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Legal arrangements pertaining to neighbours’ relationships are permeated by the idea of community. A textbook example is the right-of-way, which arguably breaches the sacred inviolability of private property in its quest to provide adequate access to the p ublic road for a landlocked parcel. The present paper examines the manner in which the Civil Code of Romania (2009) managed to bridge the unbridgeable, i.e., the individualist essence of private property and the collectivist flavour of neighbours’ relationships. Methodologically, this article debuts with a brief historical and comparative study of the right-of-way from the viewpoint of related legislations (i.e., the French Civil Code and the Civil Code of Quebec), it examines the terminology employed by the legislator and analyses the legal regime of said institution. The author argues that the cornerstone of this fine balance is the legal nature of the right-of-way: in denying it the stature of a real right (ius in re), the legislator established this sui generis right as a legal limit to the exercise of private property. Consequently, the right-of-way is solely a creation of the law, whereas only its manner of exercise can be settled by way of contract, continuous usage or court decision. Therefore, the author stresses the semantical inconsistency encountered within legal literature, which confuses the very origin of the right-of-way, which is inherently legal in its nature, with the concrete manner of usage, which the legislator left to the will of the contracting parties or the judge summoned in the event of litigation, respectively. In addition, the author argues that a land book entry may cover the right -of-way only in the form of a notation, and not as a compulsory registration, either permanent (intabulation) or provisional, since the latter two solely concern tabular rights, which solely consist of real rights on real estate. -
This study accurately highlights, on the one hand, the regulatory normative framework of the prefect and of the institution of the prefect starting from 1990 and until now and, on the other hand, the political vision on this institution, in the different stages of relationing between Romania and the European Union: pre-accession, accession, integration and present. The study critically analyzes both the ways of professionalization and depoliticization of the prefect function, as well as the actual repoliticization that took place in 2021. The failure to professionalize the function of prefect is presented in the broader context of the failure to professionalize the function and the public administration in general, one of the essential causes that determine the low performances of the Romanian public administration. Likewise there are critically exposed the legislative interventions to dilute the quality of the prefect of Government representative in the territory, in relation to the administrative function of the Government and its corruption into a territorial political agent of the Government, seen as an emulation of the political parties that form it. This political reverie is thus the basis of the legislative amendments that have led to the unconstitutional situation in which the implementation of the government programme in the territory by the prefect, which is in any case impossible to achieve as we will argue below, becomes the main commitment of the prefects, to the detriment of the very constitutional responsibility of the prefect, which determines the precise reason for the existence of the institution of the prefect – the administrative guardianship. All these are primarily the result of an ad-hoc and discretionary style of regulation – which can also be seen in the very large number of amendments brought to the framework law regarding the civil service – the Law No 188/1999, republished, as amended and supplemented: some of them by emergency ordinances subsequently declared unconstitutional, but which produced significant upheavals in the system. -
On the background of some possible controversies, the rational interpretation of Article 56 (4) of the Labour Code involves the solution according to which the conclusion of an independent individual labour contract does not take place, but the initially concluded contract of the employee is extended, with the approval of the employer. As a result, the cessation by law of the contract takes place at the time when one of the time limits agreed upon is reached: one, two or maximum three years. -
The present study aims to present to the general public information about the reform process of the European Court of Human Rights, in general, and about the entry into force of Protocol No 15 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, in particular. Given the very large number of applications submitted for settlement to the Strasbourg Court, over time an attempt has been made to outline a process of reform of this international jurisdiction, including short, medium and long-term measures. Thus, although opened for signature by the High Contracting Parties on 24 June 2013, Protocol No 15 entered into force recently, on 1 August 2021,following the deposit by Italy of the instrument of ratification of the Protocol. We intend to analyze in this study what are the important amendments brought to the Convention by this protocol of amendment, meant to ensure the effectiveness of the European Court of Human Rights. We consider that the dissemination of the provisions of Protocol No 15 to the Convention will help the interested parties to become aware of the latest amendments to the provisions of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, in particular to the provisions regarding the reduction of the time limit for bringing the matter before the Court. -
The imperative to not let the governors and the governed persons commit any abuses has generated a specific manner of regulation of the organization of public assemblies, especially when they take place in public. The result of this regulation which, although it does not expressly provide the condition of authorising the organization and the conduct of these public assemblies, contains it nevertheless by default, has implications on the problem of the administrative authorizations. This result is the specific manner of establishing a required authorization that is not included within the scope of express authorizations or in the one related to the tacit approval procedure, placed, as well as the latter, in the sphere of legal fictions. Whereas given the state of law and a genuine democracy it can not be explained the reaction of the authorities when they face the situation of spontaneous public assemblies, their regulation at legal level is required as well. -
The present paper aims to bring to your attention the Decision No 9 of 6 April 2020 of the High Court of Cassation and Justice – Panel for the settlement of some matters of law that took into account the legal nature of the revenues collected at the Environmental Fund in order to determine whether the acts of theft in any way from the establishment of these fiscal burdens may fall under the provisions of the Law No 241/2005 for preventing and combating tax evasion. The mentioned decision established that the revenues of the Environment Fund that give rise to tax receivables are not fiscal receivables that may fall under the law to prevent and combat tax evasion, which can be considered wrong. The study presents all the legal arguments for which the interpretation given by the High Court of Cassation and Justice is wrong and, at the same time, harmful, considering the possible legal effects that this decision may have on all tax regulations in Romania.
