Romania

• The Constitution of 1991, revised in 2003, the highest law
• The Civil Code (2011) and the Civil Procedure, Penal and Penal Procedure Codes, which were also renewed in the early 2010s
• European Union law, which takes priority in its area
• Decisions of the Constitutional Court, which are binding on everyone

• The High Court of Cassation and Justice at the top
• Courts of appeal, tribunals and local courts, with specialised sections for administrative and commercial cases
• The Constitutional Court, which reviews laws

A law degree, then an admission exam run through the National Union of Bar Associations, a traineeship of about two years, and a final exam.

• The 2011 Civil Code abolished the separate Commercial Code of 1887, combining private and commercial law in one text.
• Romanian law has long followed the French model, including its administrative-court tradition.
• Constitutional Court rulings strike laws down for everyone, not only in the case at hand.
• Major legal codes were all replaced within a few years in the 2010s.

France, Italy, Bulgaria, Germany, Poland

The University of Ottawa’s JuriGlobe database lists Romania as: Civil law. It names the systems in order of importance.

The map colours a country by the first-named system, and shows both civil-law and common-law countries as “mixed”. It is a simplification, and real systems are rarely pure.

Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria.

• Constitutional Court of Romania (English pages)
• High Court of Cassation and Justice of Romania

Sources last reviewed: October 2026.