Monica Luisa Macovei (; born 4 February 1959) is a Romanian politician, lawyer and former prosecutor, and former Member of the European Parliament from the European Conservatives and Reformists and formerly a member of the Romanian Democratic Liberal Party (PDL). She was the Minister of Justice of Romania in the first cabinet of Prime Minister Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu. In this position she was credited with implementing the justice reforms required for Romania to become a member state of the European Union.Women resist a history of corruption , The Daily Telegraph, 13 May 2006Judicial reform pushed through in Romania ahead of EU accession , EUbusiness, 14 May 2006 Macovei was also an independent candidate in Romania's 2014 presidential elections.
Early career Monica Macovei graduated in 1982 with honors from the Law Faculty of the University of Bucharest; in 1994 she received a master's of law in comparative constitutional law from the University of the State of New York/Central European University. She has served as a lecturer in law at the University of Bucharest. She has also authored a number of books and articles on legal and human rights themes.Curriculum Vitae: Monica Luisa Macovei , Ministry of Justice of Romania
Macovei was a prosecutor between 1983 and 1997, during the Communist and post-Communist periods. Manipularea (The Manipulation), Ziua, 26 February 2007 From 1997 to 2004 she was a lawyer with the Bucharest Bar.
In 1997, Macovei was an Eisenhower Exchange Fellow, an honor awarded to "men and women of outstanding achievement in mid-career, who are expected to assume positions of influence and make a difference" in their home regions, countries, or globally.
Civic activist Prior to her appointment as Justice Minister, Macovei was a civil society activist for political reform, democratization, and human rights in post-1989 Romania. She served from 2001-2004 as president of the Association for the Defence of Human Rights in Romania - The Helsinki Committee (APADOR-CH)
Macovei served as an expert/advisor to the Council of Europe, the European Roma Rights Center, the UN Development Programme, the Open Society Institute, and the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights. She was a founding member of Transparency International-Romania. She conducted research on gender in Romanian law and on violence against women, among many other issues. As an activist, she spoke out for the need to reform Romanian justice and remove institutional protections for officials involved in corruption.The Accountability of Law Enforcing Agencies by Monica Macovei, Public Hearing at the European Parliament, 30–31 October 1996 She called attention to police brutality and impunity, continued political influence over the judiciary, and the lack of strong legal culture in Romania, among other issues.MACOVEI Monica, Citizen and Law after Communism , East European Constitutional Review, Vol. 7, No. 1, Winter 1998MACOVEI Monica, The Procuracy and its Problems , East European Constitutional Review, Vol. 8, No. 1-2, Winter/Spring 1999 She represented over 20 plaintiffs before the European Court of Human Rights and trained over 1,000 law enforcement personnel on the rule of law and the European Court of Human Rights.
In 2002, along with other Romanian human rights activists, she publicly opposed the indictment of a former aide to previous President Emil Constantinescu after he accused then Prime Minister Nastase of corruption. Many Romanian news commentators agreed with her, noting what they called a serious attack on the freedom of expression. Macovei, herself, characterized the arrest as "one of the worst attempts to muzzle the press in Romania" since communism collapsed. The arrest received widespread attention in Europe as an example of alleged abuses against the press at the time.
As an activist, Macovei supported LGBT rights, an issue on which she would also focus in her political career. In 2000, she assisted Romanian gay rights groups in overturning Article 200, one of the last sodomy laws in Europe.ILGA Euroletter 59 , ILGA-Europe, April 1998 While Minister of Justice, Macovei intervened in May 2005 to help ensure that the Romanian LGBT rights group Accept could hold the country's first pride parade, the Bucharest GayFest, after the Bucharest City Hall had denied the group a parade permit. As MEP, she joined the European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT rights. She was the only Romanian politician to support Bucharest GayFest 2011.
Justice Minister Macovei was appointed Justice Minister in December 2004, following the surprise victory of then Democratic Party (PD) leader Traian Băsescu in the second round of presidential elections against Social Democratic Party (PSD) candidate Adrian Năstase. Băsescu's victory was characterized in the media as Romania's "Orange Revolution," comparing the victory of perceived reformists in Romania to events in neighboring Ukraine during the same period. It was also a reference to the orange color used by the winning Justice and Truth Alliance, which comprised the PD and the National Liberal Party (PNL) led by Calin Popescu-Tăriceanu. Independent civil society organizations played an important role in securing the victory of the Justice and Truth Alliance, and Macovei's appointment was seen as acknowledgement of this contribution. As an activist who had spent much of her career advocating for judicial reform in Romania, she also appeared to be well-situated to implement extensive reforms as well as increased efforts against high profile corruption, both of which were requirements for EU accession. Anti-corruption was also a prominent theme in the parliamentary and presidential elections of that year.
