Raluca Prună

Raluca Alexandra Prună (born 24 September 1969) is a Romanian politician and lawyer. She served as Minister of Justice in the Cioloș Cabinet from 17 November 2015 to 4 January 2017.

Early life Raluca Alexandra Prună was born on 24 September 1969 in Bucharest. She has a brother named Mihai Prună, who is a prosecutor that worked in the Prosecutors' Section of the SCM. From 1990 to 1994 she studied in the non-accredited Faculty of Law of the Ecological University of Bucharest. In February 1996 she obtained her license in Iași, as she had to wait for the accredation of the Ecological University, and then she graduated from Alexandru Ioan Cuza University. She also worked as a lawyer and legal consultant from September 1996 to September 2000. The Prosecutor's Office declined competency to settle the case, but in 2010, the Bucharest Court of Appeal ordered the continuation of investigations, and the case was settled against Raluca as they found no intention of her making false statements.

Minister of Justice Cristina Guseth was initially proposed as Minister of Justice, but the prime minister Dacian Cioloș withdrew her consideration after he thought that her performance was below expectations during questioning by the committees of the Romanian Parliament. It was then circulated that Mihai Selegean was the second choice, but ultimately Prună was chosen to appear before parliament and she was confirmed as Minister of Justice on 17 November 2015.

One of her first proposals was lifting the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification that Romania signed to when joining the European Commission that monitored and supported judicial and anti-corruption reforms, as she said that the country needed to internalize the procedures without oversight. She also announced she wanted to move Judicial Police to the Prosecutors' Office, and that it was needed to carry out investigations. Laura Codruta Kovesi was chosen again as Head of the DNA for a three-year term and Augustin Lazăr was chosen as Prosecutor General. She also regulated the practice of prisoners who wrote "scientific works" receiving sentence reductions, which she considered a loophole for corrupt politicians. and In 2016, she was again accused of making false statements by the opposition regarding Romania's commitment to the European Court of Human Rights with prison conditions. She resigned from the government on 4 January 2017, and was succeeded by Florin Iordache.

Post-ministerial role Since 2018 she has headed the Financial Crime Unit of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers, consequently of the Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union.