ROMANIA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Cosmin Vasile and Violeta Saranciuc, Zamfirescu Racoți Vasile & Partners Attorneys At Law
Zamfirescu Racoți Vasile & Partners 12 Plantelor Street District 2 Bucharest 023974 Romania Tel: +40 21 311 05 17/18 Fax: +40 21 311 05 19
Email: cosmina.muresan@zrvp.ro Web: office@zrvp.ro www.zrvp.ro
Introduction Romania has a long-standing tradition of internation - al arbitration, an arbitration-friendly legal framework, supportive, pro-enforcement courts and a growing community of qualified international arbitration prac - titioners – all of which makes the country one of the most reliable arbitration seats and dynamic arbitration markets in Central and Southeastern Europe. Romania is party to the main international arbitration treaties, including the United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbi - tral Awards (New York, 10 June 1958), the European Convention on International Commercial Arbitration (Geneva, 21 April 1961) and the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States (Washington, 18 March 1965). Romania’s main home-based arbitral institution, attached to the Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is over 70 years old (established in 1953) and has uninterruptedly administered inter - national commercial arbitration over that time. The Romanian arbitration market is equally receptive to the services of international arbitral institutions, with the most popular being the International Court of Arbitration (ICC), Vienna International Arbitral Cen - tre (VIAC), London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) and Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC). Romania is often among the most well-represented nationalities from Central and Eastern Europe at the ICC. The number of ICC arbitrations with Romanian connections peaked in 2014–17, in the context of a legal framework that provided for ICC arbitration as
the settlement method for public procurement infra - structure disputes. Even though the legal framework has in the meantime changed, and currently refers these disputes to the local arbitral institution, the ICC remains a popular choice, where its most recent sta - tistics (for 2024) mention Romanian parties as the fifth most common from Central and Southeastern Europe. At VIAC, Romania was second after Austria based on the origin of the parties in 2023, and third based on the nationality of the arbitrators in 2023 and 2024, according to the institution’s statistics. The majority of international arbitrations in Romania arise in the construction and infrastructure and energy sectors. Increasingly, arbitration clauses are used in contracts concluded for renewable energy projects and in the IT sector. The High Court’s Binding Ruling Imposing Stricter Rules on Local Arbitral Institutions On 26 August 2024, the Romanian Court of Cassation and Justice (the “High Court”) published its binding decision of 17 June 2024 on the uniform interpreta - tion and application of Article 616 (1) of the Romanian Code of Civil Procedure regarding institutional arbitra - tion. This decision is the most notable development concerning arbitration in Romania in the recent years, limiting the types of domestic entities that can admin - ister arbitration in Romania. The matter was escalated by Romania’s General Pros - ecutor, who referred to the High Court the question of whether associations and foundations established in accordance with domestic law can include in their statutes the purpose of organising institutional arbitra -
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