Comparative law and justice/Romania

Part of the Comparative law and justice Wikiversity Project.



Basic Information
This is the all of the basic information for Romania,categorized into sub-groups Official name:Romania Total Area:238,391 km Weather: temeperate-continental,four seasons Neighboring Countries/Notable Landmarks: West of-Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, The Black Sea North of Bulgaria, North-North East of Yugoslavia East of Hungary South of Ukraine

Key Landmarks/Bodies of Water: The Black Sea The Carpathians Mountain Range The Danube River The Danube Delta River

Official Language: Romanian 91% Hungarian:6.7% Romany 1.1% Other:1.2% "În unităţile administrativ-teritoriale în care cetăţenii aparţinând unei minorităţi naţionale au o pondere semnificativă se asigură folosirea limbii minorităţii naţionale respective în scris şi oral în relaţiile cu autorităţile administraţiei publice locale şi cu serviciile publice deconcentrate, în condiţiile prevăzute de legea organică." (Romanian Constitution, Art. 120)

Capital:Bucharest; Population of 2.1 million

17 cities ranging from 100,000-300,000 people

41 Counties

Population 22,215,421:

Age-Gender Breakdown

0-14yrs:Males 1,772,583/Females 1,681,539

15-64yrs:Males 7,711,062/ Females 7,784,041

65+yrs Males 1,332,120/ females 1,934,076

Health+Education

Infant Mortality:

Male:25.94 deaths/1000 births

Female:19.66 deaths/1000 births

Life Expectancies:

Male:68.95 years

Female:76.16 years

Literacy:

Male: 98.4%

Female: 96.3%

Educational Attainment: 14 years for both males and females

Religions:

86.8% Eastern Orthodoxy

7.5% Protestant

4.7% Roman Catholic

Other .9%(mostly Muslim)

None .1%

Ethnicity:

Romanian 89.5%

Hungarian:6.6%

Roma:2.5%

Ukrainian: .3%

German: .3%

Russian: .2%

Turkish: .2%

Other: .4%

Form of government:Republic

President:Klaus Iohannis

Currency: Leu (RON)

GDP:$254.7 billion

GDP per capita:$11,500

Annual income:Household income

Highest 10% -20.8%

Lowest 10%-1.2%

Key industries
 * electric machinery and equipment,textiles and footwear,light machinery and auto assembly,mining, timber, construction materials,metallurgy,chemicals,processing of food,petroleum refining

Imports:machinery and equipment,fuels and minerals,chemicals, textile and products,metals,agricultural products

Exports:machinery and equipment, textiles and footwear,metals and metal products,machinery and equipment,minerals and fuels, chemicals,agricultural products

Brief History
Romania is a small country located in the south-east of Central Europe, it is wedged between Bulgaria and Ukraine. Romania began as many small countries, under the Turkish- Ottoman Empire from which they gained autonomy in 1856. In 1859 all the countries united to form what is now know as Romania. In 1878 the country gained its recognition as a free and independent country. During World War 1 Romania joined the Allied Powers and acquired new territories, including Transylvania. In 1940 Romania joined the Axis powers and in 1941 participated in the German invasion of the former USSR. In 1944 Russia invaded Romania and forced them to sign an armistice. This established a period of communist rule in Romania which lasted from 1947-1989. In 2004 Romania joined Nato, and in 2007 it joined EU.

Governance
Romania has been a Republic since 1947, and has held this political affilation since.

On Dec 8 1991 a constitution was established, and October 29 2003 it was revised

Three Branches of Government:

Executive branch: chief of state: President Klaus Iohannis (since 20 December 2014)

head of government: Prime Minister Victor Ponta (since 2012); Deputy Prime Minister  (since 23 December 2009)

cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament or Parlament consists of the Senate or Senat (137 seats; members elected by popular vote in a mixed electoral system to serve four-year terms) and the Chamber of Deputies or Camera Deputaților (334 seats; members elected by popular vote in a mixed electoral system to serve four-year terms)

Judicial branch:

Supreme Court of Justice (comprised of 11 judges appointed for three-year terms by the president in consultation with the Superior Council of Magistrates, which is comprised of the minister of justice, the prosecutor general, two civil society representatives appointed by the Senate, and 14 judges and prosecutors elected by their peers); a separate body, the Constitutional Court, validates elections and makes decisions regarding the constitutionality of laws, treaties, ordinances, and internal rules of the Parliament; it is comprised of nine members serving nine-year terms, with three members each appointed by the president, the Senate, and the Chamber of Deputies

Elections
The age to vote is 18, and this is universal.

elections for Executive: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 2 November 2014 with runoff on 16 November 2014 (next to be held in November-December 2019); prime minister appointed by the president with the consent of the Parliament

election results: Klaus Iohannis elected president; percent of vote - Klaus Iohannis 55.3%, Victor Ponta 45.7%

The President of Romania shall be elected by universal, equal, direct, secret an free suffrage.) The candidate who, in the first ballot, obtained a majority of votes of the electors entered on the electoral lists shall be declared elected.

