News
Legal Alerts
2016
Our Legal Alerts provide you with information on different legal issues in Romania.
The entry into force of Law no. 151/2015 on insolvency procedures applicable to individuals was postponed for 1 August 2017
According to a press release published on 16 December, in its meeting dated 15 December 2016, the Government approved, through an emergency ordinance, the postponement of the entry into force of Law No. 151/2015 on insolvency procedures applicable to individuals for 1 August 2017.
Preliminary proposals for the Code of Cultural Heritage
The preliminary proposals for the Code of Cultural Heritage (“the Code”) represent the general framework to establish the principles of the future legislation which will codify the regulations which safeguard the national cultural heritage.
Law amending and supplementing Law no. 51/2006 on community public utilities services
Law no. 225/2016 amending and supplementing Law no. 51/2006 on community public utilities services has been published in the Official Gazette.
Government Decision no. 500/2011 on the general registry of employees was amended
On 28 November 2016, the Government Decision for the amendment of the Government Decision no. 500/2011 on the general registry of employees (hereinafter "GD 500/2011") was published in the Official Gazette no. 963.
Law no. 233/2016 on public-private partnership
Law no. 233/2016 on public-private partnership has been enacted and published in the Official Gazette no. 954 from November 25, 2016, in the form sent for promulgation.
Significant changes brought to Law no. 50/1991 regarding the authorization for construction works
The main amendments brought by Law no. 197/2016 approving the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 22/2014 for amending and supplementing Law no. 50/1991 regarding the authorization for construction works refers to the issuance of building permits, namely their content, the procedure for issuing an urbanism certificate and the abrogation of district mayors’ approval.
Limitations on the marketing of breastmilk substitutes (and of similar products)
As of May 11, 2017, both producers and distributors of breastmilk substitutes (and of similar products) can conduct marketing activities with regard to these products under strictly regulated conditions.
New Law on public-private partnership
Law no.457/2016 on public-private partnership has been sent for promulgation on November 14, 2016.
Law proposal regarding the approval of the Government Ordinance no. 10/2016 regarding the modification and amendment of Law no. 422/2001 with regards to the protection of historical monuments.
On 14 November 2016, the law proposal regarding the approval of the Government Ordinance no. 10/2016 (“PL O.G. 10/2016”) regarding the modification and amendment of Law no. 422/2001 (the “Law”) with regards to the protection of historical monuments was sent to the Romanian President for promulgation.
Legislative proposal for the completion of art. 456 of Law no. 227/2015 regarding the Fiscal Code
On the 7th of November 2016 the legislative project regarding the completion of art. 456 regarding tax exemptions for buildings from Law no. 227/2015 regarding the Fiscal Code was sent to the permanent commissions of the Deputies Chamber.
New regulations regarding the administrations of harbors and waterways, the use of the naval transport infrastructure part of the public domain, as well as the naval transport activities in harbors and internal waterways
On the 14th of November 2016 the legislative proposal to amend and complete the Government Ordinance no. 22/1999 regarding the administration of harbors, the use of naval transport infrastructure part of the public domain, as well as the naval transport activities in harbors and internal waterways was sent to the President of Romania to be promulgated.
The High Court of Cassation and Justice ruled that a person performing work in favor and under the supervision of another party in the absence of a written individual employment agreement may file a declaratory judgment action in view of ascertaining the existence of employment relations and the legal effects thereof
According to a statement published on the Supreme Court’s website on 7 November 2016, the High Court of Cassation and Justice (the Panel for ruling on legal matters) has ruled that the courts of law can ascertain both the existence of employment relations and the legal effects thereof, including after the termination of the employment relations.
New Methodology for the calculation of the maximum price for medicine for human use
The Romanian Government has approved a new Methodology regarding the calculation method and the approval procedure of the maximum prices for medicine destined for human use with marketing authorization in Romania.
The new regulation repeals the Norms regarding the manner of calculating the prices for medicines for human use, approved through Order of the Ministry of Health no. 75/2009. The main modification include the introduction of an annual correction procedure for the prices of prescription medicine (Rx).
New mechanism for preventing conflict of interest
Law 184/2016 on the establishment of a mechanism for preventing conflict of interest within the procedures for awarding public procurement contracts will enter into force starting with 20 June 2017.
The dismissal decision on reasons other than disciplinary will be considered valid communicated to the employee by email, the High Court of Cassation and Justice ruled
According to a statement published on the Supreme Court’s website on October 24, 2016, the High Court of Cassation and Justice (the Panel for ruling on legal matters) has ruled that individual dismissal decisions issued in accordance with Article 76 of the Labor Code can be communicated via e-mail.
The Law no. 211/2011 on waste regime was amended
Last week, the law on waste regime was amended. The main change relates to the application of the principle "Pay as you throw" - with the purpose of stimulation of separate waste collection and to contribute to the fulfilment of the recycling/recovering target at country level.
Law no. 151/2015 on insolvency procedures applicable to individuals may enter into force on 31 October 2016
The Chamber of Deputies has approved the draft law under which Law no.151/2015 on insolvency procedures applicable to individuals will enter into force on 31 October 2016, following the President’s promulgation of the draft law. The deadline has been pushed forward from the previously announced date of 31 December 2016, although there is currently no legal and administrative framework for implementing such law.
