According to the Decree of the President of Romania regarding the declaration of a state of emergency on the territory of Romania, published in the Official Gazette Part I, No. 212, on March 16, 2020 (hereinafter referred to as the Decree), new rules have been established regarding the legal proceedings procedure during the state of emergency.
During the state of emergency, prescription periods and any kind of forfeiture periods do not start running, and if they have already started, they are suspended for the entire duration of the state of emergency.
Throughout the state of emergency, judicial activity continues only for cases of exceptional urgency. Although the Decree does not provide an exhaustive list of these cases, in order to ensure uniform practice across the courts, the Superior Council of Magistracy has established, through Decision No. 417 dated March 24, 2020, the cases that will continue to be heard during the state of emergency, both at the level of the lower courts and the courts of appeal. The Decision of the Superior Council of Magistracy can be consulted here: [https://docs.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=https://www.clujust.ro/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/hot-csm-24_03_2020__98207_ro.pdf&hl=en]. Moreover, in cases where the interested party is in isolation at home, in quarantine, or hospitalized due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they can request the court to postpone cases of exceptional urgency. If the party makes such a request, and the court rejects it, considering that it is imperative to resolve the case during the state of emergency, at the request of the party or ex officio, the court will defer the pronouncement to allow the submission of written conclusions..
In any case, a list of cases being heard during the state of emergency at each court will be made public by posting it on the court portal and their respective websites. . If your case number is not on this list on the scheduled hearing date, it means that under the current conditions, it does not constitute a case of exceptional urgency, as regulated by the Decree, and therefore, the case has been automatically suspended. During the automatic suspension of the legal proceedings, no procedural acts will take place. In turn, the deadlines for exercising remedies that were ongoing at the date of the declaration of the state of emergency will be interrupted, and a new term with the same duration will start running after the end of the state of emergency. If appeals have already been lodged by the date of the Decree,the cases will be forwarded to the competent courts for resolution only after the end of the state of emergency. It is important to note that after the end of the state of emergency, the legal proceedings will be automatically resumed; the court will set a new hearing date and will again summon the parties.
In conclusion, we remind you that these new measures came into effect on the date of the Decree’s publication in the Official Gazette and will apply for a period of 30 days, starting from March 16, 2020.
Article authored by Alexandra Vid, lawyer at SCPA C MPAN & ȚIMONEA.