In case no candidate has obtained such a majority, a second ballot shall be held between the first two candidates highest in the order of the number of votes cast for them in the first ballot. The candidate having the greatest number of votes shall be declared elected.

No one may hold the office of President of Romania but for two terms of office at the most, that can also be consecutive.

elections for Legeslative: Senate - last held on 2012 (next expected to be held in November 2016); Chamber of Deputies - last held on 2012 (next expected to be held in November 2016)

election results in 2008: Senate - percent of vote by alliance/party - PSD-PC 34.2%, PD-L 33.6%, PNL 18.7%, UDMR 6.4%, other 7.1%; seats by alliance/party - PSD-PC 49, PD-L 51, PNL 28, UDMR 9; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by alliance/party - PSD-PC 33.1%, PD-L 32.4%, PNL 18.6%, UDMR 6.2%, ethnic minorities 3.6%, other 6.1%; seats by alliance/party - PD-L 115, PSD-PC 114, PNL 65, UDMR 22, ethnic minorities 18

All of this information came from the Romanian Constitution.

"Candidates must have turned, up to or on the election day, at least twenty-three in order to be elected to the Chamber of Deputies or the bodies of local public administration, at least thirty-three in order to be elected to the Senate, and at least thirty-five in order to be elected to the office of President of Romania.

The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate shall be elected for a term of office of 4 years, which may be extended de jure in the event of a mobilization, war, siege, or emergency, until such event has ceased to exist.

Elections to the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate shall be held within three months at the most of the expiry of the term of office or the Parliament dissolution.

The newly elected Parliament shall meet upon convening by the President of Romania, within twenty days of the elections.

The Chambers' term of office shall be prolonged until the new Parliament legally meets. During this period, the Constitution shall not undergo any revision, nor shall any organic laws be passed, amended or repealed."

Bills or legislative proposals entered on the agenda of the preceding Parliament shall be carried over in the session of the new Parliament.

How Laws are made:

Organic laws and resolutions concerning the Standing Orders of the Chambers shall be passed by the majority vote of the members of each Chamber.

Ordinary laws and resolutions shall be passed by the majority vote of the members present in each Chamber.

At the request of the Government or on its own initiative, Parliament may pass bills or legislative proposals under an emergency procedure, established in accordance with the Standing Orders of each Chamber.

Judicial Review
Romania uses the Austrian Model for judicial review. The main focus of this is that strong emphasis is given to the constitution and that only a high selected court officals can offer rulings about such decisions.

Courts and Criminal Law
Romania has a civil law system, based on the French model, with various levels of court hierarchy:

Local courts (Romanian: Judecătorii)

40 county courts and the Bucharest Municipal Court (Romanian: Tribunale)

15 Courts of Appeal (Romanian: Curţi de apel)

the High Court of Cassation and Justice (Romanian: Înalta Curte de Casaţie şi Justiţie)

the Constitutional Court (Romanian: Curtea Constituţională)

Statute of judges

The judges appointed by the President of Romania shall be irremovable, according to the law.

The appointment proposals, as well as the promotion, transfer of, and sanctions against judges shall only be within the competence of the Superior Council of Magistracy, under the terms of its organic law.

The office of a judge shall be incompatible with any other public or private office, except for academic activities. Courts of law ARTICLE 126

Justice shall be administered by the High Court of Cassation and Justice, and the other courts of law set up by the law.

The jurisdiction of the courts of law and the judging procedure shall only be stipulated by law.

The High Court of Cassation and Justice shall provide a unitary interpretation and implementation of the law by the other courts of law, according to its competence.

The composition of the High Court of Cassation and Justice, and the regulation for its functioning shall be set up in an organic law.

It is prohibited to establish extraordinary courts of law. By means of an organic law, courts of law specialized in certain matters may be set up, allowing the participation, as the case may be, of persons outside the magistracy.

The judicial control of administrative acts of the public authorities, by way of the contentious business falling within the competence of administrative courts, is guaranteed, except for those regarding relations with the Parliament, as well as the military command acts. The administrative courts, judging contentious business have jurisdiction to solve the applications filed by persons aggrieved by statutory orders or, as the case may be, by provisions in statutory orders declared unconstitutional.

Punishment
In Romanias early history the main form of punishment was the death penalty, and it was only used during times of war.

During the 1940's when Romania was under control of the communists the way to enact the dealth penalty became a firing squad.