A dismissal decision may be revoked until it is communicated to the employee, the High Court of Cassation and Justice ruled
Decision no. 18/2016 of the High Court of Cassation and Justice (the Panel for ruling on legal matters) ruled that an employer may revoke a decision to terminate an individual employment agreement only by the date the employee is notified of this decision.
Accepting an employee to work while the individual employment agreement is suspended represents a civil offense, the High Court of Cassation and Justice ruled
By Decision no. 20/2016, the High Court of Cassation and Justice (the Panel for ruling on law matters) ruled that the provisions of Article 260 (1) e) of the Labour Code, according to which „receiving up to 5 people to work without concluding an individual employment agreement, as per article 16 (1)” is a civil offense, are also applicable when employees are accepted to work based on a suspended individual employment agreement.
Bill granting National Authority for Consumer Protection similar sanctioning powers to those of the Competition Council
A bill for amending the statute of the National Authority for Consumer Protection (“NACP”) is currently pending before the Senate. Among other substantial changes, the bill provides the NACP sanctioning powers similar to those of the Competition Council, and in some instances it would allow the Authority to take even stricter measures. More precisely, if the bill is adopted, NACP may impose fines ranging from 0.5% to 10% of a company’s turnover. If the penalized company is part of a group of companies, in order to determine its turnover, the cumulative turnover of the group will be taken into consideration, according to its consolidated financial statements. If applying sanctions by reference to turnover is justified in the competition field due to the negative impact that anticompetitive practices have on the market, applying a similar sanctioning mechanism in the consumer protection field seems disproportionate.
New regulations on fire safety and civil protection authorizations applicable starting from 1 September 2016
Order no. 129/2016 of the Ministry of Internal Affairs approves the new Methodological Norms on fire safety and civil protection authorization procedures. The previous regulations, namely the Order of Ministry of Internal Affairs no. 3/2011 on the Methodological Norms on fire safety and civil protection permitting and authorization procedures and the Order Ministry of Internal Affairs no. 130/2007 on the methodology regarding execution of fire safety scenarios, were repealed with effect from 1 September 2016.
New legislation regarding categories of buildings and establishments subject to fire safety permitting and/or authorization
On 16 August 2016, Government Decision no. 571/2016 approving the categories of buildings and establishments that are subject to fire safety procedures for permitting and/or authorization was published in the Official Gazette of Romania. This Decision entered into force on the publication date and replaces former Government Decision no. 1739/2006.
Significant changes brought to Law no. 10/1995 on construction quality
The main amendments brought by Law no. 163/2016 for amending and supplementing Law no. 10/1995 on construction quality refer to the legislative regulation of minimum warranty periods regarding the quality level of constructions depending on their significance category, as well as to the extension of the prescription term provided for applying sanctions.
In addition, the certification obligation is established for companies or individuals working in constructions (i.e. design, execution and consultancy), while the obligations incumbent on investors, owners and construction users are extended and the limits on sanctions applied to various contraventions are doubled. Moreover, following these amendments, new deeds are to be sanctioned as contraventions.
The Methodological Norms for the application of the new laws on public procurement and on procurement in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors (sectorial procurement) were enacted
The Methodological Norms establish the details for the application of the legal provisions on the award of public procurement and sectorial procurement contrcats, regulated by the new procurement laws enacted on 26 May 2016: Law no. 98/2016 on public procurement and Law no. 99/2016 on sectorial procurement.
The new legislative framework on public procurement and concession of works and services was published in the Official Gazette
The new legislation regulating public procurement and the concession of works and services was published in Official Gazette no. 390, 391, 392, 393 on 23rd of May of 2016.
The legal framework implements the EU Directives on public procurement and concession of works and services, respectively Directives 2014/23/EU, 2014/24/EU and 2014/25/EU and shall enter into force on 26th of May of 2016.
Employers will no longer have the possibility to suspend the individual employment contracts during the disciplinary investigation of employees
On 05.05.2016, the Constitutional Court ruled that art. 52 Para (1) letter a) of Law no. 53/2003 on the Labor Code (”Labor Code”), which regulates the employer’s right to suspend the individual employment agreement during the prior disciplinary investigation is unconstitutional.
Government sends its opinion on the Datio in Solutum Law
On 16 March 2016 the point of view of the Romanian Government on the draft "datio in solutum" law has been published. The Romanian Government agrees with the enactment of the Draft Law subject to certain amendments, but it also rather harshly criticizes the Draft Law with respect to a number of issues.
Tougher conditions for employers imposed by recent changes to the Law on the social dialogue
The most important changes brought by Law no. 1/2016 amending and supplementing Law no. 62/2011 on the social dialogue relate to (i) the establishment of activity sectors; (ii) withholding of union dues by the employer; (iii) the association of trade unions and employers or employers’ associations; (iv) the representation of parties to collective bargaining.
Amendments to Competition Law
As of January 1st, 2016, the Competition Law was significantly amended by regulating new legal concepts (for example “competition whistleblowers”), restating the terms of settlement procedure in case of admission of guilt by undertakings during investigations of the Competition Council and by clarifying the nature of the decisions of the Competition Council and the moment when they can be put into execution by the authority.
