ROMANIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Cosmin Vasile and Alina Tugearu, Zamfirescu Racoți Vasile & Partners Attorneys At Law
4. Pre-Trial Proceedings 4.1 Interim Applications/Motions
order pleas such as lack of procedural capacity, lack of interest, inadmissibility, etc) and, in view of its active role, can even order the administration of necessary evidence. Any decision to be rendered in the case will be the result of a thorough analysis of all the facts of the case, of all the evidence and possibly of the argu- ments put forward by the defendant (irrespective of the date of their response). 3.7 Representative or Collective Actions Law No 414/2023 was recently enacted to imple- ment Directive (EU) 2020/1828 on representative actions for protecting consumers’ collective interests, and introduces an approach distinct from traditional joint actions. Under this law, consumers can be rep- resented by a qualified entity, such as a consumer protection association, to both stop violations of EU law and seek compensation for damages caused by businesses. The law establishes a dual legal frame- work: for halting violations, the representative action serves a public interest role, allowing representation without consumers’ express consent. However, when it comes to seeking reparations, the action is governed by private law, representing only those consumers who have explicitly consented to be part of the group. Hence, only on reparatory aspects, the law establishes the opt-in system, whereby the qualified entity acting as the claimant must secure explicit written consent from consumers to represent them in actions seeking remedial measures, within 30 days of filing the representative action. Nevertheless, consent may also be validly expressed in writing and submitted up until the closure of proceedings before the court of first instance. 3.8 Requirements for Cost Estimate The legal assistance agreement concluded between the lawyer and the client at the outset of the dispute shall state the fees to which the lawyer is entitled. However, if the fee agreed is computed on hourly rates, there are no legal and/or statutory requirements to provide the client with an estimate of the cost of litigation. In practice, however, lawyers usually provide clients with such a cost estimate.
The parties may apply for interim measures before the hearing of a claim, and even before the trial in particular cases and under strict conditions. As an interim remedy, the interested party may apply for freezing measures on goods, provisional measures or conservatory measures regarding evidence. Under Romanian law, there are no interim applications on case management issues. 4.2 Early Judgment Applications There is no provision in Romanian civil procedure for the application of early judgments in cases of dis- pute, except for the interim measures mentioned in 4.1 Interim Applications/Motions (freezing injunc- tions, provisional measures, conservatory measures regarding evidence) and the possibility to issue par- tial decisions on the issues in dispute, with respect to which the defendant has admitted the claimant’s allegations. Sometimes, provisional measures may be ordered by a court even before trial, under the condition that the claim is filed within a certain deadline from the moment the provisional measures were granted. For example, provisional measures related to intellectual property rights may be ordered even before a claim on the merits of the case is filed. However, such pro- visional measures will cease to exist if the claim on the merits is not filed within 30 days after the provisional measures are awarded. The other party’s case cannot be struck out before trial, but it can be struck out before the substantive hearing of the claim if a plea/objection is admitted to the effect of the strike out, regardless of whether the claim is procedural (for example, the failure to pay stamp fees, the lack of representation powers of the representative filing the claim, or the violation of the fil- ing deadline) or for substantive reasons (for example, a claim alleging a statute limitation). 4.3 Dispositive Motions Dispositive motions are not available in Romania.
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