Since 1989 and up to today the dealth penalty has been a jumpy topic, but it has since been abolished.

Legal Personnel
This is all of the legal information for Romania

Law Enforcement
Police Structure:

The main police "agencies" in Romania are:

The National Police: Is the main civil law enforcement agency

Functions and missions: The Romanian National Police is the specialized state institution responsible for the protection of citizens’ fundamental rights and liberties and private and public property, as well as the prevention and identification of crimes and maintenance of public order and safety. Starting in 1990, the National Police underwent re-structuring to improve individual and collective safety, protect citizens’ legitimate rights, as well as other rights provided by international agreements signed by Romania as a partner state.

Structure and organization The General Inspectorate of Romanian Police is the central unit of police, a legal entity with general territorial competences, which manages, guides, supports and controls the activity of the subordinate police units, investigates and analyzes very serious crimes related to organized crime, economic, financial or banking criminality, or to other crimes investigated by the Prosecutor’s Office of the Supreme Court of Justice. The organizational break-down of the General Inspectorate of Romanian Police includes general directorates, directorates, services and offices established by the order of the Minister of Administration and Interior

Border Police: As the name suggests these police deal with issues on all of the borders of Romania

Romanian Gendarmerie:

General information The Romanian Gendarmerie is the state’s specialized institution, with military status, within the Ministry of Administration and Interior which, according to the law, is tasked to protect public order and security, citizens’ rights and fundamental liberties, public and private property, to prevent and detect crime, to protect the state’s fundamental institutions and to combat terrorist acts.

Role of Military:

Military branches: Land Forces, Naval Forces, Romanian Air Force (Fortele Aeriene Romane, FAR), Special Operations (2010) Military service age and obligation: 18-35 years of age for male and female voluntary military service; conscription officially ended October 2006; all military inductees (including women) contract for an initial 5-year term of service, with subsequent successive contracts for 3-year terms until age 36 (2009)

All the data seems to indicate that Romania is a centralized Multiple Uncoordinated structure. There are three police forces that do not work together, but are all controlled by the government.

Crime Rates and Public Opinion
Little is known of Crime in Romania, but this is what is known:

Is crime common? Obviously crimes occur but they are not as common as in many other countries, transnational crime is also a big issue with the use of illicit drugs being a primary issue. Many crimes in the country are not domestically focused, but instead are aimed at foreigners.

What crimes are typical? Most crimes in Romania are non-violent and non-confrantational. As for crimes geared towards foreigners the most common are robbery, mugging,pick pocketing, with internet fraud, and credit card fraud being the most common.

Homicide Rate: 732 Murders total

Other key crimes reported:

Theft:

Robberies-3,025

Burglaries-12,013

Assault:11,137

Sexual Assault:1,253 rapes

Drug Offenses: 1,291 per 100,000 people

Reporting Problems: The main issue that may make these numbers less reliable would simply be that many crimes do no get reported.

Source: The main sources I used were a travel website that was designed to inform people traveling to the country all sorts of different things. The other a website caused nationmaster.com which provided the statistics shown here.

Public Opinion: The idea of public opinion of crime is still in it's infancy in Romania. For police and crime however the population appears to be on the fence so to speak. 44.8% of the population feels that police do not work. 49.9% think that police do work.

Family of Law: Romania uses a form of Civil Law that does not accept compulsory ICJ.

Rights
These are the specific rights given to citizens of Romania, and offer guidelines to other rights.

Family Law
"Under socialism the abolition of private property would result in relationships between couples founded solely on love, and the emphasis on collective life would diminish the importance of the family as a unit for nurturing children.

The Evolution of Family Law Family law in socialist Romania was modeled after Soviet family legislation. From the outset, it sought to undermine the influence of religion on family life. Under the ancien régime, the church was the center of community life, and marriage, divorce, and recording of births were matters for religious authorities. Under communism these events became affairs of the state, and legislation designed to wipe out the accumulated traditions and ancient codes was enacted. The communist regime required marriage to be legalized in a civil ceremony at the local registry prior to, or preferably instead of, the customary church wedding. Overall, a more liberal legal atmosphere prevailed, granting women greater rights within the family. The predominance of the husband was reduced, and the wife was given equal control over children and property and was entitled to keep her maiden name. The divorce procedure was greatly facilitated. In fact, if both parties wanted a divorce, and there were no children involved, the dissolution of the marriage could be accomplished simply by sending a joint statement to the local registry office. In addition to the right to divorce with relative ease, abortion on demand was introduced in 1957."

