ROMANIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Cosmin Vasile and Alina Tugearu, Zamfirescu Racoți Vasile & Partners Attorneys At Law
5. Discovery 5.1 Discovery and Civil Cases
plies with all the mandatory conditions regarding its contents and that the claimant has filed all the necessary documents that need to be attached to the claim. The court proceeds to communi- cate the claim to the defendant only after the claim has fulfilled all formal conditions, accom- panied by a note obliging the defendant to sub- mit a statement of defence within (a general term of) 25 days from the communication of the claim. The statement of defence will thereafter immediately be communicated to the claimant, accompanied by a note obliging them to submit an answer to the statement of defence within ten days from the communication of the statement of defence. Within three days of the submission of the answer to the statement of defence, the judge establishes the first court hearing, which will be no later than 60 days from this date. Urgent Applications In urgent matters and applications for interim measures, the preliminary written procedure between the court and the claimant, aimed at ensuring the claim fulfils all formal conditions, might not take place. The terms for filing the writ- ten submissions may be reduced in urgent mat- ters, and the terms for setting the hearings may also be reduced by the judge, according to the circumstances of each matter. Sometimes, filing a statement of defence is not mandatory – for example, in an application for provisional orders. In other cases, the judge may issue a ruling on a freezing injunction or on a provisional measures application without communicating the claim to the defendant and without hearing the parties, based only on the application and the evidence submitted by the plaintiff. Generally, the civil procedure rules provide for the urgent settlement of urgent matters.
In Romania, discovery is limited to the produc- tion of documents, and does not cover the tes- timony of witnesses. The Romanian civil procedure rules provide for a specific process that enables the court to order the production of documents from the parties if certain conditions are met. The court admin- isters the discovery of documents. Therefore, when a party claims that the opposing party holds a document relating to the dispute, the court may order its discovery. There are no mechanisms by way of which the scope and/or costs of the discovery process can be curbed. 5.2 Discovery and Third Parties If one of the parties indicates that a document that is useful for the settlement of the dispute is held by a third party, the court may summon the third party, ordering it to disclose the mentioned document. Failure to comply with the court’s order may lead to an order for the payment of a fine. However, public authorities and public institutions may decline to disclose a document when it relates to national safety, public safety or diplomatic relations. 5.3 Discovery in This Jurisdiction When a party claims that the opposing party holds a document relating to the dispute, the court may order its discovery. The request for discovery cannot be rejected if: • the document is a joint document of the par- ties; • the opposing party itself has referred to the document in the proceedings; or
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