Anti-Corruption Reforms Shortly after her appointment, Macovei stated that "fighting corruption" would be one of the top priorities of the Ministry of Justice under her leadership.Human rights defender Monica Macovei appointed Romanian Minister of Justice , Human Rights Education Associates, 21 January 2005
Many of Macovei's actions as minister were aimed at eliminating vestiges of communism from the Romanian justice system. She disbanded the Justice Ministry's secret service, called the General Directorate for Protection and Anti-Corruption, which had continued operating after the fall of communism. The organization had been wiretapping judges and gathering other information, which, Macovei stated, "we do not really know ended up where or with whom." She also implemented new procedures to check the backgrounds of judges and prosecutors to determine if they had worked with the former Securitate internal intelligence service and to remove those who had collaborated. Macovei secured passage of legislation to eliminate immunities accorded to former government ministers and other government notables and to make tax evasion a criminal offense. She increased the salaries of judges and prosecutors to make them less susceptible to bribes.
Macovei was also credited with invigorating the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA), which had been set up several years before to investigate and prosecute large scale corruption cases and those involving Members of Parliament and other high level officials. Macovei appointed a new head of the Directorate, prosecutor Dan Morar, under whose leadership the DNA issued an indictment against Chamber of Deputies president and former prime minister Adrian Năstase, the highest level official to face prosecution in a corruption case in the history of post-communist Romania. By January 2007, the DNA had indicted eight Members of Parliament, two serving government ministers, nine judges and prosecutors, and 70-80 police and customs officers.BRUNWASSER Matthew, Newest EU citizens wonder what it will mean , International Herald Tribune, 2 January 2007
Over the same period, Macovei often fought with the Romanian Parliament over her anti-corruption initiatives. Opposition MPs accused her of abuse of power, while Macovei stated that MPs sought to stop judicial reform and anti-corruption efforts to protect their own interests. In 2006, the Parliament initially voted against a measure by Macovei to keep the DNA operating as an independent office. Opposition MPs stated the negative vote was partially due to Macovei's failure to appear in the Parliament to defend the measure. They also questioned the DNA's independence from political influence. President Băsescu vetoed the Parliament's action, and, after international pressure and political negotiations, the Parliament ultimately voted on a revised measure to retain the DNA's authorities and independence. Independent political commentator Cristian Pârvulescu suggested the Parliament's initial negative vote was influenced by the large number of anti-corruption investigations initiated by the DNA under Macovei.
Macovei encountered similar resistance in efforts to create a new National Integrity Agency (ANI) to check the source of MPs and ministers' assets and investigate possible conflicts of interest. The draft law remained under consideration in the Parliament, where MPs reportedly altered and watered down the measures.Romanian PM promises continuation of Justice reform , HotNews, 14 March 2007
In October 2006, Macovei appointed 33-year-old lawyer Laura Kövesi as Prosecutor GeneralYoung persons promoted to key positions in 2006 , Nine O'Clock, 4 January 2007 In February 2007, the Romanian Senate Judicial Commission, however, voted to remove the authority of the Minister of Justice to nominate the Prosecutor General. The commission instead proposed assigning full authority over the nomination to the Superior Council of Magistrates (CSM). Macovei said that the Senate's measure, if approved by the full Parliament, would greatly impede the government's ability to combat corruption as the Prosecutor General is a central figure in that effort. Senatorii jurişti i-au luat Monicăi Macovei posibilitatea de a propune procurorul general al României , HotNews, 28 February 2007 Kövesi remained in office and went on to pursue a number of cases against Romanian political figures.
In its 2007 annual report on Romania, Reporters without Borders characterized as "encouraging" reform of the Romanian penal code initiated by Macovei that would decriminalize defamation and libel. Macovei said the proposed reformed code, which included many other changes and had been posted on the Justice Ministry's website for public debate, was necessary for modernizing Romania's legal system and to comply with EU norms. It would replace a draft penal code passed into law in 2004, but never enacted, under former Justice Minister and subsequent Conservative Party Senator Rodica Stănoiu. The Romanian Senate disagreed and, in February 2007, passed a measure to enact the so-called "Stănoiu Code" instead of Macovei's penal code. Macovei said the "Stănoiu Code," if passed by the full Parliament, would bring Romanian penal justice to a halt. STOICA Ionel, Macovei dă de pământ cu Codul Penal al Rodicăi Stănoiu , Adevărul, 3 March 2007 Macovei was supported by the European Commission in the debate, and the Stănoiu Code was not implemented.
Parliamentary Motion against Macovei