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A decision pronounced for the settlement of an appeal in the interest of the law by the High Court of Cassation and Justice (No 25 of 6 November 2017) brings to attention the inadequate perception by the Romanian jurisdictions of the particularities of these administrative acts of urbanism and, consequently, the recourse to procedural artifices inappropriate for solving some problems arisen in practice. In this case, for the separate exercise of the control on the legality of the urbanism certificate „by which the prohibition to build has been ordered or which includes other limitations”, the right of access to justice has been invoked [Article 6 of the (European) Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms], ignoring the legal nature of this act as individual urbanism administrative act that would, under certain conditions, have led to the same solution, but on another legal basis. In addition, it would be avoided the misconception that the certificate would order or that it would contain per se prohibitions/limitations of the right to build, this doing nothing else but take over, express and inform about the urban planning requirements included in the urbanism documentations.
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The modalities of the obligations, the time limit and the condition, are of several types and with different legal regimes (Articles 1004–1025 of the former Civil Code, respectively Articles 1399–1420 of the new Civil Code). The legal regime of these modalities is generally known by jurists, the modalities being frequently encountered both in the domestic and international commercial activity, as well as in the judicial practice and in the arbitration one. We do not intend to examine the legal regime of these modalities, with problems too rich for a simple review study, but only to question the purely potestative condition (Article 1009 of the former Civil Code and Article 1403 of the new Civil Code), which, as a rule, does not produce legal effects. However, there are, admittedly, rare cases in which such a condition still produces legal effects. We encountered such a case on the occasion of some international rental contracts, for which we were requested a legal opinion, and we considered that it would be useful that the legal issues raised by the case to be brought to the knowledge of the practitioners of the law. -
The persons without discernment, being incapable of understanding at all the gravity of their own deeds, are protected by the legislator by the establishment of a cause exonerating civil liability. However, for reasons of fairness, it was opted to introduce the subsidiary mechanism of the obligation of compensation, an innovation of the Civil Code that entered into force in 2011. Thus, even unaware of their own acts, a person may still be obliged to pay a certain amount of money which may, but not necessarily, be equivalent to the damage suffered by the injured party. The mechanism thus created tends to mitigate an inequity, but it is confused with a type of actual civil liability, be it objective. The present study aimed to analyze this mechanism, taking into account its jurisprudential applications, not numerous, but sufficient to draw some useful conclusions. -
The theme of this study is the public order considered in its sense of limit of the principle of contractual freedom. The author starts in the analysis of this concept from the finding that, at present, it is almost impossible to formulate a definition sufficiently comprehensive, in order to be unanimously accepted by the specialized doctrine and by the case law. This is because it is a notion whose content is constantly evolving, depending on the needs of the judicial life, which is in an increasingly accelerated dynamics. Therefore it finds that the current public order has two components: the classical public order and the modern public order; the first has been and continues to be conservative and the second intends to be innovative. The classical public order usually consists in defending the main pillars of support of the society, such as: the state, the family and the individual, as well as the fundamental human rights, called „personality rights”. The modern public order has the mission to respond to the demands of the contractual life, determined mainly by the great economic changes that took place and continue to take place in the modern society.
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This study addresses, from a practical perspective, the freezing order referred to in the Law No 302/2004 on international judicial cooperation in criminal matters and presents some of the steps to be taken by the criminal investigation bodies from tracing an asset for which there is an associated alert, in accordance with the Decision 2007/533/JHA of the Council of Europe of 12 June 2007 on the establishment, operation and use of the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II), and by the recognition and enforcement of the freezing order.
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Treaty of Trianon, an international document of unquestionable political-legal value and, at the same time, of capital value for Romania, which certifies the full legitimacy of its existence inside its current borders – also including Transylvania –, is unconditionally fully valid and thus remains as such, having been applied for a century. It is for the Romanians to comply with the sacred duty to know its provisions as rigorously as possible and to ensure, at any cost and without any hesitation, the strict observance of its provisions. Under no circumstance it is admitted a hesitating or passive attitude, without reply when its validity is questioned. Thus, it is created the impression that Romania would agree that the Treaty of Trianon is no longer of interest to the Romanian State or that there would be some indifference to the regulations which it contains, favouring confusions and forming opinions that prejudice the value of this Treaty.
