Sunday 14 / December / 2025
Bucharest: The film is shocking. In it, high-ranking prosecutors and judges describe how Romania's judiciary is controlled politically.
They detail how major corruption cases disappear into drawers, conscientious prosecutors and judges are thwarted and punished by their superiors, and politicians and civil servants embezzle millions with impunity. The court system is vegetating, a high-ranking justice official says at one stage in the two-hour documentary.
Since "Captured Justice" was released on December 9 by the Romanian investigative news platform Recorder, it has garnered nearly 4 million views on YouTube. It is now the number one topic in the media across the southeastern European country, roiling both politicians and the public. Angry citizens have demonstrated every evening in the capital Bucharest and several other cities since last Wednesday.
Romanian President Nicusor Dan has expressed his support for the report on his Facebook page, calling for more consistent judicial reform. The post registered 10,000 likes, but also thousands of angry comments calling on him to back up his words with action.
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan told the media that he understood citizens' frustration, promising that "serious problems in the system" would be corrected.
New momentum, old problem
The rigged judicial system and delays in fighting corruption in Romania have been an issue for decades, and the focus of repeated protests, state crises, and changes of government. Numerous attempts at reform have failed to have lasting impact.
Some have confronted these failures in the past but the number of high-ranking prosecutors and judges willing to speak out for the Recorder report, in addition to the level of detail they provide about the influence of politicians and senior officials, is new.
Among those featured is Liviu Lascu, a prosecutor and former head of the military department at the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA), Romania's most important authority in the fight against widespread political abuses. Lascu describes how he was prevented from pursuing meticulously documented cases of corruption within the security and military apparatus and forced out of his position.
Former DNA chief prosecutor Crin Bologa, who served until March 2023, also appears in the film, saying that he has the impression that the DNA was purged of unwelcome prosecutors under his successor Marius Voineag. This would explain why there have been hardly any corruption convictions for a while now.
Two high-ranking judges also discuss how judges in political corruption cases were replaced when defendants faced prison sentences. The allegations are directed primarily at Lia Savonea, former head of the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM), the oversight body meant to guarantee judicial independence in Romania.
The CSM administrates appointments, promotions and transfers for judges, and has the power to change the composition of court chambers and impose disciplinary penalties. Savonea and her loyal CSM members are said to have made extensive use of these powers to influence corruption proceedings in favor of defendants. The Romanian public views Savonea as a "face of the captured judiciary."
'We are simply being terrorised'
One prominent case covered extensively in the report is that of former Bucharest district mayor Marian Vanghelie, who stood trial for years on charges of abuse of office, bribery and money laundering. After an initial prison sentence of more than 11 years, a judicial odyssey ensued, and in March 2025 all proceedings against him were dropped because the statute of limitations had expired. Commentators speak of his case as an "exemplary failure of the judiciary system."
The report has swiftly unleashed political upheaval in Romania. On Thursday, the Bucharest Court of Appeal (CAB) — the court responsible for the Vanghelie case — held its first ever press conference.
Presiding judge Liana Arsenie wanted to defend herself against accusations in the report, but the press conference ended in public embarrassment when another CAB judge, Raluca Morosanu, confirmed them. Speaking on behalf of her colleagues, she said "we are simply being terrorised with disciplinary proceedings and everything else that is known to be happening to us."
Bloated pensions amid economic strain
The release of the the report comes at a delicate moment for Romania economically. In 2024, the country had the largest budget deficit in the European Union at 9.3%. The target for this year is 7%, which would still be a record.
After a turbulent period of domestic politics, in which a right-wing extremist almost became president, the pro-European, liberal-conservative, former anti-corruption activist Nicusor Dan took office in May 2025. The following month, a four-party coalition was formed with some difficulty under Prime Minister Bolojan of the National Liberal Party.
One of their most difficult tasks is reforming the budget, including so-called special pensions for civil servants, some of whom can retire as early as 48 and who receive up to €14,000 ($16,000) per month. By contrast, the average pension yields around €540 per month and hundreds of thousands of former agricultural workers receive an average pension of just €120 a month.
Given the fact that former judicial officials often receive special pensions, the Recorder film has increased public pressure on the government to implement reforms, planned since August but blocked several times by the judiciary.
The Constitutional Court must now decide on the law to abolish special pensions, although it remains unclear just when that might happen.
But one date has been set: On Facebook, President Dan invited prosecutors and judges to an "open-ended discussion" on December 22. The date has great symbolic value as the anniversary of the end to dictator Nicolae Ceausescu's rule in 1989.
