Romania · Overview
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.
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