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Regulations from 17 april 2002 on the Organisation and Functioning of the Institution of the Advocate of the Peoples*) Republished
Chapter I: General Provisions Art. 1 The Advocate of the People, hereinafter-called institution, shall be organized and shall function in keeping with the provisions of Articles 58-60 of the Constitution of Romania, of Law No 35/1997 on the organization and functioning of the Advocate of the People, amended and completed and of the present regulations.
Art. 2 The Regulations on the Organization and Functioning of the Institution of the Advocate of the People, hereinafter called Regulations, lay down the organizational structure, the powers of the specialist compartments, the legal proceedings for admitting and solving the applications, the status and disciplinary responsibility of the staff.
Art. 3 The provisions of the Regulations observe the provisions of Law No 35/1997 on the organization and functioning of the Institution of the Advocate of the People, with further modifications and extensions, and it is amended with the regulations applying to the specialist personnel and the contractual staff.
Chapter II: The Management of the Institution
Section 1: The Advocate of the People
Art. 4 The Advocate of the People administers the institution, by exercising his authority and competence as stated by the law and has the following powers: a) shall submit reports to the two parliament chambers, on an annual basis or on special request; b) shall exercise the legal powers as the supervisory authority of the personal data processing and may delegate these powers to other executives within the institution; c) shall issue the report on the his activity concerning the personal data protection, under the terms of Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council; d) shall sign the reports, points of view, objections and exceptions of unconstitutionality, the recommendations, as well as any other documents required by the institutions performance; e) shall approve the staffing schedules and the job description cards of the institutions staff; f) shall approve the organization of competitive examinations for filling the posts within the institution; g) shall appoint, promote, discharge from office the staff, according to the law; h) shall approve the staffs transfer from one department on to another; i) shall approve the staffs travels abroad; j) shall approve, guides and co-ordinates the professional training program for the specialist personnel; k) shall entitle the specialist personnel to perform some of his powers, for efficiency of the activity of the institution; l) shall approve the programming of the annual rest leaves; m) shall approve retribution of overtime work; n) shall establishe and approves the audience schedule; o) shall exercise any other powers that devolve upon him according to the law.
Art. 5 While exercising the powers relating to the internal activity of the institution, the Advocate of the People issues orders, instructions, methodological rules and regulations.
Section 2: The Deputies of the Advocate of the People
Art. 6 The Deputies of the Advocate of the People exercise the following powers: a) guide and co-ordinate the activity within their area of specialization; b) co-ordinate the activity regarding personal data protection; c) inform the Advocate of the People on the activity of the departments; d) distribute the petitions to the departments; e)endorse the reports, points of view on the unconstitutional exceptions, recommendations, as well as any other acts presented for the approval to the Advocate of the People; f) exercise, in the order the Advocate of the People has established, his powers, in case of temporary inability to perform his duties; g) carry out any other commission which the Advocate of the People may legally establish.
Art. 7 The qualifications for the appointment as deputy of the Advocate of the People are the following: a) graduated and university diploma in judicial, administrative, political or economic sciences; b) experience of at least 10 years in the positions as, for instance, judge, prosecutor, lawyer, notary, legal adviser, economist, police officer, or other assimilated positions; c) knowledge of one foreign language, attested by official documents; d) full capacity of exercise and well moral reputation; e) health state adequate for the function for which he/she runs; f) no criminal antecedents; g) no political affiliation;
Section 3: The Secretary General
Art. 8 (1) The Secretary General is appointed through an Order of the Advocate of the People, following a competitive or an individual examination in professional competence. Through commissioned executives, the Secretary General shall ensure fluency and efficiency of the institutions management and operational tasks, as well as effective communication within the institution. (2)The main powers and responsibilities of the Secretary General are the following: a) guides and shall be kept responsible for the activity of the subordinated compartments, and ensures the communication between the Advocate of the People and the heads of these compartments; b) collaborates with the Secretaries General of other public institutions; c) supervises and controls the drawing up of the periodical statistical reports of the Advocate of the People, stated by the provisions in force; d) supervises the enforcement of the decisions regarding the human resource management within the institution; e) organizes the administration of the institutions patrimony and takes measures to ensure its integrity; f) organizes acquisition and maintenance of equipment and establishes measures for the security and the proper employment of the institutions facilities and assets, through the specialized services assigned thereto; g) supervises contractual procedures in utility services (water supply, heating, electric power, telephone, etc.); h) conducts an annual inventory of the institutions property and submits to the Advocate of the People a report on this inventory; i) shall be responsible for the observance of the legal provisions on the utilization of the funds included in the revenues and expenses budget of the institution and for the drawing up of the annual draft budget; j) shall be responsible for the organization and the commissioning of the IT network of the institution; k) establishes measures to be taken regarding the circulation and the transfer of property; l) organizes the activity of fire prevention and extinction, as well as the activity of labor safety; m) shall be responsible for protocol and foreign relations of the institution, draws up and ensures the fulfilment of the foreign relations schedule; n) approves the inventory value of the books received free of charge ; o) exercises other powers stated by the law or entrusted to him by the Advocate of the People.
