The sources of administrative law

• Author: Catalin-Silviu Sararu
• Profession: PhD, is Associate Professor at the Law Department of Bu-charest University of Economic Studies
• Pages: 18-27

Chapter III

The sources of administrative law

1. The notion of source of law1

The notion of source of law has two meanings:

a) source of law in the materia l sense - represents the material conditions

of the company at a given time (the factors of configuration of the law) that were

the basis of the legislator's will to regulate a certain social domain; it is those

"gifts" of law and society that determine the legislator's action.

b) source of law in the formal sense - it represents the form of externali-

zation of the will of the legislator and of the public authorities that enforce the

law.

2. The formal sources of administrative law

2.1. Constitution and constitutional laws

The constitution in force of Romania was adopted by the Constituent As-

sembly on November 21, 1991 and was approved by the national referendum

organized on December 8, 1991 (the date it entered into force).

The constitutional laws are, according to art. 73 paragraph (2) of the Con-

stitution, those by which the Constitution is revised.

In 2003, the Constitution was subject to a revision process2, with the fol-

lowing changes:

- enhancing constitutional guarantees of fundamental rights and freedoms

(new rights such as economic freedom, access to culture, the right to a healthy

environment) have been introduced;

- the fulfillment of the constitutional conditions for Romania's integration

into the European Union and for the accession to the North Atlantic Treaty (a new

title was introduced entitled "Euro-Atlantic Integration" and the principles of EU

integration were established, such as the right of Romanian citizens to choose and

to be elected to the European Parliament),

1 On the sources of Romanian law see Nicolae Popa, op.cit., p. 156-172; Dan Claudiu Dnişor, Ion

Dogaru, Gheorghe Dnişor, op.cit., p. 119-196; Ion Corbeanu, Maria Corbeanu, op. cit., p. 169-

184; Mircea Djuvara, op. cit., p. 306-342;

2 The Law on the revision of th e Constitution was adopted by the Parliament on September 18,

2003 and was approved by the referendum organized on October 18 and 19, 2003. Following the

Law of revision, the Constitution of Romania was republished in the Official Gazette no. 767 of

October 31, 2003, giving the texts a new numbering.