The winner of the 2015 Dr. Elemer Hantos is Dr. Monica Luisa Macovei, a Romanian politician, lawyer and former prosecutor, currently a Member of the European Parliament. She was the Minister of Justice of Romania in the first cabinet of Prime Minister Calin Popescu-Tariceanu. In this position, she was credited with implementing the justice reforms required for Romania to become a member state of the European Union.
Financial Times (2006): "a hero who presided over Romania's transformation from one of Europe's most corrupt corners into a credible candidate to join the European Union"; Die Welt (2006): "For Romania, joining the European Union would have been barely possible without Monica Macovei" and "as a consequence, 22 million Romanians have why to thank her"; Sonntagszeitung (2012): "Ms. Macovei represents the other, decent Romania"; and Le Monde (2013) "the «Cerberus» of human rights" and "the icon of militant circles.
AWARDS AND PUBLIC RECOGNITION
Prize "Dr. Elemer Hantos", September 2016
Award "Giovani Falcone Foundation", September 2015
Ranked 1st out of the 754 Members of the European Parliament (MEP) at the category "Reports adopted by the European Parliament", with 35 reports adopted (2012)
MEP Award for "Justice and Civil Liberties", Brussels, 2012
Medal in memory of the 15 December 1987 anti-communist uprising in Brasov, 2012
Central European University Award for "20th Anniversary CEU Alumni Hero", Budapest, 2011
European Woman of the Year, Brussels, 2008
Academician, Yuste European Academy, Spain, presented by his Majesty King Juan Carlos I of Spain, 2008
Communicator of the Year 2006, PR Award, Forum International Communications, 2006
Awards by the Timisoara Society and the Group for Social Dialogue, 2005
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Since October 2015 - Member of the European Parliament (MEP) (European Conservatives and Reformist Group)
July 2009 – 2014 - Member of the European Parliament (MEP) (European People's Party Group - EPP)
POSITIONS AND ACTIVITIES IN THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
Chair
Delegation to the EU-Albania Stabilization and Association Parliamentary Committee
Delegation to the EU-Moldova Parliamentary Cooperation Committee
Member
Committee on Budget Control (CONT); 2009-present
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE); 2009-present
Special temporary Committee on Organized Crime, Corruption and Money Laundering; 2010-2014
Member of the Bureau, Intergroup on Integrity, Transparency, Corruption and Organized crime; 2014-present
Member of the Intergroup on Tibet; 2014-present
Delegation to the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly; 2009-2014
Conference of Delegation Chairs; 2009-present
Substitute, Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET); 2009-present
Substitute member, Delegation to the EU-former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Joint Parliamentary Committee; 2009-2014
Substitute member, EU-USA Delegation of the European Parliament; 2014-present
Activity in 2009 – 2014 legislature
Member of the European Parliament (MEP) (European People's Party Group - EPP)
Drafted and negotiated 40 reports (laws and discharge reports), adopted by the Plenary; amended and negotiated 48 reports as shadow rapporteur
Drafted and tabled over 1.700 amendments for more than 130 legislative reports, inter alia, in the area of transparency, anti-fraud, anti-corruption, public procurement, conflict of interests, civil rights and reforms in the EU candidate countries
Initiated and drafted the Written declaration and Resolution on the Union’s efforts in combating corruption adopted by the European Parliament; initiated and budgeted a pilot project that identified in 2013 the direct costs of corruption in 8 Member States, in Public Procurement involving EU funds
Led the Parliamentary Cooperation Committee meetings with the Republic of Moldova, drafted, negotiated and adopted Recommendations; organized meetings and hearings on the implementation of the European commitments within the negotiations for the Association Agreement with the EU, the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, the Visa liberalization Action Plan and the Transnistrian region by the Moldovan authorities; led the EP election observation mission for the 2010 early parliamentary elections in the Republic of Moldova; drafted and negotiated Resolutions on the Republic of Moldova adopted by the plenary
Co-signed over 300 Resolutions mostly on human rights breaches in third countries
Held over 500 speeches in the Plenary. Addressed over 170 questions to the European Commission and Council. Organized public hearings
Romanian Parliament
Drafted and initiated through national MPs the Law eliminating the statute of limitation (i) for murder and (ii) for war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity irrespective of the date of their commission; the law was adopted in 2012
2007 - 2009 Anti-Corruption Advisor to the Prime Minister of Macedonia, seconded by Foreign Office UK- Embassy of UK in Skopje; Global Opportunities Fund, Reuniting Europe
Advised the Prime Minister of Macedonia, other members of the Government and public authorities on anticorruption policies, justice reforms, civil rights; advised the Government to adopt a budgeted anti-corruption Action Plan and implement it; trained the public authorities for the peer-review missions by the European Commission; trained NGO members
Drafted legislation in regards to extended confiscation, illicit enrichment, surveillance measures in organized crime and corruption; coordinated with the international community, judicial institutions and NGOs
Expert, Taiex, European Commission
Trained judges, prosecutors, civil servants, journalists, ONG staff on anti-corruption and justice reform in candidate countries to the EU
2005-2007 Minister of Justice, Government of Romania
Contributed to Romania's EU accession on 1 January 2007 through policies and actions that eliminated serious concerns ("red flags") raised by the EU on: high level corruption, justice reform, money laundering and intellectual property rights.
