Constitution of Romania
Encyclopedia
The 1991 Constitution of Romania, adopted on 21 November 1991, voted in the referendum of 8 December 1991 and introduced on the same day, is the current fundamental law that establishes the structure of the government of Romania
, the rights and obligations of the country's citizens, and its mode of passing laws. It stands as the basis of the legitimacy of the Romanian government.
The constitution was most recently revised by a national referendum
on 18–19 October 2003. The new text took effect on 29 October 2003.
and Wallachia
under Imperial Russian occupation in 1831-1832, was the first organic law
resembling a constitution ever awarded to the Danubian Principalities
. It remained in place until 1858, when the Crimean War
removed the two countries from Russian influence and confirmed the rule by several European powers first established by the Treaty of Paris
; the Paris Convention of 1858 remained the governing document following the election of Alexander John Cuza
as Domnitor
over the united countries (1859), but was replaced by Cuza's own organic law, entitled Statutul dezvoltător al Convenţiei de la Paris ("Statute expanding the Paris Convention"), in 1864.
The first constitution
of the United Principality (later Kingdom) of Romania
was adopted 1 July 1866. After the extension of national territory in 1918, a new constitution
was approved 29 March 1923. It was repealed by King Carol II
in 1938, when an authoritarian regime
formed around the National Renaissance Front
adopted a new, corporatist
constitution on 27 February this document was, in turn, cancelled in 1940 by the Iron Guard
's National Legionary State
government. The 1923 constitution was reinstated after the fall of the Ion Antonescu
dictatorship in 1944 (see Romania during World War II
).
The new constitution
of Communist Romania
was adopted in 1948 following the Soviet model, with subsequent variants appearing in 1952
and 1965
(the former "building the socialism", the latter announcing the "socialism has won" and notably making the change from a People's Republic
to a Socialist Republic
). The Communist regime fell
in 1989, after which large portions of the 1965 document were suspended, and the present document was adopted in 1991.
. The draft was composed by a committee of parliamentarians and constitutional law specialists; was approved by Parliament
, meeting as a Constituent Assembly, by a vote of 414 to 95 on 21 November 1991, being published in Monitorul Oficial
the same day; and was approved by referendum on 8 December 1991, with 77.3% voting in favour. The 1991 Constitution contains 7 titles and 152 articles. Romania is defined as a “national, sovereign, independent, unitary and indivisible state”. The form of government is the republic, the president
having up to two four-year terms. He represents the Romanian state in domestic and foreign relations, ensures obedience to the constitution and the proper functioning of state institutions, and is the guarantor of the state’s independence, unity and integrity. Parliament is “the supreme representative organ of the Romanian people and the sole lawmaking authority”; it is bicameral (Chamber of Deputies
and Senate
) and elected for four years. After the prime minister
is named by the president, Parliament validates the composition and programme of the Government and can dismiss it following a motion of censure. The constitution provides for fundamental civic rights and freedoms, and creates the office of Romanian Ombudsman
to ensure these are respected.
The 1991 Constitution has been amended one time, in 2003. Articles were introduced on “Integration into the European Union
” and “NATO Accession”, bringing the total to 156 in 8 titles. These specified that both could take place by parliamentary vote alone, and that EU citizens living in Romania can vote and run in local elections. The new document grants minorities
the right to use their native language when dealing with local administration and the courts, improves the functioning of the legislative chambers (better specifying their attributes) and restricts the privilege of parliamentary immunity
to political declarations, extends the president’s term to five years, explicitly “guarantees” rather than “protects” the right to private property and removes the constitutional obligation for conscription
(which ended in 2006). The revised document was adopted by referendum on 18–19 October 2003; turnout was slightly above the 50%+1 threshold needed for it to be valid, with 55.7% of 17,842,103 eligible voters showing up. The opposition and NGO
s alleged serious irregularities. 89.70% voted yes and 8.81%, no. It came into force ten days later.
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, the rights and obligations of the country's citizens, and its mode of passing laws. It stands as the basis of the legitimacy of the Romanian government.
The constitution was most recently revised by a national referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
on 18–19 October 2003. The new text took effect on 29 October 2003.
Structure
The Constitution of 1991, as revised in 2003, contains 156 articles, divided into 8 titles:- Title I - General principles
- Title II - Fundamental rights, liberties, and duties
- Title III - Public authorities
- Title IV - The economy and public finance
- Title V - Constitutional Court
- Title VI - Euro-Atlantic integration
- Title VII - Revising the Constitution
- Title VIII - Final and transitional provisions
Background
The organic regulation, voted by the respective Assemblies of MoldaviaMoldavia
Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
and Wallachia
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
under Imperial Russian occupation in 1831-1832, was the first organic law
Organic law
An organic or fundamental law is a law or system of laws which forms the foundation of a government, corporation or other organization's body of rules. A constitution is a particular form of organic law for a sovereign state....
resembling a constitution ever awarded to the Danubian Principalities
Danubian Principalities
Danubian Principalities was a conventional name given to the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, which emerged in the early 14th century. The term was coined in the Habsburg Monarchy after the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca in order to designate an area on the lower Danube with a common...
