ROMANIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Cosmin Vasile, Alina Tugearu and Violeta Saranciuc, Zamfirescu Racoți Vasile & Partners Attorneys At Law
7.2 Procedural Steps Romanian law does not provide for any specific pro - cedural steps in respect to filing an arbitration claim. To commence arbitration, a party must submit a writ - ten request for arbitration to the arbitral tribunal. If the parties have agreed on ad hoc arbitration, the first step is to establish the composition of the arbi - tral tribunal. If the composition is not stipulated in the arbitration agreement, the party requesting arbitration shall invite the other party in writing to proceed with the procedure to appoint the arbitrators. Where the arbitration is held under the purview of an arbitral insti - tution, the parties shall follow the procedural rules of that institution. In the majority of cases (including before CICA), the party that wishes to commence arbitration must first file a request for arbitration with the secretariat of the arbitral institution. A fixed filing fee is generally required. 7.3 Powers and Duties of Arbitrators Arbitrators enjoy the powers agreed by the parties (eg, the power to determine the procedural rules applica - ble in the proceedings), but these are subject to the limitations provided under the arbitration law, where applicable. Regarding the powers conferred by law, an arbitrator can: • decide on his or her own jurisdiction; • assess the case according to his or her “intimate belief”; • determine the place of arbitration and the law applicable to the substance of the dispute, in the absence of the parties’ agreement; and • determine the language of arbitration in certain circumstances, and in the absence of the parties’ agreement. Similarly, the arbitrators’ obligations may be agreed in the arbitration agreement subject to the limitations imposed by law. Regarding statutory duties, an arbi - tral tribunal is obliged to determine a dispute within six months of its constitution (although this time limit may be re-adjusted). Further, the arbitrators have a duty to act impartially and independently and must
disclose any circumstances that may prevent them from doing so. 7.4 Legal Representatives There are no particular qualifications or requirements for legal representatives appearing in front of an arbi - tral tribunal. An authorised legal professional may duly represent a party in arbitration proceedings. 8. Evidence 8.1 Collection and Submission of Evidence Each party has the burden of proof as to the facts based on which it makes a claim or raises a defence. According to the default rule, the parties submit the evidence on which they intend to rely on in limine litis (at the start of the procedure). The most common means of evidence are documents, expert evidence and witness evidence. In arbitrations conducted under the CICA Rules, arbitral tribunals may also allow party interrogatories – ie, questions addressed to parties aiming at the admission of facts. All pieces of evidence are of equal value and subject to the arbitral tribunal’s evaluation and conviction. However, the rules on evidence are flexible in interna - tional arbitration, which makes it possible in proce - dures such as ad hoc arbitration. The procedure and timing regarding the taking of evidence depend on the applicable arbitration rules (if any) and may be agreed by the parties or determined by the arbitral tribunal after hearing the parties. A particular rule is that witnesses are not heard under oath, as would happen before a local court. The arbi - tral tribunal can also order a party to produce certain evidence. 8.2 Rules of Evidence In arbitral proceedings seated in Romania, the appli - cable rules of evidence are those provided by Romani - an law as lex loci, namely the Code of Civil Procedure. As a matter of principle, the rules on evidence are flex - ible when it comes to international arbitration, and par -
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