PRESS RELEASE, 7 October 2020

A. On 7 October 2020, the Plenum of the Constitutional Court, as part of the review prior to promulgation, has delivered the following admission decisions:

By unanimous vote,

1. It upheld the objection of unconstitutionality (following the joinder of the two referrals having the same object, formulated by the President of Romania and the Government of Romania, respectively) and found that the Law amending and completing Law No 94/1992 on the organization and functioning of the Court of Accounts is unconstitutional, in relation to Article 1 (1) and (5) and Article 141 of the Constitution, which was adopted in the absence of a request of opinion from the Economic and Social Council.

2. It upheld the objection of unconstitutionality formulated by the Government of Romania and found that, as a whole, the Law on the transfer, free of charge, of the full package of shares held by the State at the National Company “Aeroportul Internațional Timișoara – Traian Vuia” – S.A. from the private property of the State and administration of the Ministry of Transports into the private property and administration of the Timiș County Council and, respectively, into the private property and administration of the Local Council of the Municipality of Timișoara is unconstitutional;

3. It upheld the object of unconstitutionality formulated by the Government of Romania and found that, as a whole, the Law approving the Government Emergency Ordinance No 72/2020 for suspending the application of the provisions of Article 21 (6) of Law No 1656/2013 on the measures for the completion of the process of restitution, in kind or by equivalent, of the immovable properties abusively taken during the communist regime in Romania and for laying down transitional measures is unconstitutional;

By a majority of votes,

4. It upheld the objection of unconstitutionality (following the joinder of the two referrals having the same object, formulated by the High Court of Justice and Cassation and the Government of Romania, respectively) and found that the provisions of Article 30, Article 32 (2), Article 46 (17), Article 56 (4), Article 57 (2) and (3) and Article 58 of Law on certain measures in the field of European non-reimbursable funds are unconstitutional;

The decisions are final and generally binding and shall be notified to the President of Romania, the Presidents of the two Chambers of the Parliament and the Prime Minister.

B. On the same day, the Plenum of the Constitutional Court, as part of the review prior to promulgation, by a majority of votes, rejected as unfounded, the objection of unconstitutionality formulated by 75 deputies belonging to the same Parliamentary Group of the National Liberal Party and found that the Law for completing Law No 53/2003 – The Labor Code is constitutional, in relation to the criticisms formulated.

The decision is final and generally binding and shall be notified to the President of Romania.

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The arguments retained as grounds for the solutions delivered by the Plenum of the Constitutional Court shall be presented in the decisions, to be published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I.

C. Concerning:

– The objection of unconstitutionality of the Law amending and completing Article 435 of the Law No 227/2015 on the Tax Code, formulated by deputies belonging to the Parliamentary Groups of the Union “Salvați România”, to the National Liberal Party, to the Party “Mișcarea Populară” and to the Social Democratic Party and by non-affiliated deputies,

– The objection of unconstitutionality of the Law amending and completing the Law on Chambers of Commerce in Romania No 335/2007, formulated by deputies belonging to the Parliamentary Groups of the Union “Salvați România” and of the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania, and by non-affiliated deputies,

– The objection of unconstitutionality of the Law amending and completing Article 435 of Law No 227/2015 on the Tax Code, formulated by the Government of Romania,

The Constitutional Court postponed the debates for 11 November 2020.

– The objection of unconstitutionality of the Law on consumer protection against excessive interest rates, formulated by deputies belonging to the Parliamentary Group of the National Liberal party,

The Constitutional Court postponed its decision for 18 November 2020.

 

External Relations, Press and Protocol Department of the Constitutional Court