Buzău
The city of Buzău (formerly spelled ''Buzeu'' or ''Buzĕu''; ) is the county seat of Buzău County, Romania, in the historical region of Muntenia. It lies near the right bank of the Buzău River, between the south-eastern curvature of the Carp ...
) is a Romanian lawyer who served as the ad interim Prime Minister of Romania from February 6 to 9 February 2012, following the resignation of
Emil Boc
Emil Boc (; born 6 September 1966) is a Romanian politician who was Prime Minister of Romania from 22 December 2008 until 6 February 2012 and is the current Mayor of Cluj-Napoca, the largest city of Transylvania, where he was first elected in Ju ...
. He had previously been the
Minister of Justice
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
of Romania since 29 February 2008.
Lawyer
Cătălin Predoiu graduated from the Faculty of Law at the
University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princel ...
in 1991. In 1994 he completed a training program in commercial law at the Caen Bar in France. Since 2003 he is a member of the Council of
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
Bar Association.Cătălin Predoiu propus ministru al justiţiei
BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
, 29 February 2008
Between 1994 and 2005 he taught commercial law as a lecturer at University of Bucharest. Predoiu published several articles and studies about commercial law and has received a prize from the
Romanian Academy
The Romanian Academy ( ro, Academia Română ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life.
According to its byl ...
as a co-author of a law treatise. He completed his
Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
degree in commercial banks in 2004.
Predoiu was an associate lawyer at the ''Zamfirescu, Racoți, Predoiu'' (ZRP) law partnership until 2008 working as a commercial and corporate governance lawyer. His law firm assisted Rompetrol, the company owned by fellow Liberal Dinu Patriciu,Noul ministru al justiţiei depune jurământul
BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
, 29 February 2008 as well as the American company Cross Lander during the controversial privatization and bankruptcy of
ARO
ARO (short for Auto Romania) was a Romanian off-road vehicle manufacturer located in Câmpulung. The first ARO vehicles were produced in 1957, and the last in 2003. For a short while, Daihatsu-powered AROs were sold in Spain and produced in Portu ...
SUV producer.
Predoiu was a member of the board of directors of the state-owned
BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu
Călin Constantin Anton Popescu-Tăriceanu (; born 14 January 1952) is a Romanian politician who was Prime Minister of Romania from 29 December 2004 to 22 December 2008. He was also president of the National Liberal Party (PNL) and the vice-pre ...
), however this party was soon disbanded in 1993.
On February 29, 2008, in a move that surprised even other leaders of National Liberal Party, Prime-Minister
Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu
Călin Constantin Anton Popescu-Tăriceanu (; born 14 January 1952) is a Romanian politician who was Prime Minister of Romania from 29 December 2004 to 22 December 2008. He was also president of the National Liberal Party (PNL) and the vice-pre ...
proposed him as Minister of Justice, his candidature being approved by President
Traian Băsescu
Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a conservative Romanian politician who served as President of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian Minister of Transport on multiple occasions between 1991 ...
.
He was a candidate from PNL for the Chamber of Deputies in
Buzău
The city of Buzău (formerly spelled ''Buzeu'' or ''Buzĕu''; ) is the county seat of Buzău County, Romania, in the historical region of Muntenia. It lies near the right bank of the Buzău River, between the south-eastern curvature of the Carp ...
, however, he got only 28.9% of the votes, losing to Social Democrat Marian Ghiveciu, who got 46.6%.
His term as Minister of Justice was extended in the new
Emil Boc
Emil Boc (; born 6 September 1966) is a Romanian politician who was Prime Minister of Romania from 22 December 2008 until 6 February 2012 and is the current Mayor of Cluj-Napoca, the largest city of Transylvania, where he was first elected in Ju ...
Cabinet (since 22 December 2008), composed of Social Democratic Party (PSD) and Democratic Liberal Party (PDL) members. This brought criticism from his party, the National Liberal Party (PNL), which led to Predoiu's self-suspension from it. He argued that he accepted this new nomination only to continue his work at the ministry. He was the only independent minister in the first Boc Cabinet.
In the second Boc cabinet, he was one of three independent ministers of that government (together with Mihail Dumitru and Teodor Baconschi) and the only member of the Tăriceanu cabinet still in office.
In December 2009, he was reappointed Minister of Justice, and became the only independent minister, after Dumitru was replaced and Baconschi became a member of PDL. He was replaced in his position on 8 May 2012.
In October 2011, the Ministry of Justice signed a 1.5 million lei contract with RVA Insolvency, a company to which Predoiu's father-in-law was an associate. According to the Ministry, the conflict of interest laws did not apply in this case because the contract was financed by the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...
, not the government budget.Cum a ajuns RVA Insolvency, compania la care a fost asociat socrul ministrului Predoiu, sa ofere consultanta tehnica ministerului Justiei
Hotnews
HotNews is one of the oldest and biggest Romanian news sites focused mainly on general topics, finance, politics, and current affairs. The website constantly publishes news, interviews, video documentaries, and opinion pieces.
As of February 20 ...
Hotnews
HotNews is one of the oldest and biggest Romanian news sites focused mainly on general topics, finance, politics, and current affairs. The website constantly publishes news, interviews, video documentaries, and opinion pieces.
As of February 20 ...
'', September 6, 2014
In 2014, following the merger between PDL and PNL, he became First Vice President of PNL until an unification Congress in the summer of 2017. In the Romanian legislative election of 2016, Predoiu won a seat in the Chamber of Deputies in
Călărași
Călărași (), the capital of Călărași County in the Muntenia region, is situated in south-east Romania, on the banks of the Danube's Borcea branch, at about from the Bulgarian border and from Bucharest.
The city is an industrial centre f ...
on PNL's party list. In November 2019, after the ousting of
Viorica Dăncilă
Vasilica Viorica Dăncilă (; born 16 December 1963) is a Romanian politician, former leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), and was Prime Minister of Romania from 29 January 2018 to 4 November 2019. She is the first woman in Romanian his ...
's government in a no-confidence motion, Predoiu was reappointed Minister of Justice in the cabinet led by PNL leader
Ludovic Orban
Ludovic Orban (; born 25 May 1963) is a Romanian engineer and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Romania from November 2019 to December 2020. He was president of the National Liberal Party (PNL) between 2017 and 2021, which expelled ...
. He served a 1-year term until Orban's resignation after the loss of the 2020 legislative elections and the appointment of
Florin Cîțu
Florin Vasile Cîțu (; born 1 April 1972) is a Romanian politician who served as Prime Minister of Romania between December 2020 and November 2021 (acting (law), acting/ad interim between October and November 2021). Between September 2021 and A ...
to make a coalition government with the USR-PLUS and UDMR.
On 25 November 2021 he was reappointed Minister of Justice again, in the incumbent
Ciucă Cabinet
The Ciucă Cabinet () is the 132nd and current government of Romania led by former Romanian Land Forces army general Nicolae Ciucă (PNL; also current PNL president) since 25 November 2021 to the present day.
The grand coalition forming the g ...