High Court of Cassation and Justice
The High Court of Cassation and Justice (Romanian: Înalta Curte de Casație și Justiție) is Romania's supreme court, and the court of last resort. It is the equivalent of France's Cour de Cassation and serves a similar function to other courts of cassation around the world.
| High Court of Cassation and Justice Romanian: Înalta Curte de Casație și Justiție | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Established | 1861 |
| Location | Bucharest |
| Composition method | admission contest/Promotion |
| Authorized by | Constitution |
| Website | https://www.iccj.ro/ |
| President | |
| Currently | Corina-Alina Corbu[1] |
| Since | 15 September 2019 |
Naming history
It held various names during its existence: "Curtea Supremă" (Supreme Court) and "Tribunalul Suprem" (Supreme Tribunal) during the Communist period (1948–1952 and 1952–1989 respectively), and "Curtea Supremă de Justiție" (Supreme Court of Justice) from 1990 to 2003. The name "Înalta Curte de Casație și Justiție" was re-introduced in 2003, having been also used during the United Principalities (1862–1881) and Kingdom of Romania (1881–1947).
Administration
The court is led by a president, seconded by a vice-president and the leading council. Since September 2019, its president is Corina-Alina Corbu. The general assembly of the court's judges assigns two members for the Superior Council of Magistrature. The same assembly approves the annual activity report (released publicly) and the budget of the institution.
According to the law, "The president, the vice-president and the section presidents of the High Court of Cassation and Justice are named by the President of Romania, at the proposal of the Superior Council of Magistrature, out of the judges of the High Court that have worked in at this instance for at least two years". The term lasts for three years, with the possibility of being renewed once.[2]
 |
|---|
Controversial decisions
From 1995 to 2000, the Romanian Supreme Court rehabilitated a total of at least 14 convicted war criminals. These included 3 members of Ion Antonescu's wartime government (Nichifor Crainic, Toma Ghițulescu and finance minister Gheron Netta), Radu Dinulescu ("the Eichmann of Romania") and his deputy (Gheorghe Petrescu) as well as other statesmen and journalists such as former minister Stelian Popescu and Pan M. Vizirescu. A procedure known as "extraordinary appeal" was used to overturn their war crimes and "crimes against peace" convictions. In 2004, the "extraordinary appeal" procedure was eliminated from the Romanian legislation following recommendations from the European Court of Human Rights.[3][4][5][6] This, however, backfired on those who wanted these rehabilitations undone, as Efraim Zuroff came to find out. When, in February 2004, Zuroff demanded that the Romanian authorities overturn the rehabilitations of Colonels Radu Dinulescu and Gheorghe Petrescu, he was informed that this was "technically impossible". Due to the abolition of "extraordinary appeal", a decision by the Supreme Court can no longer be challenged within the framework of Romanian legislation.[7]
List of Court Presidents
| No. | Name | Term start | Term end |
|---|---|---|---|
| High Court of Cassation and Justice | |||
| 1 | Vasile Sturza | 14 February 1862 | 19 October 1868 |
| 2 | Constantin Hurmuzache | 24 October 1868 | 8 March 1869 |
| 3 | Scarlat Fălcoianu | 8 March 1869 | 3 September 1876 |
| 4 | Alexandru Creţescu | 3 September 1876 | 15 October 1886 |
| 5 | Constantin Schina | 15 October 1886 | 1 April 1906 |
| 6 | Scarlat Ferekyde | 1 April 1906 | 1 May 1909 |
| 7 | G.N. Bagdat | 1 May 1909 | 1 October 1911 |
| 8 | Corneliu Manolescu | 1911 | 1918 |
| 9 | Victor Romniceanu | 1919 | 5 August 1924 |
| 10 | Gheorghe Buzdugan | 5 August 1924 | 5 June 1927 |
| 11 | Oscar Nicolescu | 5 August 1927 | 7 November 1930 |
| 12 | Ion Stambulescu | 7 November 1930 | 17 February 1931 |
| 13 | Dimitrie Volanschi | 24 March 1931 | 1 June 1938 |
| 14 | Andrei Rădulescu | 1 June 1938 | September 1940 |
| 15 | Dimitie Lupu | September 1940 | 1944 |
| 16 | Oconel Cireş | 1944 | 1945 |
| 17 | Petre Davidescu | 1945 | 1947 |
| (16) | Oconel Cireş | 1947 | 1948 |
| Supreme Court | |||
| (16) | Oconel Cireş | 1949 | 1 April 1949 |
| 18 | Gheorghe Stere | 1 April 1949 | 1 August 1952 |
| Supreme Tribunal | |||
| 18 | Gheorghe Stere | 1 August 1952 | 24 January 1953 |
| 19 | Stelian Niţulescu | 24 January 1953 | 1 July 1954 |
| 20 | Alexandru Voitinovici | 1 July 1954 | March 1967 |
| 21 | Emilian Nucescu | March 1967 | August 1975 |
| 22 | Constantin Stătescu | August 1975 | January 1977 |
| 23 | Iustin Grigoraş | January 1977 | November 1979 |
| 24 | Ioan Sălăjan | November 1979 | 27 December 1989 |
| Supreme Court of Justice | |||
| 24 | Ioan Sălăjan | 27 December 1989 | 3 January 1990 |
| 25 | Teodor Vasiliu | 3 January 1990 | 20 July 1990 |
| 26 | Teofil Pop | 20 July 1990 | 17 June 1992 |
| 27 | Valeriu Bogdănescu | 13 July 1992 | 25 July 1994 |
| 28 | Gheorghe Uglean | 20 December 1994 | 20 June 1998 |
| 29 | Sorin Moisescu | 20 June 1998 | 6 April 2000 |
| 30 | Paul Florea | 27 April 2000 | 18 October 2003 |
| High Court of Cassation and Justice | |||
| 30 | Paul Florea | 18 October 2003 | 16 June 2004 |
| 31 | Nicolae Popa | 14 July 2004 | 14 September 2009 |
| 32 | Lidia Bărbulescu | 14 September 2009 | 15 September 2010 |
| 33 | Livia Doina Stanciu | 17 September 2010 | 14 September 2016 |
| 34 | Iulia-Cristina Tarcea | 14 September 2016 | 14 September 2019 |
| 35 | Corina-Alina Corbu | 15 September 2019 | incumbent |
References
- "Structura organizatorică a Înaltei Curți de Casație și Justiție". www.scj.ro.
- "Judge Adrian Bordea chosen for third interim as chief of the Supreme Court. Who is the magistrate that will judge over the great corruption trials and how important is the president of the HCCJ position". HotNews. 2010-09-16.
- Andrei Muraru, "Elie Wiesel” Institute`s Journal, 2020, Outrageous Rehabilitations: Justice and Memory in the Attempts to Restore the War Criminals’ Remembrance in Post-Holocaust Romania. The Recent Case of General Nicolae Macici (I) in Holocaust. Studii şi cercetări / Holocaust. Study and Research, vol. XII, issue 1(13), pp. 345-348
- Henry F. Carey, Lexington Books, 2004, Romania Since 1989: Politics, Economics, and Society, p. 75
- David Singer, American Jewish Committee, 2001, American Jewish Year Book 2001, Volume 101, p. 430
- Alexandru Florian, Indiana University Press, Jan 24, 2018, Holocaust Public Memory in Postcommunist Romania, pp. 73, 76-77, 79, 93-94 and 102
- Radio Free Europe, Newsline - July 16, 2004