The Legal Research Institute „Acad. Andrei Rădulescu” of the Romanian Academy

CENTER FOR EUROPEAN LEGAL STUDIES – 2011 ANNUAL REPORT

1. Center for European Legal Studies – Structure and goals

The Center for European Legal Studies [Centrul de Studii de Drept European] (‘CELS’) is a research unit without legal personality, within the Institute for Legal Research [Institutul de Cercetări Juridice – ‘ICJ’] of the Romanian Academy, established by decision of the Presidium of the Romanian Academy in 2008.

The goal pursued by CELS is the development of basic and applied research and dissemination of ideas through debates in the field of European law.

The CELS openness is reflected in the themes discussed at meetings, roundtables, conferences, workshops for which it has a status of organizer, and also in the interdisciplinary nature of the promoted projects. Debates bring together legal professionals – academics, judges, lawyers, bailiffs, trainers and justice auditors, officials of national and European institutions. Guests of the conferences held by CELS are from Romania and abroad alike; the research conducted by young persons and dissemination of their work are being fostered.

2. Membership

CELS operated in 2011 with the following members: Mr Mihai Şandru Ph.D, Department Coordinator, CS*II; Mr Ionuţ Ifrim Ph.D. – CSIII and Ms Simona Maya Teodoroiu Ph.D. – CSIII, as the Department members.

During the year, Romanian and foreign officials were involved in activities held by CELS, which will be described below. The Scientific Council of the Institute for Legal Research has granted the status of Associate Research Fellow for 2010-2012 to the following colleagues (in alphabetical order): Mr Constantin Mihai Banu – deputy editor in chief of the Romanian Journal of European Law** (‘RRDE’), Ms Raluca Bercea Ph.D – Lecturer, Mr Dragoş Alin Călin – Judge, Mr Radu Chiriţă Ph.D – Lecturer, Ms Simona Mihaela Constantin L L.M., Olimpiu Crauciuc Ph.D – Professor (honorary researcher), Ms Ana Maria Groza Ph.D – Lecturer, Ms Roxana Munteanu – CSII (honorary researcher), Ms Evelina Oprina, Ph.D – Lecturer, Mr Andrei Popescu Ph.D – Professor and Judge at the General Court (of the European Union) (honorary researcher), Ms Ioana Eleonora Rusu Ph.D – Lecturer, Mr Andrei Săvescu Ph.D – Lecturer, Ms Elena Simina Tănăsescu Ph.D – Professor, Ms Camelia Toader Ph.D – Professor and Judge at the European Court of Justice (honorary researcher), Ms Ina Tomescu Ph.D – Lecturer, Ms Bianca Elena Ţăndărescu.

3. Activities that took place:

3.1. Series of round tables, conferences and debates

Presentation conference on the CELS Project from the European Consultation Series: “Green Paper on policy options towards a European contract law for consumers and businesses” (CSDE-SCE-11), event held on January 26, 2011. Participants (guests): Ms Gina Orga-Dumitru Ph.D – Lecturer, Ms Luminiţa Tuleaşcă Ph.D – Lecturer, Ramona Mariţiu and Laurenţiu Sorescu.

The conference entitled “Effects of the European Court of Human Rights in the perspective of EU accession to the ECHR”, held on February 22, 2011. Participants: Razvan-Horaţiu Radu, (at that time) Romanian Government Agent for the European Court of Human Rights, Mr Ioan Muraru P.h.D., Professor, (at that time) the Romanian Ombudsman, Tudor Panţîru, former judge at the ECHR, PACE (Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe) Judiciary Committee member and the President in the lower chamber of the Romanian Parliament subcommittee to monitor the execution of decisions rendered against Romania by the ECHR; Titus Corlăţean, P.h.D., Mr Professor Marin Voicu, P.h.D., Dragoş Călin – Judge at the Bucharest Court of Appeal, Cătălina Ogarcă (Matei), P.h.D.

The IADUER*** series debate entitled “The interpretation and application of European Union law in Romanian courts”, held on March 23, 2011. Participants: Dragoş Călin, Mihai Banu and Mihai Şandru.

The conference entitled “Soft law and the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union concerning competition and state aids: hybrid forms of constitutionalism”, held on April 19, 2011. Speaker: Oana Andreea Ştefan, Ph.D.

