Introduction

• Author: Iustina Ionescu
• Pages: 5-6

5

1 Introduction

1.1 Basic structure of the national legal system

The legal system in Romania is a civil law system. At the top of the legislative hierarchy is

the Constitution, follow ed by organic laws, ordinary laws and government decisions. The

court structure is organised at three levels – first instance, first appeal and appeals on

grounds of law; not all cases go through all three levels, some are examined only at first

instance and an appeal on grounds of law. At the top of the court hierarchy is the High

Court of Cassation and Justice (Înalta Curte de Casaie şi Justiie (ICCJ)). The

Constitutional Court examines whether laws comply with the Constitution. The Parliament

is the regular legislator; the Government may legislate when there is a matter of urgent

attention and the acts adopted are called Government Ordinances (OG) or Government

Emergency Ordinances (OUG).

In the field of gender equality, legislation has been adopted at the level of Parliament and

the Government. On 06 October 2015, the National Agency for Equal Opportunities for

Women and Men (Agenia Naional pentru Egalitate de Şanse între Femei şi Brbai

(ANES)) was re-established. This agency is a specialised body of the national public

administration, having legal personality, under the control of the Minist ry of Labour and

Social Justice (Ministerul Muncii şi Justiiei Sociale); it promotes the principle of equal

opportunities and equal treatment between w omen and men with the aim of eliminating

all forms of sex discrimination in all national policies and programmes. According to

Article 24(1) of the Gender Equality Law (Law No. 202/2002 regarding equal opportunities

for women and men), ANES controls a national structure called the National Commission

in the field of equal opportunities for women and men (Comisia naional în domeniul

egalitii de şanse între femei şi brbai), composed of representatives of various

ministries or other bodies at the level of the national administration, including civil society.

This National Commission discusses the reports filed by the equivalent local-level

commissions from every county, which a re made up of representatives of various

institutions at the level of the local administration that deal with asp ects that have a

connection with equal opportunities for women and men.1

Over the last few years, the National Commission and the local-level commissions have

no longer been active; gender equality was n ot a priority. In July 2018, the Ministry of

Labour and Social Justice attempted to revive the county-level commissions (COJES) by

explicitly mentioning which institutions at the local level appoint the President, Vice-

president, and Executive Secretary of these commissions.2 The change aims at ensuring

the representation and contribution of local institutions that have a mandate and c ould

contribute to fighting violence against women, such as the General Department f or Social

Assistance and Child Protection (Direcia general de asisten social şi protecia copilului

(DGASPC)). Moreover, an amendment of the Gender Equality Law from 19.07.2018

introduced the professions of equal opportunities expert and equal opportunities specialist

that work at the level of employers to assessing gender inequalities and propose solutions.3

The new amendment also created the possibility, although not the obligation, of public and

private employers with more than 50 employees to assign the competences mentioned

above to an employee or to hire a gender equality expert/specialist. 4

At the same time, the OG No.137/2000 on the prevention and sanctioning of all fo rms of

discrimination (Ordonana Guvernului nr.137/2000 privind prevenirea şi sancionarea

tuturor formelor de discriminare) established the general anti -discrimination system that

1 Law 202/2002 regarding equal opportunities for and equal treatment of women and men (Lege

nr.202/2002 privind egalitatea de sanse si de tratament intre femei si barbati), Articles 24 and 25

(hereafter, ‘Gender Equality Law’).

2 Gender Equality Law, Article 25.(6)-(10).

3 Gender Equality Law, Article 2.(5).

4 Gender Equality Law, Article 2.(4).