Constitutional Law / Droit constitutionnel
Romania / Roumanie
Ioan Vida
Prof. univ. dr., Romania
The Romanian Constitution was adopted in 1991 and revised in 2003. The Romanian Constitution has eight Titles and 156 Articles. The Fundamental Law is the expression of a young democratic society which wants to improve itself. The first Title concerns the general principles, the second one - the fundamental rights, freedoms and duties, the third one - the public authorities, the fourth - the Economy and public finance, the fifth - the Constitutional Court, the sixth - the Euro-Atlantic integration, the seventh - the revision of the Constitution, and the eighth - the final and transitory provisions. The Romanian citizens enjoy all the rights guaranteed in a modern society, such as: right to life, individual freedom and security, right to defense, freedom of movement, right to personal, family and private life, inviolability of domicile, secrecy of correspondence, freedom of conscience, freedom of expression, right to information, right to education, right to a healthy environment, right to vote, right to be elected, right to strike, right to private property, right to petition, right of a person aggrieved by a public authority, etc. The State authorities are structured according to the principle of the separation of powers, a principle which has been mentioned expressis verbis after 2003. The political regime is a semi-presidential one with an emphasized role of the Parliament. The Parliament is organized according to the principle of two chambers, the Executive branch has two heads (Government and President of the Republic) and the judiciary has all the guaranties of independence. These last years, the role of the Constitutional Court has increased, especially when tackling issues like legal disputes of a constitutional nature between public authorities. Recently, the political factors have announced their intention to revise the Constitution in the next years.
