I. At the hearing on 14 September 2022, the Constitutional Court, in the context of a priori constitutionality review, by a majority of votes, dismissed as ungrounded the objection of unconstitutionality and found that the Law on the approval of Government Ordinance no. 18/2021 amending and supplementing Law no. 95/2006 on healthcare reform and amending certain normative acts in the field of healthcare, as well as repealing Article 4 of Law no. 584/2002 on measures to prevent the spread of AIDS in Romania and to protect persons infected with HIV or suffering from AIDS, is constitutional in relation to the criticisms formulated.
In essence, the Court stated that the legal matter raised by the author of the objection of unconstitutionality is one of inter-correlation of normative acts, and the challenged regulation does not raise issues of constitutionality regarding the violation of the principles of legality and legal security or the right to healthcare.
At the same time, the Court did not find the violation of Article 108 (3) of the Constitution, because the repeal of the provisions of Article 4 of Law no. 584/2002 by Government Ordinance no. 18/2021, being a partial repeal, is assimilated to the amendment of the normative act. And Law no. 195/2021 on the Government’s ability to issue ordinances, based on which Government Ordinance no. 18/2021 was adopted, provides expressis verbis that the Government is empowered to amend “normative acts, with the power of law, in the field of healthcare“.
The decision is final and generally binding.
The arguments set out in the grounds for the decision of the Constitutional Court will be set out in the decision, which will be published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I.
II. At the same hearing, the Constitutional Court postponed the start of the debates until 5 October 2022 for the following cases:
1. The objection of unconstitutionality of the Law amending and supplementing Article 56^1 of the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 57/2007 on the legal regime of protected natural areas, conservation of natural habitats, wild flora and fauna, objection raised by deputies belonging to the parliamentary group of the Save Romania Union;
2. The objection of unconstitutionality of the Law amending and supplementing the Framework Law no. 153/2017 on the remuneration of personnel paid from public funds, objection raised by the Government of Romania.
The External Relations, Press and Protocol Department of the Constitutional Court of Romania