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 .

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 #

Last updated: September 20, 2026