ROMANIA

People's Advocate

The Romanian People's Advocate was established with the Constitution of Romania, adopted in 1991, as an institution of indisputable novelty in the Romanian juridical and state system. The activities of the institution are regulated in details in Law no. 35/1997 on the Organisation and Functioning of the Advocate of the People Institution and Regulation on the Organisation and Functioning of the Advocate of the People. The ombudsman is a public autonomous authority, independent of any other public authority, whose main objective is to defend citizens' rights and freedoms.

The People's Advocate is appointed by the Senate of Romania for a term of office of four years and presents annual reports before the two Parliament Chambers. Any individual, irrespective of his/her citizenship, age, gender, political affiliation, or religious belief can appeal to the People's Advocate. The People's Advocate can conduct its own inquiries, ask the public administration authorities for any information or documents necessary to the investigation, hear or request statements from heads of public administration authorities as well as from any public servant who can provide the information necessary in order to solve the complaint. In the exercise of his powers, the People's Advocate issues recommendations that cannot be subjected to either parliamentary control or court review. By his recommendations, the People's Advocate notifies the public administration authorities of their illegal administrative acts or actions. If during investigations, the People's Advocate finds there are gaps in the legislation or serious corruption or non-compliance with the laws cases, he will submit a report containing these findings to the Presidents of the two Chambers of Parliament or, as the case may be, to the Prime Minister.

The People's Advocate is also the supervisory authority in terms of Law no. 677/2001 for the Protection of Persons concerning the Processing of Personal Data and Free Circulation of Such Data.

Contact information:
People's Advocate
Address: Iancu de Hunedoara, 3-5, Sector 1, Bucuresti
Phone: + 40 (0) 1 - 231 5008
Fax: + 40 (0) 1 - 231 5000
E-mail: avp@avp.ro
Web site: http://www.avp.ro