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The
Parliament
According
to the constitution, the Parliament is the supreme representative
organ of the Romanian people and the only legislative authority in
Romania. It consists of two bodies: the Deputies' Chamber and the
Senate; they work in separate or common reunions, according to the
nature of their activities. The deputies and the senators are
elected by universal secret, vote. The organizations representing
the national minorities that don't get a sufficient number of votes
to allow them to be represented in the Parliament, are granted,
officially, a deputy chair.
The
law has established the number of Deputies to 328, and the Senators'
to 143. The Parliament works in two ordinary sessions: February -
June and September - December. The laws can be proposed either by
the Government, the Deputies , the Senators or by a minimum number
of 250.000 citizens having voting right of at list a quarter of the
number of the administrative territorial units of the country.
The
laws adopted by the Parliament are sent for promulgation to the
President of Romania. The President can ask the Constitutional Court
to verify if the laws are according to the Constitution. The
decision of the Constitutional Court is final for the President, but
not for the Parliament. The Parliament, after reexamining the law,
can maintain it in its original with a two third majority in every
Chamber.
The
Legislative Council is the specialized consultative organ of the
Parliament and it keeps the record of Romanian legislation.
The
President of Romania
According to the Constitution, he represents the
Romanian State and is the symbol of the national independence, of
the territorial unity and integrity of the country. He watches that
the Constitution is obeyed and that the public institutions are
functioning accordingly. The president is the moderator between the
powers in the state, and also between the State and the society. The
President of Romania is selected directly by the citizens for no
more than two mandates of four years.
While
having this function, the President of Romania cannot be member of
any political party, or have any other private or public function.
The
president of Romania designates the potential prime-minister and
names the members of the Government. He is endowed with this power
by the trust vote he's given by the Parliament. The President of
Romania is the supreme commander of the army and presides the
Supreme Council for the Defense of the Country.
The
Government
It
ensures the implementation of the internal and external policy of
the country and the general management of the public administration.
The members of the Government cannot hold any other high public
functions except for those of deputy or senate or, and no other paid
functions of professional representance within commercial
organizations.
The
Government (according to a habitation law) decisions and for the
implementation of the laws in the terms established by the
Parliament. It is politically responsible for its entire activity,
and not only in front of the Parliament
The
Public Local Administration
It
is based on the principle of local autonomy and on that of
decentralization of the public services. The villages and the towns
are ruled by the local councils and the mayors elected by the
citizens of those villages or towns. The Council of the county,
elected by its citizens too, is the one who coordinates the activity
of the local councils in order to achieve the public service on
county level. The government names a prefect for every county and in
one in the City of Bucharest; they are its official representants on
local level.
The
Juridical Authority
The
judges are independent and they obey only to the law. They are named
by the President of Romania, they are and cannot hold any other
functions except for those of university professors.
The
justice is made through the Supreme Court of Justice and through the
other juridical courts. Each person has the right to be defended if
accused.
The
Superior Council of the Magistrates, elected by the parliament for a
period of four years, is the body that proposes to the President of
the country the list with the names of the judges and attorneys that
are to be named. It also holds the role of disciplinary counselor
for the judges.
The
Political Parties
The
Constitution stipulates that the political pluralism is both a
condition and a guarantee of the constitutional democracy in the
Romanian society.
Few quotations from the Romanian Constitution:
·
Art. 1 Characteristic elements for the Romanian State
1.
Romania is a national state, sovereign and independent,
unitarian and indivisible.
2.
The ruling form is the republic.
·
Art. 6 The right to identity
1.
The Romanian State recognizes guarantees the right to
maintain, develop and express their ethnic, cultural, linguistic and
religious identity to all the persons belonging to the national
minorities.
2.
The protection measures taken by the State in order to
maintain, develop and express the identity of the persons belonging
to the national minorities must be according to the principles of
equality and non-discrimination to the rest of the Romanian citizens."
·
Art. 12 The national symbols
1.
The Romanian flag is tricolor, the colors are vertically arranged, in the following order, from the sick: blue, yellow, and
red.
2.
The National Day of Romania is the 1st of December.
3.
The National Hymn of Romania is 'Desteapta-te romane' (Raise
Up Romanians).
·
Art. 13
In Romania, the official language is the Romanian language.
·
Art. 20 Rights
1. The constitutional dispositions regarding the rights and
the liberties of the citizens will be interpreted and implemented
according to The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with all the
pacts and treaties that Romania is part of.
2. If there is any nonconformity between the pacts and the
treaties that Romania is part of, regarding the fundamental human
rights , and the internal laws, the international regulations have
priority.
·
Art. 32 The right to education
1.
Education at all levels is available in the Romanian language.
2.
The right of the persons belonging to the national minorities
to learn their mother-tongue and their right to get educated in that
language are guaranteed: the ways this rights can be used are
established by law.
3.
The education provided by the State is free of charges,
according to the law.
4.
The State ensures the liberty of the religious education,
according to the specific requirements of each cult. |
