ROMANIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Cosmin Vasile and Alina Tugearu, Zamfirescu Racoți Vasile & Partners Attorneys At Law
Zamfirescu Racoți Vasile & Partners
12 Plantelor Street 023974 District 2 Bucharest Romania Tel: +40 21 311 0517/18 Fax: +40 21 311 0519 Email: cosmin.vasile@zrvp.ro Web: www.zrvp.ro
1. General 1.1 General Characteristics of the Legal System In Romania, the legal system is based on civil law and follows an inquisitorial model in which the court plays an active role in the investiga- tion of the case and is able to ask questions of the parties, decide on the necessity of particular evidence, invoke procedural incidents, etc. The court is also responsible for leading the hear- ings. The proceedings include a written phase fol- lowed by an oral phase. 1.2 Court System The Romanian court system comprises the fol- lowing subdivisions: • the first courts (located in the main towns); • the tribunals (located in every county); • the Court of Appeal (corresponding to larger regions); and • the High Court of Cassation and Justice (the highest jurisdiction in Romania).
Depending on its nature or size, a claim may be settled by any of these courts in the first instance, except for the High Court of Cassa- tion and Justice, which is solely an appellate court (with some exceptions for special matters). Most of the courts have different divisions cor- responding to general subject matter categories (eg, civil, administrative and criminal). Specialised courts, as well as specialised sec- tions within the courts, exist for matters such as labour law, administrative and fiscal law, and insolvency. The Romanian judicial system does not rec- ognise the procedure of inadmissibility, which means that a legal action must undergo a review once it has been registered with the courts. The initial review is primarily procedural, during which the judge verifies whether the required fees have been paid and whether the claim complies with formal requirements (signatures, identification of parties, etc). If any deficiencies are identified, the claimant is instructed to rectify them. After this initial procedural check, the claim is served to the defendant, who is typically required to submit a statement of defence within 25 days
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