. It remained in place until 1858, when the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
removed the two countries from Russian influence and confirmed the rule by several European powers first established by the Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris (1856)
The Treaty of Paris of 1856 settled the Crimean War between Russia and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the British Empire, Second French Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The treaty, signed on March 30, 1856 at the Congress of Paris, made the Black Sea neutral territory, closing it to all...
; the Paris Convention of 1858 remained the governing document following the election of Alexander John Cuza
Alexander John Cuza
Alexander John Cuza was a Moldavian-born Romanian politician who ruled as the first Domnitor of the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia between 1859 and 1866.-Early life:...
as Domnitor
Domnitor
Domnitor was the official title of the ruler of the United Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia between 1859 and 1866....
over the united countries (1859), but was replaced by Cuza's own organic law, entitled Statutul dezvoltător al Convenţiei de la Paris ("Statute expanding the Paris Convention"), in 1864.
The first constitution
1866 Constitution of Romania
The 1866 Constitution of Romania was the fundamental law that capped a period of nation-building in the Danubian Principalities, which had united in 1859. Drafted in a short time and using as its model the 1831 Constitution of Belgium, then considered Europe's most liberal, it was substantially...
of the United Principality (later Kingdom) of Romania
Kingdom of Romania
The Kingdom of Romania was the Romanian state based on a form of parliamentary monarchy between 13 March 1881 and 30 December 1947, specified by the first three Constitutions of Romania...
was adopted 1 July 1866. After the extension of national territory in 1918, a new constitution
1923 Constitution of Romania
The 1923 Constitution of Romania, also called the Constitution of Union, was intended to align the organisation of the state on the basis of universal male suffrage and the new realities that arose after the Great Union of 1918. Four draft constitutions existed: one belonging to the National...
was approved 29 March 1923. It was repealed by King Carol II
Carol II of Romania
Carol II reigned as King of Romania from 8 June 1930 until 6 September 1940. Eldest son of Ferdinand, King of Romania, and his wife, Queen Marie, a daughter of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the second eldest son of Queen Victoria...
in 1938, when an authoritarian regime
Authoritarianism
Authoritarianism is a form of social organization characterized by submission to authority. It is usually opposed to individualism and democracy...
formed around the National Renaissance Front
National Renaissance Front
The National Renaissance Front was a fascist Romanian political party created by King Carol II in 1938 as the single monopoly party of government following his decision to ban all other political parties and suspend the 1923 Constitution, and the passing of the 1938 Constitution of Romania...
adopted a new, corporatist
Corporatism
Corporatism, also known as corporativism, is a system of economic, political, or social organization that involves association of the people of society into corporate groups, such as agricultural, business, ethnic, labor, military, patronage, or scientific affiliations, on the basis of common...
constitution on 27 February this document was, in turn, cancelled in 1940 by the Iron Guard
Iron Guard
The Iron Guard is the name most commonly given to a far-right movement and political party in Romania in the period from 1927 into the early part of World War II. The Iron Guard was ultra-nationalist, fascist, anti-communist, and promoted the Orthodox Christian faith...
's National Legionary State
National Legionary State
The National Legionary State was the Romanian government from September 6, 1940 to January 23, 1941. It was a single-party regime dictatorship dominated by the overtly fascist Iron Guard in uneasy conjunction with the head of government and Conducător Ion Antonescu, the leader of the Romanian...
government. The 1923 constitution was reinstated after the fall of the Ion Antonescu
Ion Antonescu
Ion Victor Antonescu was a Romanian soldier, authoritarian politician and convicted war criminal. The Prime Minister and Conducător during most of World War II, he presided over two successive wartime dictatorships...
dictatorship in 1944 (see Romania during World War II
Romania during World War II
Following the outbreak of World War II on 1 September 1939, the Kingdom of Romania officially adopted a position of neutrality. However, the rapidly changing situation in Europe during 1940, as well as domestic political upheaval, undermined this stance. Fascist political forces such as the Iron...
).
The new constitution
1948 Constitution of Romania
The 1948 Constitution of Romania was the first adopted after the establishment of the Communist regime, which it enshrined into law. It was modelled on the 1936 Soviet Constitution and adopted by the Great National Assembly on April 13, 1948, being published in Monitorul Oficial the same day...
of Communist Romania
Communist Romania
Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
was adopted in 1948 following the Soviet model, with subsequent variants appearing in 1952
1952 Constitution of Romania
The 1952 Constitution of Romania, also called the "constitution of building socialism", expressed the consolidation of Communist power, featuring greater ideological content than its 1948 predecessor. A draft was written by a commission elected by the Great National Assembly on March 27, 1952 and...
and 1965
1965 Constitution of Romania
The 1965 Constitution of Romania, Communist Romania's third, was drafted by a committee of the Great National Assembly and approved by a plenary session of the Central Committee of the Romanian Communist Party on June 28, 1965...
