ROMANIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Cosmin Vasile and Alina Tugearu, Zamfirescu Racoți Vasile & Partners Attorneys At Law
may cause the suspension or interruption of the limi- tation period. 3.3 Jurisdictional Requirements for a Defendant A claim may be initiated against a person who has capacity to stand trial (ie, the person is capable of hav- ing rights and exercising those rights). If a natural per- son has the capacity to have rights, the person must be alive; if a legal person has the capacity to have rights, the company must be properly registered with the trade registry. Natural persons have the capacity to exercise their rights when they turn 18 years old. A natural person between the ages of 14 and 18 must be assisted in a court, while a natural person under the age of 14 must be represented in court by their legal guardian. In terms of jurisdictional requirements, the only dif- ference between courts relates to the complexity and value of the claim (different subjects and values trigger different jurisdictions of different courts) and certain characteristics of the parties (for example, a claim against a central public authority/institution is settled by a different court than a claim against a local public authority/institution). 3.4 Initial Complaint The initial complaint shall include the following ele- ments: • the identity of the parties; • the plaintiff’s representative’s name and proof of their power of representation; • the claim and its value; • the factual and legal grounds of the claim; • the evidence supporting the claim; and • the signature of the plaintiff’s representative. The claim may be amended up until the first hearing in court. After this point, amendments are only permitted with the consent of the other party. 3.5 Rules of Service After verifying the fulfilment of the formal conditions of the claim, the judge organises the communication of the claim to the defendant, as service of the claim is the responsibility of the court. The communication
of the claim is accompanied by a note obliging the defendant to submit a statement of defence. As a rule, any communication of procedural docu- ments is fulfilled by the court’s procedural agents or other employees. If this is not possible, the communi- cation is made by email, fax or another means of com- munication that provides the possibility for a receipt of confirmation to be issued. When the claimant is not able to provide the defend- ant’s address, the communication is made by service at the court’s headquarters, on the court’s website and at the defendant’s last known domicile. The deemed date of service is the date when the con- firmation of receipt is signed by the receiver. Service Outside Romania Documents may also be sent by mail outside the country with confirmation of receipt and declaration of content. The service of judicial documents between EU member states is regulated by Regulation No 1393/2007. 3.6 Failure to Respond The case does not stop developing simply because the defendant does not respond to the claim or responds late and/or does not participate in court proceedings. However, as a consequence of not delivering the statement of defence within the legal deadline (gen- erally, within 25 days of being notified), the defendant loses the right to propose evidence and/or to raise a number of (private) pleas. One of the most important objections that can be raised only by the statement of defence (or at the first court hearing when the statement of defence is not mandatory) is the time bar objection. In the Romanian legal system, the time bar objection is of an exclu- sively private nature, as the courts cannot raise it ex officio, sanctioning the defendant’s lack of diligence by (possibly) admitting a time-barred claim. Nonetheless, failure to respond does not entail an automatic case win for the claimant. The court can raise several pleas ex officio (absolute and public
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