The High Court of Cassation and Justice () is

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 ...

supreme court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

. It is the equivalent of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

's Cour de Cassation and serves a similar function to other courts of cassation around the world.

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 The United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia (), commonly called United Principalities or Wallachia and Moldavia, was the personal union of the Moldavia, Principality of Moldavia and the Wallachia, Principality of Wallachia. The union was ...

(1862–1881) and

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania () was a constitutional monarchy that existed from with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King of Romania, King Carol I of Romania, Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian royal family), until 1947 wit ...

(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 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 ...

, 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.

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 Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and Mareșal (Romania), marshal who presided over two successive Romania during World War II, wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister of Romania, Prime Minister and ''Conduc� ...

'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 The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

. 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.Radio Free Europe, ''Newsline - July 16, 2004''
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Naming history

Administration

Controversial decisions

List of Court Presidents

See also

References

External links