Chapter III: The Organizational Structure
Art. 9 (1)The organizational structure of the institution shall be presented in Annex No. 1, which is part of the present regulations. (2) Within the organizational structure, the Advocate of the People may pass specific orders to create temporary sections, services, offices, other categories of compartments or commissions, together with establishing the number of executive positions, as well as specific assignments and the necessary staff for each compartment, in accordance with the competence of the institution, as provided by the law. (3)According to the powers devolved upon him, according to law, the Advocate of the People will organize, territorial offices.
Art. 10 (1)The institution provides an Advisory Council, composed of the Advocate of the People, his deputies and counselors, the Secretary General, as well as other persons who are designated by the order of the Advocate of the People. (2)The Advisory Council shall be summoned by the Advocate of the People.
Art. 11 The audit activity shall be organized and performed under direct authority of the Advocate of the People, as provided by the law.
Art. 12 The counselors of the Advocate of the People exercise the following powers: a)examine and propose solutions for the problems regarding the organization and the functioning of the institution; b) elaborate or participate in the elaboration of notes, research studies, evaluation reports, syntheses, bearing on specific activities of the institution, and shall thereupon provide the synthesis data of the legislative activity; c) endorse the orders, the instructions, the regulations, the contracts and any other documents issued by the Advocate of the People, his/her d) participate in the preparation of the annual and special reports, by periodical records of the applications and of the dossiers being processed; e) inform the Advocate of the People on the social aspects which might represent the object of an ex officio notice, in collaboration with the departments, if the case may be; f) assist the Advocate of the People with his written correspondence; g) inform promptly the Advocate of the People on the questions and problems raised via the mass media with regard to the activity of the institution, and engage in duly answering such questions; h) represent the Advocate of the People in courts of law or before other jurisdictional bodies; i) ensure, with the approval of the budget-holder, the acquisition of the compilation of legal acts and of any other paperwork, which are necessary in the development of the institutions activity, for the scientific documentation fund, following up administration, the processing and the filing within the library (documentation centre); j) exercise other powers stated by the law or entrusted by the Advocate of the People.
Art. 13 For the establishment of the organizational structure the following areas of specialization, as they are set out by law will be considered: a) human rights, equality of chances between men and women, religious cults and national minorities; b) child, family, young people, pensioners, persons with disabilities; c) army, justice, police, penitentiaries; d) property, labor, social protection, taxes and duties.
Chapter IV: The Functioning of the Institution
Section 1: Registers of the Institution
Art. 14 (1)The registers of the institution are as follows: a) the general register for incoming and outgoing correspondence, which lists all documents that are coming in and going out of the institution, each with a registration number and date; b) the register for dossiers, including all the paperwork regarding investigation into or decisions on applications; c) the register for audiences; d) the register for documents (entered in chronological order) issued by the Advocate of the People while exercising his powers related to the internal activity of the institution; e) the special register for secret and confidential correspondence; f) the alphabetical list; g) the archive register; h) the register of the personal data processing operations. (2) The filing from the alphabetical list shall be made also in electronic format. (3) At the end of each year, after the last operation made in each register, a report of conclusions shall be drawn up, which shall be countersigned by the secretary-general.
Art. 15 For the efficient development of the activity of the institution, the Advocate of the People may also approve the drawing up of other registers beside the ones established by Article 14, in view of the powers that were devolved upon him according to the legislation in force.
Section 2: The Procedure for Receiving and Approaching the Applications. The Procedure for the Ex Officio Notice
Art. 16 (1) The applications addressed to the Advocate of the People shall be made in writing, while observing the conditions stated by the law, and may be mailed, e-mailed or faxed, or may be presented personally or by a delegate. (2) If the application is presented by a delegate, his/her identification data shall be required. (3) For grounded reasons, at the petitioners request, he/she may be allowed to state his demand orally or through the hot-line service of the Advocate of the People, which shall be recorded by the staff within the compartment designated for this purpose, on such type-forms as shown in Annexes No 2 and 3 to these regulations.
