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Although we are close to the tenth anniversary of the entry into force of the new Civil Code, the doctrine outlined around the institution of granting the benefit of family dwelling place at divorce has had reservations in providing solutions to some crucial issues for solving this type of applications. At the same time, the courts have frequently come up with contradictory solutions to these issues, however some guiding solutions can be distinguished. The main aspects on which we noted the existence of some divergences have concerned the admissibility by separate way, after the pronouncement of the divorce, of the application for the allocation of the dwelling that served as a family dwelling. Another hypothesis on which we will focus in the present study is that of possession of the dwelling place by the spouses on t he basis of other rights than those expressly raised for discussion in Article 324 of the Civil Code, such as the right of usufruct or the one arisen from the loan agreement. At the same time, we will try to offer several arguments based on which the courts could assign to the non-title holder spouse of the lease contract, under certain conditions, even the dwelling place with special rental regime initially allocated to the other spouse according to the criteria provided by the Law No 152/1998 1 , there being numerous discussions around this subject just before the entry into force of the current Civil Code. The debates behind these divergences are not only of interest to legal theorists, but have strong practical implications, the fate of the entire application depending on the solution offered, thus being essential to establish some stable and predictable rules, especially in a matter where safety should prevail, given the often vulnerable situation of the parties involved in the process. Therefore, the present study tries to offer some adequate solutions for the above-mentioned inconveniences, starting with the analysis of the criteria which the legislator has created for the allocation of the conjugal dwelling place, especially in the higher interest of the minor, following that, in the second part of the study, we would actually deal with the issues mentioned. -
Abuzul în serviciu este reglementat în Codul penal în vigoare ca una dintre infracțiunile de serviciu în art. 297 C.pen. El nu reprezintă o noutate legislativă, având corespondent în art. 246–2481 C.pen. 1969. Se poate afirma astfel că, deși comportamentul corespunzător tipicității infracțiunii de abuz în serviciu avea reflectare în legislație de foarte multă vreme, nu au fost constatate de-a lungul activității normelor de incriminare aspecte de neconstituționalitate. Cu toate acestea, prin Decizia nr. 405/20161, Curtea Constituțională a României a constatat următoarele: caracterul neconstituțional al prevederii din art. 297 C.pen., precum și al celei din art. 246 C.pen. 1969 încalcă prevederile constituționale ale art. 1 alin. (5), întrucât sintagma „îndeplinește în mod defectuos” nu prevede în mod expres elementul în legătură cu care defectuozitatea este analizată2. -
In this article the author intends to present from a constitutional perspective the legal nature of the institution of the Public Ministry, as it was configured in the texts of the Basic Law and analyzed in the specialized doctrine. There are analyzed, in detail, the place and the constitutional role of the Public Ministry as institutional structure of the judicial authority, as well as the role and attributions of the prosecutors’ offices in conducting the criminal investigation. -
The study aims to analyze the particularities of the cases of resolution of the maintenance contract, a contract that has its own, express regulation in the new Civil Code, as novelty. Some of these cases of resolution are expressly indicated in Article 2263 of the new Civil Code, and for other cases reference is made to the application of express provisions specific to the life annuity contract. As novelty, the new Civil Code (Article 2255) provides for the conclusion of the maintenance contract in authentic form, under the sanction of absolute nullity, a modification with implications on the resolution of the contracts because the conditions of execution will be clearer. The study analyzes the cases of resolution, which are the specific aspects and effects of the resolution of the maintenance contract. The analysis of the cases of resolution of the maintenance contract is made by identifying some relations and delimitations against the life annuity contract. The article examines whether the resolution is a cause of cessation of the contract or a sanction for the non-performance of the contract without justification, the last solution being the suitable one. -
The registers of the professionals are the main tool for knowledge, recording and control of their activity. Along with these functions, the registers of the professionals also have a probative function, the legislator including them in the category of documents under private signature, although they do not constitute a proper written evidence, but an improper one. The entries made in the registers are not made for the purpose of constituting an evidence, but of keeping the records, as established by law. But, through these entries, the professional practically recognizes the attested circumstances, the operations performed. The legal regime of registers of the professionals derogates from the principle of nemo sibi titulum constituere potest, a derogation which is explained by the nature and functions of the registers of the professionals, as well as by the conditions established by the law for keeping them. The Civil Procedure Code lays down the general rules referring to the probative force of the registers of the professionals (therefore, of the registers of all professionals, and not only of the traders’ registers), distinguishing, from a probative point of view, between the registers drawn up and kept in compliance with legal provisions and the registers kept in non-compliance with the legal provisions. The