Elaborated and implemented the National Strategies and Action Plans 2005-2007 for the reform of the judicial system and the fight against corruption in Romania
Established the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office (DNA) to investigate high level corruption and fraud, including fraud against EU funds
Elaborated the draft of the new Criminal Code; resumed the drafting of the Civil and Civil Procedure Codes; initiated the drafting of the new Criminal Procedure Code
Initiated and defended legislation in Government and Parliament, referring, among others, to: public declaration of assets and interests for all public officials and judiciary; justice reforms; lustration of judges and prosecutors found as collaborators with the former Securitate; National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) and its jurisdiction; incriminate conflict of interest; anti-money laundering; insolvency; companies; funding political parties and campaigns, abrogation of the crimes of insult and defamation etc.
Established and maintained permanent and direct contacts with European Commission, European Parliament, governments and parliaments of EU Member States, international NGOs, foreign media
Negotiated with the World Bank the Loan Agreement for the Judicial Reform Project of €110 million signed in January 2006 (the largest Judicial Reform Project of the World Bank at the time)
2002-2004 Judicial Reform Resident Expert, Bosnia and Herzegovina, seconded by the Council of Europe
Implemented the joint project of the Council of Europe and European Commission for (i) strengthening the independence and effectiveness of the judiciary system in Bosnia & Herzegovina and (ii) ensure that reforms are in line with the European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence
Participated in establishing the judicial and prosecutorial Councils, reappointing judges and prosecutors, and drafting a new Civil Procedure Code and preparing its implementation
1999-2000 Senior Legal Advisor, OSCE Mission in Kosovo - seconded by the Council of Europe
Participated in setting up of the Ombudsman Office and the process of appointing judges and prosecutors; drafted legislation
Organized training sessions for judiciary staff, public administration staff, NGOs and students
Organized debates on legal drafts with all ethnic groups
Organized “getting together” events in a post-civil war society
1995-2002 Expert, Council of Europe, Legal and Human Rights Directorates, Monitoring Unit of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe
Led activities and missions for the development and consolidation of democratic stability in: Russian Federation, Ukraine, Lithuania, Albania, Moldova, The Czech Republic, Georgia, Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Armenia, others
Trained over 1000 judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers, journalists, NGOs and public authorities on the rule of law, the European Convention of Human Rights and the Court's jurisprudence
Led monitoring missions on freedom of expression in some Member States on behalf of Council of Europe's Secretary General
Drafted and defended reports before the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe
Wrote handbooks for applying the European Court of Human Rights case-law on freedom of expression and the right to liberty and security
1999 – 2004 President, Romanian Association for the Defense of Human Rights - Helsinki Committee
Led projects on media freedom, access to information, individual rights v. national security, prisoners' rights, compensation in the criminal justice system, legal aid, independence of justice; trained over 100 lawyers and journalists on applying the Law regarding access to information
Prepared advocacy papers on the drafts amending the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes, Laws on access to information, classified information, police, military courts, national security
Decided the strategic litigation for representing victims of civil rights abuses before the national courts and the European Court of Human Rights
1997 – present Lawyer, Member of the Bucharest Bar Association - presently not practicing at own request
Defended victims of civil rights violations before national courts and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR); won 20 cases at the ECtHR for Romanian applicants
1998-2000 Expert, Group of Specialists on Media Law and Human Rights, Council of Europe
Drafted recommendations for adoption by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on the right of journalists not to disclose their sources, information through the media in the context of legal proceedings, dissemination of information and opinions in the media about political figures and public officials, freedom of expression and the right to privacy
1994-1997 Adviser pro bono, Romanian Association for the Defense of Human Rights - Helsinki Committee (APADOR-CH), Bucharest
Advised on legal action against police abuse and in support of prisoners' rights, media freedom, privacy, fair trial
1983-1997 Public prosecutor, Bucharest
Dealt with non-political criminal cases, such as theft, robbery, assault etc.
