Colloquium Probes Romanian Pretrial Warrant Standards

The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance, and Training (USDOJ/OPDAT), in collaboration with the Rule of Law Initiative’s Romania office, organized a colloquium titled “Pretrial Detention and Search Warrants—Practical Aspects,” on June 6–8, 2007, in Constanta, Romania. Read more »»

Considering Stronger Sanctions for Corruption in Romania

The ABA Rule of Law Initiative will hold a judicial seminar on the topic of high level corruption crimes in Romania. The seminar, held on November 19, 2007, will be moderated by a Romanian judge and outside experts and will focus on current sentencing practices and a lack of strong sanctions against corruption. Read more »»

• Romania Significant Legal Developments - December 2007

Featured Publication:

Bench Book on Arrest and Search Warrants in Romania (Îndrumar metodologic pentru judecători şi procurori. Procedura percheziţiei şi procedura arestării preventive)

This publication is the first bench book (Indrumar) produced in Romania that covers two procedures which created serious controversies in the country, after the approval of arrest and search warrants was transferred from prosecutors to judges. The document was drafted by Romanian magistrates, after a multi disciplinary group of judges, prosecutors and attorneys discussed the warrants procedures (2005-2006); and after seminars were held nationwide (2006) to give magistrates an opportunity to compare their interpretations and practice. These analyses are the basis of the two documents which ABA ROLI produced in collaboration with OPDAT: a magistrates’ guide (2007) and this bench book (2008). Both have been distributed widely to courts and prosecutors’ offices, and have been published on Romanian official websites. The guide is being used as a reference by the national Commission in charge of revising the code of criminal procedures; and the bench book is being hailed in Romania as a ground breaking tool to promote unitary jurisprudence. Some commercial legal websites are already referring to the bench book. The document is only available in Romanian.

Download the Bench Book on Arrest and Search Warrants (Îndrumar metodologic pentru judecători şi procurori. Procedura percheziţiei şi procedura arestării preventive).

• Report - Seminar on High Level Corruption and Judicial Sanctions (November 2007). Also available in Romanian
• List of Attendees - Seminar on High Level Corruption and Judicial Sanctions (November 2007). Also available in Romanian
• Report on Romania’s Progress on Accompanying Measures Following Accession (June 2007). Also available in Romanian
• The Romanian Framework on Illicit Enrichment (July 2007). Also available in Romanian
• Report on the Romanian Framework on Illicit Enrichment - by Prof. Guillermo Jorge (Only in Romanian)
• Practical Aspects of the Arrest and Search Warrant Procedures as regulated by the Romanian Code of Criminal Procedures - Colloquium, Constanta (June 2007).

The American Bar Association began its programs in support of the rule of law in Romania in 1991 and has had a continuous on-ground presence in Bucharest since 1992. Over the past 16 years, the ABA has conducted programs in the areas of court reforms, training of magistrates, judicial association building, alternative dispute resolution, legal profession reforms, legal education and legislative assistance (such as commentaries on more than 60 draft laws and the Code of Ethics for Magistrates, and help in drafting a Code of Ethics for Court Personnel and a new domestic violence law).

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Genoveva Bolea, Program Coordinator, joined the ABA Rule of Law Initiative in 1998, first as a legal assistant in Moldova office, transferring to Romania in 2002.  Ms. Bolea oversees the Significant Legal Developments monthly press review and coordinates all programs (logistics, contacts, seminars, etc.). Read More »»