(the former "building the socialism", the latter announcing the "socialism has won" and notably making the change from a People's Republic
People's Republic
People's Republic is a title that has often been used by Marxist-Leninist governments to describe their state. The motivation for using this term lies in the claim that Marxist-Leninists govern in accordance with the interests of the vast majority of the people, and, as such, a Marxist-Leninist...
to a Socialist Republic
Communist state
A communist state is a state with a form of government characterized by single-party rule or dominant-party rule of a communist party and a professed allegiance to a Leninist or Marxist-Leninist communist ideology as the guiding principle of the state...
). The Communist regime fell
Romanian Revolution of 1989
The Romanian Revolution of 1989 was a series of riots and clashes in December 1989. These were part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several Warsaw Pact countries...
in 1989, after which large portions of the 1965 document were suspended, and the present document was adopted in 1991.
Initial version
The 1991 Constitution enshrined the return to democracy after the fall of the Communist regimeCommunist Romania
Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
. The draft was composed by a committee of parliamentarians and constitutional law specialists; was approved by Parliament
Parliament of Romania
The Parliament of Romania is made up of two chambers:*The Chamber of Deputies*The SenatePrior to the modifications of the Constitution in 2003, the two houses had identical attributes. A text of a law had to be approved by both houses...
, meeting as a Constituent Assembly, by a vote of 414 to 95 on 21 November 1991, being published in Monitorul Oficial
Monitorul Oficial
Monitorul Oficial al României is the official gazette of Romania, in which all the promulgated bills, presidential decrees, governmental ordinances and other major legal acts are published.-External links:...
the same day; and was approved by referendum on 8 December 1991, with 77.3% voting in favour. The 1991 Constitution contains 7 titles and 152 articles. Romania is defined as a “national, sovereign, independent, unitary and indivisible state”. The form of government is the republic, the president
President of Romania
The President of Romania is the head of state of Romania. The President is directly elected by a two-round system for a five-year term . An individual may serve two terms...
having up to two four-year terms. He represents the Romanian state in domestic and foreign relations, ensures obedience to the constitution and the proper functioning of state institutions, and is the guarantor of the state’s independence, unity and integrity. Parliament is “the supreme representative organ of the Romanian people and the sole lawmaking authority”; it is bicameral (Chamber of Deputies
Chamber of Deputies of Romania
The Chamber of Deputies is the lower house in Romania's bicameral parliament. It has 315 seats, to which deputies are elected by direct popular vote on a proportional representation basis to serve four-year terms...
and Senate
Senate of Romania
The Senate of Romania is the upper house in the bicameral Parliament of Romania. It has 137 seats , to which members are elected by direct popular vote, using Mixed member proportional representation in 42 electoral districts , to serve four-year terms.-Former location:After the Romanian...
) and elected for four years. After the prime minister
Prime Minister of Romania
The Prime Minister of Romania is the head of the Government of Romania. Initially, the office was styled President of the Council of Ministers , when the term "Government" included more than the Cabinet, and the Cabinet was called The Council of Ministers...
is named by the president, Parliament validates the composition and programme of the Government and can dismiss it following a motion of censure. The constitution provides for fundamental civic rights and freedoms, and creates the office of Romanian Ombudsman
Romanian Ombudsman
The Romanian Ombudsman is an independent institution of the Government of Romania, responsible for investigating and addressing complaints made by citizens against other government institutions.The Romanian Ombudsman was established in 1991 after the ratification of the country's first...
to ensure these are respected.
2003 revision
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
” and “NATO Accession”, bringing the total to 156 in 8 titles. These specified that both could take place by parliamentary vote alone, and that EU citizens living in Romania can vote and run in local elections. The new document grants minorities
Minorities of Romania
Officially, 10.5% of Romania's population is represented by minorities . The principal minorities in Romania are Hungarians and Roma people, with a declining German population and smaller numbers of Poles in Bucovina...
the right to use their native language when dealing with local administration and the courts, improves the functioning of the legislative chambers (better specifying their attributes) and restricts the privilege of parliamentary immunity
Parliamentary immunity
Parliamentary immunity, also known as legislative immunity, is a system in which members of the parliament or legislature are granted partial immunity from prosecution. Before prosecuting, it is necessary that the immunity be removed, usually by a superior court of justice or by the parliament itself...
to political declarations, extends the president’s term to five years, explicitly “guarantees” rather than “protects” the right to private property and removes the constitutional obligation for conscription
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
(which ended in 2006). The revised document was adopted by referendum on 18–19 October 2003; turnout was slightly above the 50%+1 threshold needed for it to be valid, with 55.7% of 17,842,103 eligible voters showing up. The opposition and NGO
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
s alleged serious irregularities. 89.70% voted yes and 8.81%, no. It came into force ten days later.