> Reference on ANI under Law 361/2022: how competence is shared between the Agency and the other competent authorities, the external reporting procedure, the acknowledgment and feedback deadlines, and the administrative fines the Agency itself imposes.

Source: https://ethicsportal.eu/authorities/romania-ani/
Updated: 2026-09-20

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# ANI — Romania's external reporting channel

The **Agenția Națională de Integritate (ANI)**, the National Integrity Agency, is one of the authorities competent to receive reports of breaches of the law under Law no. 361/2022. It receives reports, examines them, redirects what falls outside its competence, and establishes and penalises the offences the Law creates.

This page is a reference on the authority: what it does and does not do, how a report is filed, which deadlines apply, and what it can fine. For the internal-channel duty and the thresholds, see [whistleblower law in Romania](/whistleblower-laws/romania/).

## What ANI is in this system

| | |
| --- | --- |
| Authority | Agenția Națională de Integritate (the "Agency") |
| Legal basis | **Law no. 361/2022** on the protection of public-interest whistleblowers, Chapters IV and VII |
| Role | External reporting channel, alongside the other competent authorities (art. 3(15) and art. 12(1)) |
| Structure | A **distinct specialised structure** within the Agency; integrity inspectors designated as responsible persons (art. 16) |
| Sanctions | **Establishes and penalises** the offences in arts. 28 and 29 (art. 30(1)) |

## Who counts as a "competent authority"

The Law does not designate a single authority. Under art. 3(15) the competent authorities are:

- **(a)** public authorities and institutions that, under special legislation, receive and resolve reports in their own field of competence;
- **(b)** the **National Integrity Agency**;
- **(c)** other public authorities and institutions to which the Agency transmits reports for resolution.

That architecture creates mutual redirection duties (art. 12):

- reports the Agency receives that belong to the (a) authorities are **redirected immediately** to them, preserving confidentiality and integrity guarantees;
- the (a) authorities must **immediately redirect** to the Agency any report within its competence;
- the Agency immediately redirects to the (c) authorities where it lacks competence to examine and take follow-up action;
- the (c) authorities immediately redirect misdirected reports back to the Agency.

**The whistleblower must be notified of a redirection within 3 working days** of it happening (art. 12(5)).

## The Agency's tasks

Article 14 lists them:

- **resolves** the reports within its competence;
- **forwards** a report to the competent authority according to its subject matter;
- transmits information in good time to the competent EU institutions, bodies, offices or agencies;
- organises periodic **public information activities** on the reporting procedure and the protection measures;
- provides **advice to employers**, on request, in drafting and revising internal procedures;
- provides **training for the persons designated** to resolve reports;
- provides **confidential advice, on request**, to people intending to make a report;
- proposes legislative amendments and cooperates with similar institutions.

Two are worth drawing out: ANI **advises employers** on request when they write their internal procedures, and offers **confidential pre-reporting advice** to people considering coming forward.

## Powers and duties when resolving a report

In resolving a report, the Agency and the art. 3(15)(c) authorities **may** (art. 13(1)) request documents held by any public authority, public institution, or public- or private-law legal person and receive copies, and request information from the whistleblower, the person concerned and anyone else who can help — including by inviting them to their premises.

They **must** (art. 13(2)) receive, examine and answer reports through designated persons; take follow-up action; ensure confidentiality; **retain reports for 5 years** from registration; maintain contact with the whistleblower; and inform them how the report was resolved.

## The external procedure and its deadlines

| Stage | Deadline |
| --- | --- |
| Acknowledgment of receipt | **Immediately, and no later than 7 calendar days** from receipt — unless the whistleblower expressly asked otherwise or the Agency reasonably considers the acknowledgment would endanger the protection of their identity (art. 17(1)) |
| Notice of redirection | **3 working days** from the redirection (art. 12(5)) |
| Responses to the Agency's requests | Those asked must reply within **no more than 15 working days** of receiving the request (art. 17(5)) |
| Informing the whistleblower | A reasonable time **not exceeding 3 months or, in justified cases, 6 months** from receipt of the report, and whenever there are developments (art. 17(6)) |

After registration, the designated person carries out a first examination of whether the conditions in art. 2, art. 5(3) and art. 6 are met. Where there are indications that a breach exists, the substantive examination follows (art. 17(2) and (4)). At the end, a **report** is drawn up setting out the situation, the information brought to the Agency's attention and the outcome of the examination (art. 17(7)).

## Offences — ANI both establishes and penalises them

Unlike Poland, where liability is criminal, Romania uses an administrative-offence regime, and **the Agency's own specialised structure establishes and penalises** the offences (art. 30(1)).

| Conduct | Fine |
| --- | --- |
| Preventing a report by any means, by the person designated to receive and register reports (art. 28(2)(a)) | **RON 2,000–20,000** |
| Unjustified refusal to answer the Agency's requests under art. 17(5) (lit. b) | **RON 3,000–30,000** |
| **Failure to establish the internal reporting channels** required by art. 9(1) (lit. c) | **RON 3,000–30,000** |
| Failure to comply with the obligations in art. 10(1)(a) (lit. d) | **RON 4,000–40,000** |
| Breach by a natural person of the duty to keep confidential the identity of the whistleblower, the person concerned or third parties (arts. 8 and 25) (lit. e) | **RON 4,000–40,000** |
| **False reporting** — reporting information while knowing it is untrue (art. 29) | **RON 2,500–30,000** |

These are offences only where the conduct was not committed in circumstances making it a crime under criminal law (art. 28(2)).

Breach of the Law attracts, as the case may be, **civil, disciplinary, administrative-offence or criminal liability** (art. 28(1)).

## Rights cannot be waived

The rights and measures the Law provides **cannot be waived or limited** by contract, by the form or conditions of employment, or by an arbitration agreement concluded before a dispute. Any settlement seeking to limit or waive them is **void by operation of law** (art. 27).

## The Agency's information duty

Article 15 requires the Agency to publish on its website, in a separate, easily identifiable and accessible section, at least the conditions for qualifying for protection and the other information the Law specifies.

## Official sources

- [Law no. 361/2022 on the protection of public-interest whistleblowers — Portal Legislativ](https://legislatie.just.ro/public/DetaliiDocument/262872)
- [ANI — public-interest whistleblowers](https://integritate.eu/competente/avertizori-in-interes-public/)
- [Directive (EU) 2019/1937 — EUR-Lex](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32019L1937)