Jurma, a former chief prosecutor of the International Cooperation and Programs Service within the DNA, will lead the agency until a new proper chief prosecutor is named.
The announcement came mere hours after President Klaus Iohannis signed a decree revoking Kovesi from office, thus enforcing a Constitutional Court decision in this regard. Deputy chief prosecutor Marius Iacob had been de jure interim chief in the hours following Kovesi’s dismissal.
The new chief prosecutor of DNA will have to be nominated by Romanian Justice Minister Tudorel Toader. As it stands, any nomination would require the approval of President Iohannis for appointment. A draft law currently challenged at the Constitutional Court would give the latter’s role to judicial watchdog CSM.
Romania’s Justice Ministry announced on Monday that it will hold a selection for the office of DNA chief prosecutor, until the end of the month, with eligible and interested prosecutors able to apply. Only prosecutors with at least ten years’ worth of experience as a magistrate will be considered, with another requirement stating they must not have worked in a secret service during the Communist regime.
Minister Tudorel Toader decided in February to request the dismissal of DNA chief Laura Codruta Kovesi over a scandal allegedly implying fabricated evidence in DNA-instrumented cases. After President Klaus Iohannis refused his request, he successfully challenged the case at the Constitutional Court, which decided that the president must heed the justice minister’s recommendations regarding dismissal of chief prosecutors.