The Dispute Resolution Review

Disputes in Romania are settled in court in the vast majority of cases, under procedures regulated mainly by the Civil Procedure Code (‘the CPC’). The CPC has undergone reform through Law No. 202/2010 (‘the Little Reform Law’), a law expressly designed to introduce elements of procedural celerity in advance of the new Civil Procedure Code, which is expected to replace the CPC entirely in July 2012. The commentary here takes into consideration the procedures as currently in force. A brief outline of the main amendments to be brought to the new Civil Procedure Code is included in Section VII, infra.

The focus of the year was the entry into force of the new Civil Procedure Code, an extensive and systemic reform of all aspects of procedural civil law. While an original enactment date had been set for 1 September 2012, a government emergency ordinance issued immediately prior to this deadline postponed the moment of entry to 1 February 2013, quoting ‘financial budgetary restrictions that have delayed measures of absolute necessity for the preparation of the judicial system in view of the new Civil Procedure Code’. Furthermore, in view of the same rationale, the Romanian parliament has already made a case for a three-year postponement of certain new Civil Procedure Code provisions, its proposal being currently denied by the Romanian president on procedural grounds.

To read the entire article, please download the .pdf attached.