ROMANIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Cosmin Vasile and Alina Tugearu, Zamfirescu Racoți Vasile & Partners Attorneys At Law
is not binding, as the judge is able to reconsider the duration, based on thorough grounds and after hearing the parties. Another case management measure is that, after admitting the production of an expert report, the court might set a hearing in order to hear the expert regarding the estimated duration for pro- ducing that report. 7.3 Jury Trials in Civil Cases The Romanian civil procedure rules do not pro- vide for the participation of a jury. 7.4 Rules That Govern Admission of Evidence The admissible pieces of evidence provided by Romanian law are:
party requesting the evidence, regardless of its type. The evidence must be: • legal (in accordance with material and proce- dural law); • plausible (realistic, in accordance with the laws of nature); • pertinent (in connection with the object of the trial); and • conclusive for the litigation (regarding ele- ments that may lead to a solution of the trial). 7.5 Expert Testimony Expert testimony is a common type of evidence in civil trials, administered following either a party’s request or the court’s order. An expert report is usually presented in written form, but it is also possible for the court to hear the appoint- ed expert during the court hearing and record their statement. Experts are appointed by the court, and must be impartial professionals. The court may grant each party the assistance of a counsel expert, who will owe their duties to the party and guard that party’s interests. In complex cases, the court may appoint an expert committee consisting of three experts. 7.6 Extent to Which Hearings Are Open to the Public As a rule, court hearings are held in public ses- sions. In particular cases, the law provides that some types of claims are to be settled only in the presence of the parties. In addition, following a well-grounded request from a party, the court itself may instruct that hearings are only held in the presence of the parties.
• written documents; • witness statements; • cross-examination of the parties; • expert reports; and • on-location inspection by the court.
Each party in a trial is responsible for submitting evidence in favour of their claims or as a defence to the opposing party’s claims. As a rule, the plaintiff presents their proposal regarding the evidence in their claim, while the defendant indi- cates it in their statement of defence, under the sanction that they may be unable to propose further evidence. As an exception, additional pieces of evidence may be submitted during the trial if there is a need for such submission resulting from the debates, or if the interested party was unable to propose it within the legal term for justified reasons. In order for a piece of evidence to be admissible, the following elements must be proven by the
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