provisions of Article 280 of the Civil Procedure Code (called „Registers of the professionals”) are applicable only to registers, and not to other categories of documents, such as invoices, telegrams, faxes, receipts, etc., from professionals. The registers of the professionals can not bring evidence against the foreigners concerning the relationship among professionals, even if they are regularly kept. The delimitation of the legal relations between professionals from other civil legal relations is based on the concepts of professional and enterprise, concepts whose meanings are specified in Article 3 of the Civil Code, and Article 8 (1) of the Law No 71/2011 for the implementation of the Civil Code includes in the notion of „professional” the categories of „trader, entrepreneur, economic operator, as well as any other persons authorized to carry out economic or professional activities”. The records of the professionals kept in compliance with the legal provisions can give full evidence in court, both to the contrary and in favour of those who keep them, provided that the dispute is between professionals and concerns operations or legal acts which constitute facts and matters related to their professional activity. The registers of professionals, unlawfully kept, can not represent evidence in court in favour of those who have kept them. These registers provide evidence against the professional who kept them, but the part that prevails on them can not divide their content. The evidence resulted from the registers of the professionals is left by the legislator at the sovereign appreciation of the court, whether or not they are legally kept. The court can base its own solution even on other evidence. But, it must motivate the admission or removal of the registers as means of evidence. The registers of professionals may be presented in the trial by appearance or, as the case may be, by communication, or may be investigated by rogatory commission, provided that the documents or registers are in another court jurisdiction. -
The immunity which the President of Romania enjoys is a „constitutional guarantee, a measure of legal protection of the mandate that is meant to ensure the independence of the mandate holder from any external pressures or abuses. The guarantee provided by Article 72 (1) of the Constitution encourages the mandate holder to adopt an active role in the political life of the society, as it removes his legal liability for the political opinions expressed in exercising the function of public dignity. However, the holder of the mandate remains liable, according to the law, for all acts and deeds committed during the period in which he exercised the public office and which were not related to the votes or political opinions”. The quoted text is an excerpt from the grounds retained by the Constitutional Court in the motivation of its Decision No 284 of 21 May 2014, by which the constitutional contentious court has solved the legal conflict of a constitutional nature between the President of the Republic and the Government of Romania. The whole scaffolding of the arguments of the Constitutional Court leads to the „construction” of an active role of the President in the political and social life of the country as if it were limited to the free expression of some political opinions under the protection of parliamentary immunity. However, it should be noted that the Fundamental Law does not recognize through an express text „the active role of the President of Romania in the political life”. This is why we have reservations about the fairness of the quoted decision. First, the term of political life used in the decision of the Constitutional Court is far too general and thus it has a large margin of inaccuracy. After all, any public authority regulated in Title III of the Constitution must have an active role in the political life. When the Constitution refers in Article 80 to the Role of the President it takes into account the prerogatives of this public institution in the process of exercising public powers, a term equivalent to the governing activity, or the exercise of these prerogatives does not imply an activation of the constitutional role of the President of Romania, but its accomplishment within the limits outlined by the constitutional texts . Beyond this is the abusive exercise of the governing acts by the holder of the mandate of President of Romania, for which he, not benefiting from immunity, is required to be liable according to the Constitution.
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The solution given by the Constitutional Court of Romania through its Decision No 358/2018 on the legal conflict of a constitutional nature between the Minister of Justice and the President of Romania, regarding the possibility of revoking the Chief Prosecutor of the National Anticorruption Directorate, as a result of which it acknowledged a „power of decision” on the part of the Minister of Justice on prosecutors’ activity, is based on the interpretation of the constitutional text provided by Article 132 (1), according to which public prosecutors shall carry out their activity under the authority of the Minister of Justice. This particular legal provision was interpreted by the Constitutional Court by applying the historical interpretation method, by expressly referring to the will of the original constituent, from which it could not digress without exceeding the limits of its interpretation operation and thus interfering with the law making process, in the Court’s opinion. But what are the limits of legal interpretation? How did the Constitutional Court justify its option for the historical interpretation approach? Is this historical interpretation static or dynamic, evolutive kind? Could the constitutional text have been interpreted from an evolutive perspective? But even so, did the Court make a just historical interpretation of the constitutional text? What are the solutions envisaged and how can the Constitutional Court fulfil its rightful role in a rule of law state? -
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.
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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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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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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 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. -
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 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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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 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.
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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.
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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. -
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. -
Pentru existența faptei prevăzute de art. 337 C.pen., refuzul sau sustragerea trebuie să privească supunerea la prelevarea de mostre biologice, spre deosebire de vechea reglementare a faptei, unde se prevedea că acțiunea autorului putea să se refere și la refuzul sau sustragerea de la supunerea testării aerului expirat.
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The study begins with defining the pre-contractual period and with revealing its importance in the process of forming the contracts by free negotiations or, as the case may be, by conventionally organized negotiations. The deontology of negotiations for the formation of contracts is also defined. It follows from this definition that, mainly, the content of the deontology of free pre-contractual negotiations is made up of the obligations with value of limits of the freedom to negotiate. These obligations or limits are of two types: some of them are legal, being expressly provided by law, by imperative norms or, as the case may be, by dispositive norms, and others implicit. At the core of these obligations is the mandatory legal obligation of the negotiating partners to comply with the exigencies of good faith. Good faith is a proteiform concept or notion, a standard with the value of a general principle, flexible and open, which makes it possible to adapt it to the concrete circumstances and conditions of the formation and execution of each contract. Thus, in the matter of concluding contracts, good faith governs any pre-contractual negotiations, whether they are free or are conventionally organized. Moreover, this obligation is expressly, clearly and imperatively established in the texts of Article 1183 of the Civil Code, being an application of the general principle of good faith in contractual matters, established with special force in Article 1170 of the Civil Code, corroborated with Article 14 of the Civil Code, which concerns the exercise of any right and the execution of any obligation. Being a complex notion, a concept with a proteiform structure and flexible in its content, good faith is the source of the origin and of the existence of the other rules and obligations that make up the content of the deontology of free negotiations for the progressive formation of contracts. From among these obligations there are analyzed the following: the obligation of pre-contractual information, the obligation of confidentiality, the obligation of counselling, the obligation of prudence or abnegation, the obligation of exclusivity, the obligation of coherence and the obligation of cooperation. The author tries to argue that some of these obligations, especially the implicit ones, have as a foundation and source, in addition to the general obligation of good faith, also the principle of contractual solidarism.
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Art. 1100 dispune că creditorul nu poate fi silit a primi alt lucru de cât acela ce i se datorește, chiar când valoarea lucrului oferit ar fi egală sau mai mare. Acest text, care nu este de cât o consecință a art. 9691 și a interpretărei voinței părților, reproduce No. 530 din obligațiile lui Pothier: «Obicinuit, zice acest autor, nu se poate plăti de cât lucrul datorit; și debitorul nu poate să oblige pe creditorul său a primi drept plată alt ceva de cât ceea ce i se datorește.» «Aliud pro alio, invito creditori, solvi non potest.»2 «Nici creditorul, zice art. 1862 din Codul Calimach (1213 C. austriac), nu poate fi silit să primească împotriva voinței sale alt ceva, fără de cât aceea ce are dorit să ceară, nici datornicul nu este îndatorit să dea sau să facă alt ceva, fără de cât aceea ce este dator să dea sau să facă. Aceasta are tărie și pentru vremea, când, și pentru locul, unde, și pentru chipul cum are să se împlinească îndatorirea.»3 -
In this article, the author intends to analyze, by comparison, the terms domicile and residence, as they are used by the constituent legislator in Article 27 of the Constitution, as well as by the Civil Code and the Criminal Code in force. The author points out that the terms of domicile and residence, used in the civil legislation as attributes of identification of the natural person, are different from those covered by the doctrine of criminal law and by that of constitutional law, in the light of the protection of the inviolability of the home of a person, as a legal instrument for the respect of the freedom and private life of persons. The author demonstrates that the purpose of establishing the inviolability of the domicile by constitutional rule is to ensure the respect for the private life of individuals. Particular attention is given to the problems of constitutionalisation of the inviolability of the domicile, as well as of the European protection of the right of every person to the inviolability of their own homes. The author also presents the constitutional guarantees of the inviolability of the domicile and of the residence and how they are materialized by the criminal procedure rules.