Because of the more liberal procedures, the divorce rate grew dramatically, tripling by 1960, and the number of abortions also increased rapidly. Concern for population reproduction and future labor supplies prompted the state to revise the Romanian Family Code to foster more stable personal relationships and strengthen the family. At the end of 1966, abortion was virtually outlawed, and a new divorce decree made the dissolution of marriage exceedingly difficult.

As part of the program to increase birthrates, the legal age for marriage was lowered to fifteen years for women in 1984, and yet the rate of marriage remained quite steady--on average about 9 marriages per 1,000 people per year. The divorce rate remained well below 1 per 1,000 until 1974. A study published in 1988, however, showed that the divorce rate had risen steadily since 1974, although not to the pre-1966 level. Much family legislation concerned women in the workplace and was designed to increase the size of families. Provisions for pregnant women and working mothers were comprehensive and generous. Expectant and nursing mothers were not permitted to work under hazardous conditions, were exempt from overtime work, and after the sixth month of pregnancy and while nursing were exempt from night work--all with no reduction in salary. Changes in Family Structure Family Life The process of socialist modernization greatly affected family life. Through education and a comprehensive welfare system, the state assumed responsibility for providing assistance and transmitting values. Although the family was identified as the fundamental unit of socialist society, and it heavily influenced the values of the younger generation, its primary role had become population reproduction. Family life for rural Romanians differed in many respects from that of urban families. Their living standards were lower, and they maintained values and behavior patterns that were firmly rooted in traditional peasant life. Rural family life was much more heavily influenced by religion than was urban society. Romanian Orthodoxy, rich in tradition, dictated the rhythm of life in a calendar of numerous holiday celebrations. Furthermore, although the influence of religion was not eradicated, it certainly declined, especially in urban areas, creating an unforeseen problem.

Social Inequality
The inquality in Romania

Human Rights
One of the main issues in terms of Romanian rights is the poor prision conditions. They are not suitable living conditions and prisoners endure constant harrassment and punishment from the guards, even though this was supposedly banned by the Romanian constitution. .

There was a limit that was placed on the practice of free religon.

Homosexuals or people with HIV are discriminated against

Women and children are discriminated against

The Association for the Defense of Human Rights in Romania- Helsinki Committee (APADOR-CH) asserted in previous years that police made excessive use of firearms in cases of minor crimes. The Romani Center for Social Intervention and Surveys (Romani CRISS) criticized the disproportionate use of force in Roma neighborhoods, including the use of firearms. There were no reports during the year of deaths or injuries in Roma neighborhoods from police use of firearms.

Prison conditions remained harsh and generally did not meet international standards

Freedom of Speech and Press The law provides for freedom of speech and of the press, and the government generally respected these rights in practice. Journalists and private citizens could criticize government authorities, including those at senior levels. There were isolated cases of authorities intimidating or censoring the press or attacking journalists. Laws restricting freedom of speech continued to cause concern among the media and NGOs. Insulting state insignia (the coat of arms, national flag, or national anthem) is also an offense punishable by imprisonment; however, there were no reports of prosecutions or convictions under these provisions during the year. The religion law includes a provision that forbids acts of "religious defamation" and "public offense to religious symbols"; there were no reports of prosecutions or convictions under this law's provisions during the year.

Freedom of Religion The constitution and the law provide for freedom of religion, and the government generally respected this right in practice; however, there were some restrictions, and several minority religious groups continued to claim credibly that government officials and Orthodox clergy impeded their proselytizing and interfered with other religious activities. Under the religion law, the government implemented a discriminatory three‑tiered system of recognition: "grupari religioase" (religious groups that are not legal entities), religious associations, and religions. Gruparile religioase are groups of individuals who share the same faith but do not receive any support from the state or tax exemptions. Religious associations are legal entities that do not receive government funding, have to be registered as such in a religious association registry, and are exempted from taxes only for places of worship. Religious associations must have 300 members from the country and are required to submit members' personal data to register, in contrast to nonreligious associations that can register with only three members. To receive religion status, a religious association must demonstrate 12 years of continuous religious activity and meet a membership threshold of 0.1 percent of the total population (approximately 22,000 members).

Racism against other ethnic groups is still widely seen.

Women Rape, including spousal rape, is illegal. The law prohibits any act of gender discrimination, including sexual harassment; however, public awareness of the problem continued to be low. No effective programs existed to educate the public about sexual harassment.

The law guarantees the right to information, education, and services for reproductive health without any discrimination, as well as the right to access modern family planning methods.

The law grants women and men equal rights, including under family law, property law, and in the judicial system. Discrimination against Roma continued to be a major concern. Romani groups complained that police brutality, including beatings and harassment, was routine and that societal discrimination was pervasive.

The law prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation; however, NGOs reported that police abuse and societal discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons was common and that open hostility prevented the reporting of some harassment and discrimination