ROMANIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Cosmin Vasile, Alina Tugearu and Violeta Saranciuc, Zamfirescu Racoți Vasile & Partners Attorneys At Law
the Code of Civil Procedure, the arbitral tribunal can request the intervention of the national courts. 6.2 Role of Courts If the parties do not comply voluntarily with the interim relief rendered by the arbitral tribunal, the latter may request the involvement of the state courts. The local tribunal whose jurisdiction covers the seat of arbitration may grant protective measures and interim relief, at the parties’ request, before or during the arbi - tral proceedings. Since a similar order for protective measures or interim relief issued by the arbitral tribu- nal is not enforceable under Romanian law, the courts play a significant role in obtaining such measures and are preferred by the parties for the reason that the courts issue enforceable decisions. Interim Relief in Aid of Foreign-Seated Arbitrations Under Romanian law, there are no express provisions regarding the possibility of the national courts granting interim relief in aid of foreign-seated arbitrations. The Code of Civil Procedure only regulates the possibil - ity of granting such relief with respect to arbitration seated in Romania. However, Book VII of the Code of Civil Procedure – International Civil Trial, Article 1075 – provides that national courts are competent to grant interim relief regarding individuals and goods located in Romania at the moment of the request, even if, according to national law, the Romanian courts are not competent to render an award with respect to the merits of the case. Although the legal provisions do not directly address international-seated arbitrations, they can be included in the notion of international civil trial. Emergency Arbitrators The Code of Civil Procedure contains no provisions with respect to emergency arbitrators. The availability of such proceedings would depend on the applicable arbitration rules, if any. The CICA Rules enable the parties to resort to an emergency arbitrator when they are in need of interim relief before the constitution of the arbitral tribunal. According to Article 4 of Annex 2 of the CICA Rules, upon receiving the request, the president of the court
will appoint an emergency arbitrator within 48 hours, who will deliver a decision in a maximum of ten days. Emergency arbitrators can allow the same types of interim relief granted by the constituted arbitral tribu - nal: freezing measures on goods, provisional meas - ures or conservatory measures regarding evidence (ie, acknowledgement of matters of fact). Likewise, the protective measures and interim relief are not enforce - able under Romanian law. As noted, if the parties do not comply voluntarily with the interim relief rendered by the emergency arbitrator, the emergency arbitrator may request the involvement of the state courts. 6.3 Security for Costs The Code of Civil Procedure does not include the con - cept of security for costs. Security for costs is an interim measure – although it has never been defined as such – that in practice has been granted only by arbitral tribunals. As far as is known, no Romanian court of law has ever been requested to render a decision on such a measure. 7. Procedure 7.1 Governing Rules The arbitration procedure is governed by specific chapters of the Code of Civil Procedure. Pursuant to the Code of Civil Procedure, parties may establish the procedure of arbitration as such, or by reference to the set of rules applicable to a particular arbitral institution. The parties may also choose any procedural law to govern the procedure of arbitration. If the parties fail to establish such a procedure, the arbitral tribunal will do so. Regardless of the chosen procedure of arbitration, the arbitral tribunal has to guarantee certain fundamental principles, such as parties’ equality and their right to be heard.
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