ROMANIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Cosmin Vasile and Alina Tugearu, Zamfirescu Racoți Vasile & Partners Attorneys At Law
9. Damages and Judgment 9.1 Awards Available to the Successful Litigant According to the parties’ claims, the court may grant compensatory or punitive damages and legal or contractual interest, as well as judicial expenses. 9.2 Rules Regarding Damages Punitive damages are available in the case of observance of the debtor’s fault. There are no provisions limiting the maximum amount of damages that may be awarded to a party. Interest is payable upon request. Its amount is previously established by the parties or, in the absence of an agreement, the legal interest rate applies. 9.3 Pre-judgment and Post-judgment Interest The successful party may be able to collect interest from the moment the other party was summoned to comply with its obligations if the summons has been sought by law, or from the moment the other party failed to comply with its (generally contractual) obligations if the sum- moning was not required by law (subject to the statute of limitations). It is possible for a suc- cessful party to collect interest until the other party fulfils its obligations, with the court being able to determine the amount of interest accrued prior to filing the complaint. Further interest amounts that will accrue until the obligations are performed are calculated by the enforcement officer (bailiff). The statute of limitation that applies to the accrued interest is three years.
cluded in written form and will form the solution part of the ruling. 8.2 Settlement of Lawsuits and Confidentiality The settlement of a lawsuit may remain con- fidential if the parties agree not to present the settlement agreement to the judge, and request that the judge closes the case by acknowledg- ing a waiver of the claim or of the right claimed instead. 8.3 Enforcement of Settlement Agreements If the settlement is acknowledged in an authen- ticated agreement or a court ruling, the party in default may be obliged to fulfil its obligations deriving from the settlement with the assistance of an enforcement officer (bailiff). If the settlement takes the form of a written agreement, not authenticated, the damaged party needs to file a claim against the other par- ty to the settlement agreement in order to have the court ascertain the breach of the obligations within the settlement agreement and compel the latter to cover the damages incurred; after obtaining this court decision, it may enforce it through an enforcement officer. 8.4 Setting Aside Settlement Agreements The parties to a settlement agreement may seek annulment of the agreement if any of the condi- tions for the legal conclusion of an agreement have not been fulfilled (consent, capacity, object, cause, form, etc). In contrast, if a party challenges the ruling acknowledging the settlement agreement on procedural grounds only, it will need to file a second appeal with the superior court.
1195 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook