Between Eclipse and Sunrise: Abolition and Re-establishment of the Function of General Secretary of the Prefect’s Institution in Romania

The study aims to analyze the institution of the Secretary General of the prefecture, which is the highest civil servant in the prefect’s institution, found in most states under this name or others that evoke his role as a representative of the central government in the territory, to monitor and to ensure that the law is respected and the government policy transposed in practice at the level of the administrative-territorial unit. In each public authority, central or local, there is a function which has the most important role, which brings stability and which is called the Secretary General. Its role is to ensure compliance with the law in the activity of the public authority in which it is located, but also the continuity of its activity, in case of changes that occur during the election cycles or, as the case may be, appointment of new central and local authorities. It also existed, naturally, within the prefect’s institution, but it was abolished in 2005, with the functions of prefect and sub-prefect transformation, from public dignities to public functions, in 2005. By returning, in January 2021, to the status of dignitaries, the function of prefecture’s general secretary was re-established.