Considerations on the Legal Regime Applicable to the Romanian Government Ordinances

• Author: Vasilica Negrut
• Pages: 28-32

European Integration - Realities and Perspectives. Proceedings 2017

28

Considerations on the Legal Regime Applicable to the Romanian

Government Ordinances

Vasilica Negruț1

Abstract: In preparing the current article we have started from the facts established by the adoption b y the

Government Emergency Ordinance no . 13/2017 amending and supplementing Law no. 286/2009 on the

Criminal Code and Law no. 135/2010 on the Code of Criminal Procedure. The Romanian Constitution amended

in 2003, in Article 115 par. (1), provides that the Government, the executive authority issues orders under a

special law of habilitation, in areas that are not covered by the organic laws. Also, the Government may adopt

emergency ordinances “only in exceptional cases, the regulation of which cannot be postponed, having the

obligation to motivate the urgency in their content” (art. 115, par. (4) of the Constitution). Among the objectives

of this work we have aimed to clarify some aspects referring: the specifics of government ordin ances (simple

and emergency ordinances); their legal effects; the legislative delegation; control of constitutionality. To this

end, we have analyzed the acts that refer to this field, the doctrine and jurisprudence. Finally, after examining

and empirical research, the paper details the general conclusions on the legal regime applicable to the

ordinances of the Romanian Government.

Keywords: ordinances; emergency ordinances; legislative delegation, legal regime, constitutionality control

1. Context of Development

In the elaboration of this article we have started from the factual situation created by the Government's

adoption of the Emergency Ordinance no. 13/2017 for amending and completing the Law no. 286/2009

on the Criminal Code and Law no. 135/2010 on the Code of Criminal Procedure, abrogated shortly by

the Emergency Ordinance no. 14/2017. The enactment of this normative act has generated countless

interpretations of some legal institutions regulated by the amended normative acts, especially the job

abuse (article 297 of the Criminal Code), but also street protests, considering that the adoption of an

emergency ordinance for the modification of the two codes, since, by adopting it, only the harmonization

with decisions passed prior to the adoption by the Constitutional Court of Romania was envisaged.

2. The Constitutional Regime of Ordinances and Emergency Ordinances

The matter is represented by art. 108 of the revised Constitution and article 115 devoted to legislative

delegation.

According to the doctrine, the Constitution has opted for the term of ordinance in order to identify the

normative act by which the Government carries out the legislative delegation (Apostol Tofan, 2014, p.

237), seen as a way of its participation in the exercise of legislative power. In our constitutional system,

1 Professor, PhD, Faculty of Law, Danubius University of Galati, Romania, Address: 3 Galati Blvd., Galati 800654, Romania,

Tel.: +40372361102, Corresponding author: vasilicanegrut@univ-danubius.ro.