The international conference entitled “The decisions of the ECHR against Romania and the Republic of Moldavia. Analysis, consequences, potentially responsible authorities between 1994-2010. The evolution of the internal framework concerning the buildings taken abusively and other possible systemic malfunctions,” (in cooperation with Universitară Publishing House, the Romanian Judges’ Forum Association, the European Magistrates for Human Rights Association and the Legal Resource Center of Moldova), held on May 10, 2011. Participants: Mr Mihai Şandru PhD. – Professor, Mr Dragoş Călin – Judge at the Bucharest Court of Appeal, Ms Lavinia Cârciumaru – Judge at the Constanţa Law Court, Mr Ionuţ Militaru – Judge, Ms Sorina Macrinici-Moldavian Legal Resource Center, Ms Irina Cambrea – Romania’s Government Agent assigned judge to the ECHR, Mr Mihail Udroiu – Assigned Judge to the Ministry of Justice.

The conference entitled “Industrial property and commercial competition in European Union law”, held on June 7, 2011. Guest speaker: Ms Anca Daniela Chiriţă Ph.D.

The conference entitled “The culture of the European Law: Law and politics in the European Union”, held on October 12, 2011. Participants: Ms Irina Cambrea – Judge, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Romanian Government Agent for ECHR; Mr Mihai Şandru – Professor, Coordinator, European Law Studies Center (ICJ), Ph.D; Mr Dragoş Călin – Judge, President of the Romanian Judges’ Forum Association; Mr Ionuţ Militaru – President of the European Magistrates for the Human Rights Association; Mr Vasile Muscalu – Chairman of the Universitară Publishing House, Ph.D. candidate; Mr Mihai Banu – Associate researcher CSDE (ICJ); Ms Gabriela Zanfir – Ph.D. candidate; Laura Maria Crăciunean – Ph.D.; Mr Tudor Avrigeanu – Ph.D., CSII; Mr Daniel Barbu – Associate Professor, Ph.D.

The conference entitled “The European Union integrated maritime policy”, held by Marin Voicu – Professor, Ph.D. – on November 8, 2011.

The conference entitled “Companies in the European Union”, held on November 18, 2011. Participants: Mr Mihai Şandru – Ph.D.; Mr Nicolae Turcu; Gheorghe Piperea – Professor, Ph.D.; Mr Manole Ciprian Popa – Ph.D.; Mr Dragoş Călin – Ph.D.; Luminiţa Tuleaşcă – Lecturer, Ph.D.; Flaminia Stârc-Meclejan – Lecturer Ph.D.; Mr Kokoly Zsolt – Ph.D. candidate; Mr Laurenţiu Sorescu – Ph.D.; Zaira Bamberger; Mr Lucian Săuleanu – Lecturer Ph.D.

The conference entitled “National courts and the ECHR jurisprudence in respect of contraventions. Presumption of innocence vs. presumption of legality” held on December 8, 2011. Participants: Mr Mihai Şandru, Mr Sorin Vasilescu, Mr Ionuţ Militaru, Mr Mircea Ursuţa – Ph.D., Mr Laurenţiu Sorescu – Ph.D.

3.2. “European Consultations” Series

The European Commission published the CELS project conducted by Gina Dumitriu, Laurenţiu Sorescu, Luminiţa Tuleaşcă, Ramona Maritiu, “Commission’s Green Paper on policy options towards a European contract law for consumers and businesses” (CSDE-SCE-11)

The results of this research were published in the Curierul judiciar and Revista română de drept european: Gina Organ-Dumitriu – Lecturer Ph.D.; Laurenţiu Sorescu – prosecutor, Ph.D.; Policy options towards a European Contract Law, Curierul judiciar no. 2/2011; the version is published in Romanian by Revista română de drept european no. 1/2011

CELS project in the European Consultations Series: “The analysis of the report on intellectual property rights” (CSDE-SCE-20)

CELS project in the European Consultations Series: “Identifying difficulties concerning the alternative dispute resolution in the European Union” (CSDE-SCE-21)

The results of this research were published in the journal Forumul judecătorilor no. 3/2011

CELS project in the European Consultations Series: “Modernisation of European public procurement market” (CSDE-SCE-22)

CELS project in the European Consultation Series: “A coherent European approach to collective actions (in court)” (CSDE-SCE-23)

3.3. Publications supported by the Center for European Legal Studies

Mediation in the EU. Status and Prospects, Dragoş Călin (ed.), Sanda Lungu, Gabriela Călbureanu, Roxana Maria Lăcătuşu, Lucia Zaharia, Paul Andrada Coşovanu, Ionuţ Militaru, Aurora Burtescu, Alexandra Neagu, Ştefania Marinescu, Oana Ignat, Clara Popescu and Katalin Barbara Kibedi, Universitară Publishing House, Bucharest, ISBN 606-591-032-4

The Decisions of the European Court of Human Rights against Romania. Analysis, potentially responsible authorities, 2010 consequences, Volume VI, Dragoş Călin (ed.), Lucia Zaharia, Roxana Maria Lacatuşu, Paula-Andrada Coţovanu, Ionuţ Militaru, Mihaela Vasiescu, Lavinia Cîrciumaru, Florin Mihăiţă, Elena Blidaru and Cristina Radu, Universitară Publishing House, Bucharest, ISBN 978-606-591-166-6

Reports of judicial decisions in relation to mediation, Dragoş Călin (ed.), Roxana Maria Lacatuşu and Sanda Lungu, Universitară Publishing House, Bucharest, ISBN 978-606-591-208-3

3.4. Center for European Legal Studies – partner in other academic activities

3.4.1. Study on the future institutional and legislative framework for judicial cooperation in criminal matters in the European Union

The International Research Institute for Criminal Policy at the University of Ghent, Belgium, is conducting under the direction of the renowned professor Gert Vermeulen an institutional and legislative framework for the study of judicial cooperation in criminal matters in the European Union.

In the project, the Center for European Legal Studies hosted on May 3, 2011 a working meeting with Romanian experts involved in the project (Marian Radu, contact point for Romania, Head of Unit at the Ministry of Justice; Mihaela Pătrăuş, Judge at Oradea Court of Appeal; Gabriel Petrache, Chief Prosecutor, Prosecutor’s Office by the Galaţi Court of Appeal; Florin-Răzvan Radu, specialized legal staff assimilated under the law, to judges and prosecutors in the Ministry of Justice, national expert seconded to Eurojust) with one project team member, Mr. Laurens van Puyenbroeck.

3.4.2. The Conference entitled “Current and future implications of the economic on the social”, Bucharest, May 20, 2011 (in association with the Association for Promoting Entrepreneurship)

3.5. Presentations and discussions of legal literature

January 26, 2011: Elsa Bernard, La spécificité du standard juridique en droit communautaire, Bruylant, 2010

February 23, 2011: Giuseppe Martinico, Oreste Pollicino (eds.), The National Judicial Treatment of the ECHR and EU Laws. A Comparative Constitutional Perspective, Europa Law Publishing, 2010

March 23, 2011: Elaine Fahey, Practice and Procedure in Preliminary References to Europe: 30 years of Article 234 EC Case-law from the Irish Courts, First Law, Dublin, 2007, ISSN 978-1-904480-84-6

June 7, 2011: F.O.W. (Floris) Vogelaar, The EU Competition Rules. Landmark Cases of the EU Courts and the European Commission, Europa Law Publishing, 2010

November 8, 2011: The “Maritime Law Journal” [Revista de drept maritim] was relaunched, in the presence of members of the scientific board and of the editor-in-chief, Mr. Marin Voicu, Professor, Ph.D.

October 12, 2011: M. Maduro & L. Azoulai (eds.), The Past and Future of EU Law, Hart, 2010; and P. Craig & G. de Búrca, The Evolution of EU Law, Oxford University Press, 2011

November 18, 2011: Thomas Gr. Papadopoulos, EU Law and Harmonization of Takeovers in the Internal Market, Wolters Kluwer, 2010

3.6. Book releases

October 12, 2011: ***, European Stories. Intellectual Debates on Europe in National Contexts, Edited by Justine Lacroix and Kalypso Nicolaïdis, Oxford University Press, 2011, 432 p., 978-0-19-959462-7. Guest speaker: Mr. Professor Daniel Barbu Ph.D.

December 8, 2011: Ovidiu Podaru, Radu Chiriţă, The legal regime of contraventions. O.G. no. 2/2001. A Commentary, 2^nd edition revised and enlarged, Hamangiu Publishing House, Bucharest, ISBN 978-606-522-424-7, 360 p., 2011.

November 18, 2011: Groups of companies, by Ciprian Popa Manole and The vote of the shareholders in joint stock companies, by Flaminia Stârc-Meclejan, published with C.H. Beck (2011).

3.7 Partnerships

The “Acad. Andrei Rădulescu” Institute of Legal Research of the Romanian Academy – The Center for European Legal Studies, Universitară Publishing House, Romanian Judges Forum Association, European Magistrates for Human Rights Association – July 15, 2011

Cooperation Protocol between the Government Agent for ECHR through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the “Acad. Andrei Rădulescu” Institute of Legal Research of the Romanian Academy – The Center for European Legal Studies, University Press, Romanian Judge’s Forum Association, European Magistrates for Human Rights Association, October 12, 2011

Partnership with international legal publisher, Hart Publishing, October 2011

Partnership with Oxford University Press, 2011

Partnership with the journal Curierul judiciar

3.8 Media partners

CELS activities were covered by specialized websites (www.juridice.ro, www.infolegal.ro), news agencies (mainly by Agerpress, www.agerpres.ro) and our editorial partners: CH Beck Publishing House, Universitară Publishing House, Universul Juridic Publishing House.