Art. 17 (1)The applications shall be submitted to the register office with their respective envelopes and shall be filed in the general register for incoming and outgoing correspondence. They shall be given a registration number and date and shall be forwarded to the deputy of the Advocate of the People, in the order established by the Advocate of the People. (2) The deputy of the Advocate of the People shall distribute the applications to the specialist compartments, according to their respective fields of activity, through the dispatcher and on a register basis. (3) If the object of the application falls within the activity field of two or more compartments, the deputy of the Advocate of the People shall designate the one compartment chiefly responsible for solving the application, while the other compartments shall have the obligation to collaborate. (4) The delivery and the receipt of the application shall be confirmed by signature in a register-book.
Art. 18 (1) The person to whom the application was delivered, further referred to as the officer in charge of the case, shall analyze its object and shall propose a draft answer, which is going to be submitted for analyze and endorsement to the head of the compartment he belongs to. (2) If the application does not fall within the competence of the Advocate of the People, the draft answer shall be approved and signed by the head of the designated compartment. (3) If the application falls within the competence of the Advocate of the People, the officer in charge of the case shall verify if the legal requirements are met and, if the case, shall request supplementary information of the applicant, over the telephone or in writing, with due consent of the compartments head. When necessary, the presence of the applicant may be required and a case shall be opened, which shall have the number of the application, as specified in Article 17.
Art. 19 If an inquiry is considered necessary upon preliminary investigation, the officer in charge of the case shall make a proposal and forward it for endorsement to the head of the compartment. The Advocate of the People shall approve the enquiry and shall mandate the persons who are to carry it out.
Art. 20 (1) The Advocate of the People shall suspend the inquiry every time he concludes that the application has received a friendly solution, or that the grounds on which it was entered have ceased to exist. (2) The cessation of the procedure shall be duly acknowledged to the applicant.
Art. 21 (1) According to the same procedure, when preliminary investigation or the enquiry concludes that the application of the complainant is substantiated, the Advocate of the People shall notify the public administration authority which has violated the petitioners rights by a written request to reform or revoke the administrative act, to redress for the damage thus caused and to reinstate the aggrieved person to his/her former state. (2) If the complainants rights are found to have been seriously violated, or an administrative document is found to be illegal, the Advocate of the People shall issue a recommendation addressed to complainants the public administration authority which has violated the respective rights or has issued the illegal document.
Art. 22 (1) Provided that the respective public administration authority acts on the recommendation of the Advocate of the People, the latter - or the person he has designated - shall approve the closing of the case. (2) Otherwise, the Advocate of the People shall notify higher authorities. (3) In either case, the resolution shall be duly acknowledged to the applicant.
Art. 23 (1) Anonymous applications are considered inadmissible and shall therefore not be entered. (2) Renewed applications on the same case which supply no further evidence shall be recommended by the officer in charge to be filed away. (3) The final decision, however, belongs to the head of the designated compartment. Art. 24 (1) The Advocate of the People may approve an ex officio notification when he learns, by any means, that civil rights and/or freedoms have been violated. (2) The nofication ex offcio will be registered in the general register for incoming and outgoing correspondence. (3) Inquiry procedures shall follow the steps previously described in the present section. (4) The procedure carried out as a result of the ex officio notification shall cease on request of the person aggrieved.
Chapter V: The Status of the Institutions Staff
Art. 25 The provisions of the Statute for personnel of the specialist structures of parliament and the present Regulations are applicable to the Advocate of the People staff.
Art. 26 The requirements for filling the management positions others than those provided for the deputies of the Advocate of the People and also for the execution posts are set up by the Advocate of the People.
Art. 27 The evaluation of staff professional activity observes the terms provided by the regulations applicable for the personnel within the Parliament specialist structures.
Art. 28 The staff in the execution and management positions benefit from all the rights granted by law for the similar positions in the Parliament specialist structures.
Art. 29 The remuneration of the staff in the execution and management positions is done according to the level provided by law for the similar positions in the Parliament specialist structures.
Art. 30 (1) The staff of the institution has the right to a paid rest leave, as established, in accordance with the length of employment, by the regulations on rest leaves, approved by the Advocate of the People. (2) The staff is legally entitled to compensation for the number of days of the rest leave that were not carried out, according to the regulations mentioned in para. (1). (3) The staff of the institution shall legally benefit by study leaves, supplementary leaves, medical leaves, unpaid leaves, paid holidays, and overtime work.
Art. 31 While performing their duties, the staff of the institution must act with professionalism, loyalty, fairness, and must promptly and continuously improve their professional training.
Art. 32 In their relationships with the citizens, the staff of the institution has the following duties: a) to express concern and politeness; b) to ensure, in the process of decision making and enforcement, as well as in solving the petitioners applications an equal treatment thereof, without favors or discriminations; c) to fulfill the duties devolved upon their position exclusively to the purpose stated by the law; d) to let no personal interests or political interventions interfere with their professional conduct; e) to ensure the citizens access to legally granted documents; f) to wear a distinctive badge.
