Back in 2007 the National Agency for Integrity introduced the requirement for presidents and other senior union officials to file statements of assets and interests relating to any property acquired during the exercise of their mandates, as well as of any conflicts of interest. At the time the union confederation «Cartel Alfa» stated that this affected the independence and autonomy of trade unions and ultimately violated their freedom of association.
In April 2011 the agency requested from Cartel Alfa documentation relating to all mandates of its President, Bogdan Iuliu Hossu. Given that Mr Hossu has been President since 1990 a retrospective application of the law seemed to be taking place. In addition the request from the agency contained no grounds for the statements, as is required by law.
In an initial court case the in June 2011 the judge upheld the agency’s request and ordered Cartel Alfa to pay a civil fine of 200 lei per day, starting from 7th April until the requested documents are received. An appeal was due to be heard in November.