The Constitutional Court of Romania () is the institution which rules on whether the laws, decrees or other bills enacted by

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n authorities are in conformity with the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

. It consists of nine members serving nine-year terms which cannot be extended, with three members each appointed by the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

, the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

and the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

. Three members are renewed every 3 years.

Powers

According to the Article 146 of the Constitution, the Constitutional Court exercises the following powers: * to adjudicate on the constitutionality of laws, before promulgation, upon notification by the

President of Romania The president of Romania () is the head of state of Romania. The president is directly elected by a two-round system, and, following a modification to the Romanian Constitution in 2003, serves for five years. An individual may serve two ter ...

, by the President of either Chamber of

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, by the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

, the Supreme Court of Justice, by a number of at least 50 Deputies or at least 25 Senators, as well as, ''ex officio'', on initiatives to revise the Constitution * to adjudicate on the constitutionality of the Standing Orders of Parliament, upon notification by the President of either Chamber, by a parliamentary group or a number of at least 50 Deputies or at least 25 Senators * to decide on exceptions brought to the

Courts of law A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and administer justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law. Courts gene ...

as to the unconstitutionality of laws and orders * to guard the observance of the procedure for the election of the President of Romania and to confirm the ballot returns * to ascertain the circumstances which justify the interim in the exercise of office of President of Romania, and to report its findings to Parliament and the Government * to give advisory opinion on the proposal to suspend the President of Romania from office * to guard the observance of the procedure for the organization and holding of a

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

, and to confirm its returns * to check on compliance with the conditions for the exercise of the legislative initiative by citizens * to decide on objections of unconstitutionality of a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

* to carry out also other duties stipulated by the organic law of the Court.

Related events

* 5 October 2024 – The Constitutional Court notably disqualified S.O.S. Romania candidate Diana Șoșoacă from running in the 2024 Romanian presidential election, ruling claiming that her public statements and conduct "systematically" violate the country's constitutional foundation of membership in Euro-Atlantic structures, without giving any specific reasons to backup their claim. The court's ruling, which was split 5–2 along party lines, was criticized by some for being politically motivated, undemocratic and a result of corruption. * 28 November 2024 – The Constitutional Court ordered the November 24 presidential election to recount its votes. * 2 December – 2024 Romanian presidential election: The Constitutional Court unanimously validates the results of the first round of the presidential election. * 6 December – 2024 Romanian presidential election: The Constitutional Court annuls the results of the first round of the presidential election. * 11 March 2025 – The Constitutional Court notably disqualifies independent candidate Călin Georgescu from running in the postponed 2025 Romanian presidential election after being charges with six offenses. * 22 May 2025 - 2025 Romanian presidential election: The Constitutional Court officially validates the results of the election, confirming

Nicușor Dan Nicușor Daniel Dan (; born 20 December 1969) is a Romanian politician, mathematician, and civic activist serving as the sixth president of Romania since 2025. He previously served as the mayor of Bucharest from 2020 to 2025 and as a member of ...

as the new

Members

Current structure

History

Since it was created in 1992, the Constitutional Court had the following composition.Adevărul
/ref>

Past presidents

* Vasile Gionea (1992–1995) * Ioan Muraru (1995–1998) * Lucian Mihai (1998–2001) * Nicolae Popa (2001–2004) * Ioan Vida (2004–2010) * Augustin Zegrean (2010–2016) * Valer Dorneanu (2016–2022) * Marian Enache (2022–present)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Courts in Romania

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ru ...