealed. ... NOTE: We reproduce below art. II of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 3/2005 to amend and supplement Law no. 115/1999 on ministerial responsibility, approved with amendments by Law no. 90/2005 ,, which is not incorporated into the republished text of the Law no. 115/1999 and which continue to apply as own provisions of the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 3/2005 : "" Art. II. -Commission set out in art. 16 16 para. ((2) *) of Law no. 115/1999 , republished, with subsequent amendments and completions, shall be constituted within 30 days from the date of entry into force of this emergency ordinance. " _____________ *) Following the republication and renumbering of texts, art. 16 16 para. (2) became art. 16 16 para. ((4). -----
