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Romania Judicial System
The general organization and functioning of the
judiciary was
established by the Constitution and by the 1968 Law on the
Organization of the Court System. Overall responsibility
for the
functioning of the courts was vested in the Ministry of
Justice,
and the prosecutor general was charged with the general
application
of the law and the conduct of criminal proceedings.
To fulfill its responsibility for the functioning of
the courts
and the supervision of state marshals, state notaries, and
the
national bar organization, the Ministry of Justice was
divided into
six directorates: civil courts, military courts, studies
and
legislation, personnel, administration, and planning and
accounting. In addition, the ministry included a corps of
inspectors, an office of legal affairs, and the State
Notary
Office.
The court system included the Supreme Court,
judet
courts, lower courts, military courts, and local judicial
commissions. The Constitution placed the judiciary under
the
authority of the GNA, and between assembly sessions, under
the
authority of the State Council. The Supreme Court, seated
in
Bucharest, exercised general control over the judiciary
activity of
all lower courts.
Members of the Supreme Court were professional judges
appointed
by the GNA to four-year terms of office. The Supreme Court
functioned as an appeals court for sentences passed in
lower
tribunals and, in certain matters specified by law, could
act as a
court of first instance. It could also issue guidance, in
the form
of directives, on legal and constitutional questions for
the
judicial actions of lower courts and the administrative
functions
of government agencies. The Supreme Court was divided into
three
sections--civil, criminal, and military. A panel of three
judges
presided over each section. The minister of justice
presided over
plenary sessions of the entire court held at least once
every three
months for the purpose of issuing guidance directives.
In 1989 there were forty judet courts and the
municipal
court of Bucharest, which had judet court status.
Each
court on this level was presided over by a panel of two
judges and
three lay jurors, known as people's assessors, and
decisions were
made by majority vote. People's assessors were first
introduced in
December 1947 and were given additional legal status in
1952 by the
Law on the Organization of Justice. Most of the people's
assessors
were appointed by the PCR or by one of the district bodies
of the
mass organizations.
Subordinate to the judet courts were various
lower
courts. In the city of Bucharest, these lower courts
consisted of
four sectional courts, which functioned under the
supervision of
the municipal court. The number of lower courts and their
territorial jurisdiction were established for the rest of
the
country by the Ministry of Justice. Panels consisting of a
judge
and two people's assessors presided over courts on this
level, and
verdicts were based on majority vote.
Military courts were established on a territorial
basis,
subdivisions being determined by the Council of Ministers.
The
lower military tribunals had original jurisdiction over
contraventions of the law committed by members of the
armed forces;
the territorial military tribunals exercised appellate
jurisdiction
over decisions of the lower units. In certain situations
specified
by law, cases involving civilians could be assigned to
military
courts. At each level, the military courts, when acting in
the
first instance, consisted of two judges and three people's
assessors. In appeals cases on the territorial level, the
courts
consisted of three judges only. As in the civil courts,
decisions
were reached by majority vote
(see Law and Order
, ch. 5).
In 1968 the GNA enacted a law establishing a system of
judicial
commissions to function as courts of special jurisdiction
in the
state economic enterprises and in localities. These
commissions
were designed as "an expression of socialist democracy" to
provide
for the increased participation of working people in the
settlement
of problems involving minor local disputes and local
economic
issues.
The Office of the Prosecutor General
(
Procuratura, see Glossary)
exercised general supervision over the
application of the
law and the initiation of criminal proceedings. Elected by
the GNA
for a five-year term, the prosecutor general exercised
supervisory
powers that extended to all levels of society, from
government
ministers down to ordinary citizens. Procuratura subunits
were
hierarchically organized and included offices in each
judicial
district plus the prosecutor's military bureau.
Data as of July 1989
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