2016 Global Review of Constitutional Law

Romania
DEVELOPMENTS IN ROMANIAN CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
Simina Elena Tănăsescu, Ph.D., Professor at the University of Bucharest; Bianca Selejan-
Guțan, Ph.D., Professor at the University of Sibiu
ROMANIA
INTRODUCTION
In 2016, as well as in the last 15 years, the
Romanian Constitutional Court’s case law
remained at the core of the constitutional debate,
especially as regards the enforcement of
fundamental rights, but also the relationship
between state powers. With a technocratic
Government in place and political parties
busy to reposition themselves on the political
scene for the local elections in June and parliamentary
ones in December, the year 2016
was quite paradoxical. Main controversies
did not concern elections or parties, and the
Romanian Constitutional Court (hereinafter
RCC) continued to constitutionalize large
portions of political life mainly by moralizing
public officials and authorities.
THE CONSTITUTION AND THE
COURT
The Romanian post-communist Constitution
was adopted after the fall of the totalitarian
regime in December 1989. The Constitution
was approved by referendum in December
1991 and has been amended once, in 2003.
Its text expresses the commitment of Romania
to the principles of the rule of law, separation
of powers, democracy, respect for
fundamental rights and freedoms, and a market
economy. 1 Ever since 1991, the country
has struggled to give life to these principles.
In 1993, Romania became a member of the
Council of Europe, in 1994 the Parliament
ratified the European Convention on Human
Rights, and since 2007 it has been a member
state of the European Union. Romania’s
membership in the EU has been finalized un-
der a supervisory process—the Cooperation
and Verification Mechanism, 2 which initially
targeted aspects pertaining to EU acquis
together with problems related to the independence
of the judiciary and currently addressed
only these last ones, especially the irreversibility
of anti-corruption policies. If in
the field of independence of justice progress
has been fast and notable, the fight against
corruption, particularly against high-level
corruption, remains a sensitive issue.
The Romanian constitutional system is
semi-presidential, largely inspired by the
French one, albeit with significant differences.
The republican form of government,
although introduced by the communist totalitarian
power in 1947, has been maintained by
the current Constitution and included among
the unamendable provisions. The President
of the Republic, although directly elected
by the people, has more limited powers than
their French counterpart. The design of the
presidential institution was a result of reminiscent
fears from the communist past, when
one person came to impersonate the whole
power at political and state levels, becoming
a dictator. 3 Therefore, although the people
gained their right to elect the President, the
latter should see their powers balanced by a
relatively strong Parliament.
The Romanian Parliament is bicameral, with
both Chambers—Chamber of Deputies and
Senate—directly elected by the people. The
Prime-Minister, who is nominated by the
President and appointed by the Parliament
in a “vote of confidence,” leads the Government.
The Constitution details the relationship
between Parliament and Government
170 | I•CONnect-Clough Center
1
For a detailed insight, see Bianca Selejan-Guțan, The Constitution of Romania. A Contextual Analysis,
Oxford, Hart Publishing, 2016.
2
https://ec.europa.eu/info/effective-justice/rule-law/assistance-bulgaria-and-romania-under-cvm_en.
3
E.S.Tănăsescu, “The President of Romania or the slippery slope of a political regime”, European
Constitutional Law Review n°1/2008, p. 64-97.