ROMANIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Cosmin Vasile and Alina Tugearu, Zamfirescu Racoți Vasile & Partners Attorneys At Law
In terms of jurisdictional requirements, the only difference between courts relates to the com- plexity and value of the claim (different subjects and values trigger different jurisdictions of dif- ferent courts) and certain characteristics of the parties (for example, a claim against a central public authority/institution is settled by a dif- ferent court than a claim against a local public authority/institution). 3.4 Initial Complaint The initial complaint shall include the following elements: • the identity of the parties; • the plaintiff’s representative 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 con- ditions 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 documents is fulfilled by the court’s procedural agents or other employees. If this is not possi- ble, the communication is made by email, fax or another means of communication that provides
the possibility for a receipt of confirmation to be issued. When the claimant is not able to provide the defendant’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 confirmation 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 decla- ration of content. The service of judicial docu- ments 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 partici- pate in court proceedings. However, as a consequence of not delivering the statement of defence within the legal deadline (generally, 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 objec- tion. In the Romanian legal system, the time bar objection is of an exclusively private nature, as the courts cannot raise it ex officio, sanctioning the defendant’s lack of diligence by (possibly) admitting a time-barred claim.
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