ROMANIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Cosmin Vasile, Alina Tugearu and Violeta Saranciuc, Zamfirescu Racoți Vasile & Partners Attorneys At Law
1.4 National Courts There are no national courts that only hear disputes related to international or domestic arbitration mat - ters. The national courts’ intervention is limited to adjudicating claims aimed at removing impediments arising during the organisation phase or the arbitration itself (eg, aiding the process of appointing arbitrators, as detailed in 4.3 Court Intervention , or challenging arbitrators), or to other applications such as issuing interim measures to aid the arbitral proceedings or granting protective measures and interim relief, at the parties’ request, before or during the arbitral proceed - ings. Such applications are adjudicated by the local court (tribunal) whose jurisdiction covers the seat of the arbitration. National courts – namely the Court of Appeal whose jurisdiction covers the seat of the arbi - tration – also adjudicate the set-aside proceedings. The main body of law governing international arbitra - tion is included in the Code of Civil Procedure, which came into force on 15 February 2013. Title IV of Book VII (International Arbitration and the Effects of For - eign Arbitral Awards) sets out specific legal provisions regarding international arbitration and the effects of foreign arbitral awards, which are supplemented by a general set of provisions included in Book IV of the Code of Civil Procedure (On Arbitration); these are applicable to international arbitration whenever the parties have not agreed on certain aspects by means of the arbitration agreement and have not vested the arbitral tribunal with settling those aspects either. Romania does not have UNCITRAL Model Law-based legislation. However, the institutions within the newly enacted legislation follow the outline and spirit of the Model Law, but a specific analysis of each provision would have to be performed in order to determine the 2. Governing Legislation 2.1 Governing Law
no reforms are expected in the near future. Discus - sions are ongoing around the need to broaden the scope of arbitrable disputes. A development that is worth noting, albeit not a legis - lative one, relates to the enactment of a revised set of arbitration rules by CICA, which entered into force on 1 January 2025. The most notable changes set remote hearings and party-appointed experts as default rules (previously, experts were, as a rule, appointed by the arbitral tribunal), introduce disclosure of third-party funders, clarify the procedure for challenging arbitra - tors and experts, streamline case management and set clearer boundaries between the written and oral phases of arbitration proceedings. With the revised rules, CACI has also revised its fee scales by increas - ing the costs of CACI arbitration proceedings. Under Romanian law, a valid arbitration agreement must be concluded in writing. However, the Code of Civil Procedure broadly defines this requirement to include electronic communications or any means of communication establishing the text of the agreement. Concerning requirements other than the form of the contract (such as the capacity to conclude agree - ments and consent), the arbitration agreement is valid provided that it fulfils the validity requirements stipu - lated under one of the following laws: • the law agreed by the parties; • the law governing the subject matter of the dis - pute; • the law applicable to the contract comprising the arbitration clause; or • Romanian law. 3.2 Arbitrability A dispute can be referred to international arbitration provided that: • it is patrimonial in nature, meaning that the dispute refers to an economic relation that can be evalu - ated monetarily; 3. The Arbitration Agreement 3.1 Enforceability
exact influence of the Model Law. 2.2 Changes to National Law
As the applicable legislation is relatively recent (the new Code of Civil Procedure was enacted on 15 Feb - ruary 2013), no significant changes have been imple - mented in regard to international arbitration law, and
649 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook