ROMANIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Cosmin Vasile and Alina Tugearu, Zamfirescu Racoți Vasile & Partners Attorneys At Law
7. Trials and Hearings 7.1 Trial Proceedings
relief ceases to apply and the punitive damages that might be obtained by the defendant are not limited to the amount of the bail. The rules apply regardless of whether or not the parties were heard before the relief was granted. 6.5 Respondent’s Worldwide Assets and Injunctive Relief As a rule, injunctive relief is granted only in rela- tion to the assets of the respondent located in Romania, as Romanian courts are not compe- tent to settle claims related to assets located in foreign countries. 6.6 Third Parties and Injunctive Relief Injunctive relief cannot be obtained against third parties, apart from a freezing injunction, which might be placed on the defendant’s assets when they are held by a third party. 6.7 Consequences of a Respondent’s Non-compliance Aside from the criminal consequences that might materialise in being condemned for the criminal offence of contempt of court, disobey- ing a court decision or order gives the creditor the right to request the application of enforce- ment procedures. Injunctive relief is enforced with the assistance of an enforcement officer (bailiff) under the general rules of enforcement, following the request of the creditor, if the debtor does not willingly obey the dispositions of the court. The plaintiff may also claim from the respondent any damages incurred due to the latter’s failure to comply with the terms of an injunction.
The trial is conducted by the judge and its development is governed by several principles, including: • the equality of the parties; • the adversarial nature of the proceedings; The written submission phase is followed by the oral phase, comprised of judicial inquiry and debates. During the judicial inquiry, the court settles all preliminary matters, such as compe- tence, payment of the stamp fee, admissibility of the claim, etc. Subsequently, the parties submit the proposed evidence to the court’s attention, which is then administered according to the court’s ruling. The judicial inquiry is followed by the debates. 7.2 Case Management Hearings In the case of shorter hearings, the defendant is summoned according to the rules of summoning in urgent matters: the service no longer needs to observe the rule that a summons must be served at least five days before the hearing. Another provision regarding the manner in which short hearings are conducted is that, in certain cases (eg, an application for provisional measures), the court will not admit evidence if the administra- tion thereof will take a long time. • the parties’ right to a fair trial; and • the legality of the proceedings. In terms of case management, at the first hearing when parties are legally summoned, after ask- ing the parties, the judge will estimate the dura- tion of the case, based on the relevant circum- stances, so that the case can be settled within a reasonable and predictable term. This estimate
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