The legal system of Romania
A French-influenced civil-law system entirely recodified between 2011 and 2014: new Civil Code, Code of Civil Procedure, Criminal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure in quick succession. Anti-corruption enforcement through the DNA, and the Constitutional Court’s rulings on it, dominate the public-law landscape.
Legal tradition
Romania belongs to the civil law tradition. A French-influenced civil-law system entirely recodified between 2011 and 2014: new Civil Code, Code of Civil Procedure, Criminal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure in quick succession. Anti-corruption enforcement through the DNA, and the Constitutional Court’s rulings on it, dominate the public-law landscape.
How power is divided
Semi-presidential: a directly elected President shares executive power with a Government answerable to Parliament, and constitutional conflicts between them are themselves justiciable before the Constitutional Court.
Where law comes from
- Constitution
- Supreme law; basis of the exception of unconstitutionality.
- EU law
- Applicable since 2007; precedence within its field.
- International treaties
- Human-rights treaties prevail over conflicting domestic law.
- Statutes and ordinances
- Including government emergency ordinances, which have the force of law.
- Codes
- Civil Code 2011, Civil Procedure 2013, Criminal Code and Procedure 2014.
- HCCJ appeals in the interest of the law
- Binding interpretive rulings on all courts.
The legal profession
Lawyers (avocați) are admitted through local bars affiliated to the UNBR after examination and a two-year traineeship; notaries and judicial enforcement officers are separate professions.
Law by topic in Romania
- Civil ProcedureA 2013 code with a written admissibility filterThe Code of Civil Procedure of 2013 introduced a regularisation stage in which the court checks the claim on paper and may dismiss it without a hearing if defects are not cured. Judecătorii hear smaller claims and tribunals act as general first instance courts.
- Human RightsConstitutional rights with the ECHR ranking above statuteArticle 20 gives ratified human rights treaties priority over domestic law where they are more favourable, which makes the ECHR directly usable in Romanian courts. The People's Advocate is the ombudsman and may refer statutes to the Constitutional Court.
- Constitutional LawA 1991 constitution revised in 2003 with mandatory review of lawsThe Constitution of 1991, revised in 2003, established a semi-presidential republic. The Constitutional Court reviews statutes before promulgation on referral by defined authorities, and reviews them after entry into force only through an exception raised in pending litigation.
- Immigration & NationalitySchengen since 2024 with an annual work-permit quotaRomania joined Schengen for air and sea borders in March 2024 and for land borders in January 2025. Third-country nationals are governed by Ordinance 194/2002, and the government sets an annual quota of newly admitted workers that has grown sharply.
- Employment & LabourA 2003 Labour Code with individual employment records in RevisalLaw 53/2003 requires a written contract registered in the Revisal electronic register before the first day of work. Undeclared work carries heavy fines per worker, and collective bargaining was reopened by the 2022 social dialogue law.
- Property & LandA land book system still in the middle of systematic registrationThe Civil Code of 2011 makes registration in the land book constitutive of title, but only in areas where systematic cadastral registration has been completed, so in much of the country the old contract-based transfer still applies transitionally.
- Business & CorporateLaw 31/1990 companies with capital requirements largely abolishedThe srl remains the standard vehicle and since 2020 has no minimum capital requirement at all. Registration is with the National Trade Register Office, which since 2021 accepts fully electronic filings and issues the registration certificate within days.
- Family LawFamily law inside the Civil Code with administrative divorceThe 2011 Civil Code absorbed the old Family Code. Where the spouses agree and there are no minor children, divorce may be pronounced by the civil registrar or a notary rather than a court, which made uncontested separation an administrative matter.
- Criminal LawThe 2014 codes with a preliminary chamber filterNew criminal and procedure codes entered force in 2014, introducing the preliminary chamber judge who screens the legality of the indictment and evidence before trial. Police custody is limited to 24 hours and pre-trial arrest requires a judge of rights and freedoms.
- Tax LawA 10% income tax with a contested micro-enterprise regimePersonal income tax is a flat 10%, corporate tax 16%, and standard VAT rose to 21% in August 2025. The micro-enterprise regime taxes turnover instead of profit and has been progressively narrowed by turnover ceilings and activity exclusions.
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