Chapter VI: Disciplinary Responsibility
Art. 33 (1) The culpable infringement of professional duties by the staff of the institution induces disciplinary responsibility. (2) The deviation from the disciplinary norms is a deed connected with the labor and consists of a culpable action or inaction of the employee that results in an infringement of legal provisions, present regulations, individual labor contract, orders and disposals of the heads. (3) In case of such infringements, the disciplinary sanctions are those provided by the Labor Code. (4) The procedure for investigation, applying and contesting the disciplinary measures is provided by the present regulations and Labor Code. The preliminary disciplinary investigation is made by the person mandated by the order of the Peoples Advocate.
Art. 34 (1) The person mandated by the Peoples Advocate to make the preliminary disciplinary investigation shall propose by a motivated report, the applicable disciplinary sanction o r concluding of the notification. (2) Peoples Advocate shall apply the disciplinary sanction by an order. This power may be mandated to one of the deputies or to the General Secretary, as the case may be. (3) The employee unsatisfied with the disciplinary sanction may appeal against the sanction order to the competent court for administrative procedure.
Art. 35 (1) The disciplinary sanction applied will cease de jure after one year from the moment when it has been applied, if the sanctioned employee did not commit another deviation from the disciplinary norms. (2) The ceasing of the disciplinary sanctions will not influence their patrimonial effects.
Art. 36 The labor reports will cease under the terms provided by the labor Code.
Chapter VII: Final Provisions
Art. 37 The Advocate of the People shall develop relationships with similar foreign authorities and may participate in the activity of international bodies relating to his field of activity, or may become a member of those bodies.
Art. 38 The norms of expenses for protocol, travels abroad, motor resources and monthly fuel consumption shall be established by order of the Advocate of the People, according to the law. Art. 39 The present regulations shall enter into force on its publication in the Official Monitor of Romania, Part I, after being approved by the Standing Bureaux of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies.
Art. 40 (1)When the present regulations have entered into force, the Regulation on the Organization and Functioning of the Institution of the Advocate of the People, published in the Official Monitor of Romania, Part I, no 393 of August 19th, 1999, shall be revoked. (2) When the present regulations have entered into force, their provisions shall apply to the entire staff of the institution. (3) Annexes No 1-3 are part of the present regulations. _****_ * Republished on the ground of the Decision of the Standing Bureaus of Senate and Chamber of Deputies no. 1/2004 for the approval of the Regulations on the Organization and Functioning of the Advocate of the People published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I no. 619 of 8 July 2004. Regulations on the Organization and Functioning of the Advocate of the People were approved by the Decision of the Standing Bureau of Senate no. 5/2002, published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I no. 326 of 16 May 2002.
ANNEX No 1 to the Regulations : STRUCTURE OF THE INSTITUTION OF THE ADVOCATE OF THE PEOPLE
ANNEX No 2 to the Regulations :
1.Name and surname (block capitals) .......Domicile (residence, or another address where you can be contacted) ....................................., Street No Bl. .., Entrance .., Apartment ,Telephone .................................................. 2.The date when you learned about the violation of your rights: ......... 3.Brief presentation of your infringed rights and/or freedoms: ....................................................................................... 4.The denounced administrative authority and the civil servant: . ............. 5.Brief presentation of the alleged maladministration: . ........ (You may continue on another page and attach it to the application) 6.The public authorities notified before: .................................... 7. The answer received and the grounds on which you deem yourself further wronged: ................................................................ 8. In sustaining the alleged facts, I submit the following document in copy:................................................................................................................ 9. The obligatory statement that the application is/was the object of a litigation in a court of law: ... ............. 10. I wish that all the information and the results shall remain confidential: YES / NO 11. The application is submitted: Personally By empowered person Date .. Signature ...
Published in the Official Monitor No 922 of Octobre 11th , 2004
ANNEX No 3 to the Regulations :
The Advocate of the People Online Record First name, middle name and surname (block capitals): ...Domicile (or other address) where you can be contacted: City .. , Street . , No , Bl...., Entrance .., Apartment ., Telephone ........................ The date when the person learned about the alleged violation of his/her rights or freedoms: The allegedly infringed rights and freedoms: The administrative authority and the civil servant who infringed the right or freedom of the applicant or of another person: ................. Brief presentation of the alleged facts by which the rights or freedoms were infringed:................................... The public authorities that were notified before: ................................................ The answer received and the grounds on which the petitioner deems himself/herself wronged: ... In sustaining the alleged facts, the following documents were presented: .................................................................................. The respective case is or was the object of a litigation in a court of law or of a criminal inquiry: ............. The recommended solution: .............. It was written down by: .................................................. (Name and surname) (Expert) Date .
Published in the Official Monitor No 922 of Octobre 11th , 2004
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