The European Convention for Human Rights has its roots both in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man and is the first international instrument which, in order to protect civil and political rights, takes the form of a Treaty that brings about, juridically speaking, constraints to the signatory countries and sets up a system of control on the enforcement of these rights at the level of each of the states.

Romania

ratified

the Convention for the Defense of Human Rights

and Fundamental Liberties

by Law no. 79 of June 6th, 1995.

Consequently

The Romanian State had accepted the mandatory jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights of Strasbourg,

awarding to any person under its jurisdiction

- own citizen, foreigner or stateless person -

the rights and liberties defined by the Convention.

In keeping with art. 11 and 20 of the Constitution of Romania, re-issued

THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IS A PART OF INTERNAL LAW, and the case law of the European instance of human rights is directly enforceable in the Romanian law system and has the constitutional and over-legislative force awarded to the very provisions of the Convention, to its additional Protocols and to the European Court’s Regulation.

Anyone “claiming to be the victim of the violation, by any of the High contracting Parties, of the rights acknowledged by the Convention or its Protocols” may notify the court of Strasbourg, in keeping with art. 34 of the European Convention.

As different though from national instances, the European Instance has often showed in its practice that it is in a position to retrospectively analyze all internal, national procedures and to establish their overall correctness, sanctioning the infringement of the provisions of the Convention and of its Protocols and engendering deep transformations in the internal law.

for illustrative purposes,

according to the “Note substantiating the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 58/2003 on the modification and completion of the Civil Procedure Code”

“the modification and completion of the Civil Procedure Code by an Emergency Ordinance, mainly involving action for cancellation, is grounded by the fact that, in certain Romanian cases, the European Court of Human Rights acknowledged the violation of article 6 paragraph 1 of the Convention for the Defense of Human Rights and Fundamental Liberties …”

and more recently, the national legislation on the regimen of foreigners in Romania was modified following sentencing of the Romanian State in the case of LUPSA Dorjel vs Romania, an order published in the Official Bulletin of Romania Part I no. 30 of January 17th, 2007.