Romanian President Promulgates Civil, Criminal Codes

The Romanian government assumed responsibility in Parliament for the Criminal and Civil Codes on June 22.

 

However, the Civil Procedure Code and Criminal Procedure Code are still pending debates in Parliament after lawmakers decided in the plenary meeting of June 22 to extend the mandate of the special committee analyzing the legal codes until September 15, 2009. 

 

According to a preliminary report of the European Commission on the Romanian justice system, whose official version will be published on July 22, the adoption of the criminal and civil codes in June represents "a true political commitment and a major step towards a more efficient legal system."

 

The report says, however, the two codes are expected to come into effect along with their procedure codes in 2011 "after being debated an approved in a normal parliamentary procedure."

 

Romania’s “Stop the codes” coalition of NGOs sued the government and Ministry of Justice on April 13, claiming breaches of the law of transparency and procedure in the government’s adoption of the codes. 

 

On June 22, the government approved the final drafts of the Criminal Code and Civil Code, accepting 23 amendments out of 50 proposed.