1991-1992, Bucharest Prosecutors’ Office, reported in writing the unlawful arrest in June 1990 of anti-communism demonstrators and requested the investigation of the prosecutors who had issued the arrest warrants; adopted discharging decisions in nearly 40 cases involving the June 1990 anti-communist demonstrators; 1993-1997, Human Rights Unit of the General Attorney's Office, dealt with civil rights abuses by law enforcement
PUBLICATIONS - over 50, including:
“Law and Order: Justice in Five Steps”, main contribution and conclusions on a collection of articles on judicial reform in Europe, published by the Bulgarian Civic Platform Move Bulgaria, February 2016
“Confiscation, Freezing and Recovery of Assets”, Guest Editorial, The European Criminal Law Associations’ Forum, EUCRIM 2/2013, 2013
"Dirty Laundry", The Parliament Magazine, Issue 363, pp. 44-45, 2013
"Per un Contrasto Europeo al Crimine Organizzato e alle Mafie. La risoluzione del Parlamento Europeo e l’impegno dell’Unione Europea" by Sonia Alfano and Adriano Varrica, Franco Angeli Publisher, "Un’unica azione di contrasto alla corruzione e alla criminalità organizzata", pp. 276-279, book chapter, Milano, 2012
"International Case Law on Freedom of Expression", Vol. I, Media Monitoring Agency Publisher, Bucharest, 2009
"The Secret Policeman’s Fall", The Guardian web newspaper, article, October 2006, and published in "Transparency and Silence - A Survey of Access to Information Laws and Practices in Fourteen Countries", Open Society Institute Initiative, New York, September 2006
"Monitoring the EU Accession Process: Judicial Capacity", "Judicial Independence" and "Minority Protection", Central European University Press, book chapters, 2001, 2003
"Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights – Selective Digest", 3 volumes, Polirom Publisher, book, 2000, 2001, 2003
Guides to the Implementation of Articles 5 and 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, Council of Europe, handbooks, Strasbourg, 2001, 2002
"Judicial Protection of Human Rights: Myth or Reality", by Stanislaw Frankowski and Mark Gibney, Praeger Publishers, "Protection of Human Rights by the Judiciary in Romania", book chapter, Connecticut, 1999
"Access to Legal Aid for Indigent Criminal Defendants in Romania", The Parker School Journal of East European Law, Vol. 5, No. 1-2, Columbia University, 1998
"Legal Culture in Romania", East European Constitutional Review, Vol. 7, No. 1, New York University School of Law and Central European University, 1998
MEMBERSHIP
The Parliament Magazine, member of the Editorial Board, 2013 - present
Platform of European Memory and Conscience, member of the Board of Trustees, November 2012 - present
European Council for Foreign Relations, member, 2012 - present
Siemens Integrity Education Advisory Committee, CEU Business School, member, 2011 - present
Romanian Academic Society, member of the Senate, 2011 - present
Yuste European Academy, Spain, member, 2008 - present
Central European University, member of the Board of Trustees, 2007 - present
Group for Social Dialogue, Romania, member, 2007 - present
Transparency International - Romanian Chapter, founding member, 1999 - present
Eisenhower Exchange Fellowships, USA, fellow, 1997 - present
Romanian Association for Human Rights, Helsinki Committee, member since 1997; president 1999-2004