While judging a case, a judge received money from a party in that case and gave a sentence in favor of the party from whom she received the money.

While judging the ICA Case, Judge Camelia Bogdan received money from the Ministry of Agriculture, the injured party in the ICA Case. Two days after receiving the money, Judge Bogdan gave a final sentence in favor of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Document 1

The Ministry of Agriculture appointed Camelia Bogdan as a lecturer while she was judging a case in which the Ministry of Agriculture was the injured party. The appointment was made at the proposal of some consulting firms.

On July 4, 2014, (3 days after the first term judged by Camelia Bogdan in the ICA case, in which the Ministry of Agriculture was a party), a commission formed by employees of the Ministry of Agriculture drew up a “Minutes of evaluation of expressions of interest regarding the selection of a consulting firm for the provision of training course organization services for 260 people within APIA”.

The document, which bears the letterhead of the Ministry of Agriculture, clearly states that Judge Camelia Bogdan is part of the team proposed to the Ministry of Agriculture by an association between two consulting firms.

Document 2

On July 11, 2014, negotiations took place between representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture (MADR) and the consulting firms that proposed Camelia Bogdan. Following this, a “Minute of Negotiations” was concluded. According to the document, which bears the letterhead of the Ministry of Agriculture, the negotiation “took place at the headquarters of UMP-CESAR, within the MADR”, the client is “UMP-CESAR-MADR”, and the subject of the discussions is the organization of training courses for “persons from APIA”. (APIA is the Payment and Intervention Agency for Agriculture under the Ministry of Agriculture.)

Document 3

On July 16, 2014, the Ministry of Agriculture concluded the contract with the association of consulting firms Gama Proconsult SRL and FDI Top Consult SRL.

The contract bears the letterhead of the Ministry of Agriculture. The title of the contract is “Contract no. 1290 of July 16, 2014 on the provision of consulting services for the organization of training courses for APIA personnel on the common agricultural policy and corruption prevention”. The parties to the contract are “UMP CESAR of the Ministry of Agriculture” and the association between the consulting firms Gama Proconsult SRL and FDI Top Consult SRL.

According to the contract:

– Payments are to be made based on reports “previously approved by the representative of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development” (emphasis in the original document);

– The CESAR project is “implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture”;

– “The object of the contract is the organization of training sessions for 260 people, civil servants from the counties and from the APIA headquarters, an institution subordinated to the Ministry of Agriculture;

– “MADR (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) will send the Provider the lists of APIA staff (the 260 people)”.

In annexes B (“List of consultant staff”) and D (“Cost estimate”) of the contract, Camelia Bogdan’s name appears as a “lecturer” in the program paid for by the Ministry of Agriculture. At that time, Camelia Bogdan was judging the ICA File in which the Ministry of Agriculture was the injured party.

In the contract, Camelia Bogdan does not appear with her real position (“judge”), but with the position of “jurist”.

Documents 4 and 5

On July 15, 2014, the day before the signing of the contract between the Ministry of Agriculture and the consulting firms, the Ministry of Agriculture issued two documents: a proposal to commit an expenditure within the limit of the commitment credits and a global budgetary commitment. Both documents bear the stamp of the Ministry of Agriculture and are targeted for “own preventive financial control” by the “Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, UMP – CESAR”

These documents made it possible for the Ministry of Agriculture to finance the courses for which Camelia Bogdan was paid.

Document 6

On July 16, 2014, immediately after the signing of the contract between the consulting firms and the Ministry of Agriculture, Judge Camelia Bogdan received from one of the firms (FDI Top Consult) an official invitation to participate, as a lecturer, in the training courses. The invitation explicitly states that it is a project of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR), intended for MADR employees within the Agricultural Payments and Intervention Agency (APIA). At that time, Camelia Bogdan was judging a case in which MADR was a party.

Document 7

On July 17, 2014, Judge Camelia Bogdan signed the Professional Services Contract No. 17.07.3 with the firm FDI Top Consult.

The contract explicitly states that it is a project of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR), intended for MADR employees within APIA. At that time, Camelia Bogdan was judging a lawsuit in which the Ministry of Agriculture was a party.

According to the contract, its object is “the provision of training services for the organization of training sessions for 260 people within APIA /…/ as provided for in Contract no. 1290/16.07.2014 between the Beneficiary and the Management Unit of the Project Complementing the Financial Support granted by the European Union for the Restructuring of Agriculture in Romania UMP-CESAR – MADR (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development)”.

According to the contract, “the invoicing of the services will be made after the successful completion of the activities provided for in the service contract between the Beneficiary (FDI Top Consult) and UMP-CESAR-MADR”.

Documents 8 and 9

On July 28, 2014 and August 5, 2014, the association Gama Proconsult – FDI Top Consult submitted Progress Reports regarding the courses organized in Poiana Brașov. Both reports refer to Camelia Bogdan and the courses she held. Both reports were addressed to the “Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development – ​​UMP – CESAR”.

Document 10

On August 2, 2014, two days before a court date in the ICA case, Judge Camelia Bogdan submitted the Activity Report required to receive her money from the Ministry of Agriculture. According to the Activity Report signed by Camelia Bogdan, her activity consisted of training services “for organizing training sessions for 260 people within APIA”, as they had been provided in the contract between FDI Top Consult and “UMP – CESAR – MADR”.

Document 11

On August 6, 2014, one day after Camelia Bogdan remained in the ruling in the ICA case, the Ministry of Agriculture approved a payment tranche to Gama Proconsult and FDI Top Consult for “consulting services related to organizing training courses for APIA personnel”. According to Approval Note no. 1397 of 06.08.2014, the payment was approved because “MADR accepted the report (submitted by Gama Proconsult and FDI Top Consult) without objections”.

Document 12

On the same day, FDI Top Consult transferred part of this money to Judge Camelia Bogdan. Two days after taking the money, on 8 August 2014, Judge Bogdan issued a final ruling in favor of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Document 13

The Ministry of Agriculture awarded participants in the Vocational Training Program, organized between 21 July and 1 August 2014 in Poiana Brașov, “participation and graduation” diplomas. All these diplomas are signed by Camelia Bogdan. All these diplomas bear the large and clear letterhead of the Ministry of Agriculture, the institution from which the money came to pay Camelia Bogdan.

We recall that, by the Decision of September 11, 2025, the High Court established that Judge Camelia Bogdan was in incompatibility, “the respondent providing training services for 260 employees within APIA, a structure that operated within the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and aimed at the implementation/application of the future Common Agricultural Policy and the prevention of fraud and corruption, in order to protect the financial interests of the European Union. This contractual relationship took place precisely during the period in which she judged the file in which she pronounced the criminal decision no. 888/A/08.08.2014 (i.e. ICA File) and in which the Ministry of Agriculture and Food had the status of civil party in the case.”

The High Court determined that “Judge Camelia Bogdan placed herself in a state of incompatibility and conflict of interest, through the contractual relationship with one of the parties to the case.” According to the High Court, the fact that Judge Bogdan had a remunerated contract with the Ministry of Agriculture, a party to the ICA Case she was judging, “reveals an abusive attitude, contrary to the law, impartiality and the rules of the rule of law, through which the right to a fair trial was seriously compromised.”

Mugur Ciuvică