An active role in covering CELS events had the legal website www.juridice.ro

Publishing partners: Universitară Publishing, Universul Juridic Publishing House, CH Beck Publishing House, Hamangiu Publishing House.

The main partners for the publication of materials were Revista română de drept european (Wolters Kluwer), and Curierul judiciar (CH Beck).

3.9. Supporting the events

3.9.1. The maps for the events were printed by Universitară Publishing House

CELS activities were reflected in the Revista română de drept european, where studies and reflections (summaries) of those that have taken parts in various conferences and workshops were published.

3.9.2 Participation at book fairs. In 2011, together with Universitară Publishing House, CELS participated at the Gaudeamus International Book Fair (23 to 27 November), on which occasion the research results and the research offer of CELS were presented.

3.10 Websites and discussion groups

3.10.1 The main CELS site is www.csde.ro

Also, information is managed and disseminated via weblogs.

CELS blog – http://eubusinesslaw.wordpress.com/

Companies within European Union – http://eucompanylaw.wordpress.com/

Interpretation and application of European law (IADUER) – http://www.iaduer.ro

3.10.2 Groups / mailing list and newsletter

CELS Discussion Group – http://groups.yahoo.com/group/csde/

Newsletter CELS – http://groups.yahoo.com/group/newsletter_csde/

LinkedIn – http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Centrul-de-Studii-de-Drept-4182878

3.11 Coordination of information dissemination on the Internet

CELS has covered the “European Union law” section on the juridice.ro website.

4. Achievements in 2011

In 2011, CELS had as its key research issue preliminary ruling. This was reflected in the studies and articles published in Curierul judiciar, translation works performed by Mihai Banu (for articles published in Revista română de drept european), followed by a future publication (in 2012) with CH Beck of a volume (Mihai Şandru, Mihai Banu, Dragoş Călin, The Preliminary Ruling procedure. Principles of European Union Law and Experiences with the Romanian Law System, CH Beck Publishing House, 2012).

5. 2011 Projects in progress:

5.1. Research projects:

2010 – The preliminary ruling procedure. Principles of European Union law and experiences with the Romanian legal system

2011 – The freedom of establishment of companies in the European Union

2012 – Innovations in the Treaty of Lisbon. An evaluation after two years since its coming into effect.

5.2. Project to build a working paper by public announcement:

The Treaty of Lisbon, “From democratic principles (TUE) to principles (TFUE)” – completed in 2011. The article which was the subject-matter of WP-CSDE 2010-2011, Alessandro IANNIELLO-SALICETI, Towards the source of the general principles of law: the Code of the Kingdom of Sardinia from 1837 to the Treaty of Lisbon in 2007, was published in Revista română de drept european no. 2/2011.

“The role of national judges in interpreting and applying EU law”, with 10.02.2012 as deadline.

5.3. Current programs of the Center for European Legal Studies:

Current programs of the Center for European Legal Studies:

– “The Interpretation and application of EU law by Romanian courts” (IADUER) – developed jointly with the Association of Judges’ Forum in Romania and CH Beck Publishing (journal Curierul judiciar);

– “The Culture of European law” – debates gathering known personalities and young researchers alike; presentation/discussions/launching works from publishing partners (from Romania – CH Beck, Universul Juridic, Universitară, Wolters Kluwer, or from abroad – Bruylant, Cambridge University Press, Hart Publishing , Oxford University Press, TMC Asser Press, Wolters Kluwer International);

– “European consultations” – program designed to strengthen the proactive capacity of Romanian specialists in dealing with the EU’s current problems;

– The “JurisClasor ECHR” (Clasorul de jurisprudenţă CEDO) project – takes place under a partnership with Universitară Publishing House, European Magistrates Association of Human Rights (AMEDO) and the Judges’ Forum Association in Romania. It aims to publish the European Court of Human Rights case-law in Romanian and has three distinct sections: a compilation printed annually of all judgments rendered against Romania with the analysis of the consequences and potentially responsible authorities, an online journal containing specialized articles, important judgments rendered by the ECHR against Romania, decisions relevant for domestic law rendered against other countries too, inadmissibility decisions, human rights news, reviews, etc. and a database employing an advanced search engine (www.hotararicedo.ro).[1]

Professor Daniel-Mihail Şandru Ph.D.

Coordinator of the Center for European Legal Studies

“Acad. Andrei Rădulescu” Institute of Legal Research of the Romanian Academy

*Cercetător ştiinţific – researcher.

**Revista română de drept european.

*** Romanian acronym for “interpretarea şi aplicarea dreptului Uniunii Europene de către instanţele din România”.

[1] The translation was performed by Robert Alexa in the framework of his internship with CELS.