Legislation - Constitution of Romania

SECTION 3 - Legislation

ARTICLE 73 - Classes of laws

(1) Parliament passes constitutional, organic, and ordinary laws.

(2) Constitutional laws shall be pertaining to the revision of the Constitution.

(3) Organic laws shall regulate: a) the electoral system; the organization and functioning of the Permanent Electoral Authority; b) the organization, functioning, and financing of political parties; c) the statute of Deputies and Senators, the establishment of their emoluments and other rights; d) the organization and holding of referendum; e) the organization of the Government and of the Supreme Council of National Defence; f) the state of partial or total mobilization of the armed forcesand the state of war; g) the state of siege and emergency; h) criminal offences, penalties, and the execution thereof; i) the granting of amnesty or collective pardon; j) the statute of public servants; k) the contentious business falling within the competence of administrative courts; l) the organization and functioning of the Superior Council of Magistracy, the courts of law, the Public Ministry, and the Court of Audit; m) the general legal status of property and inheritance; n) the general organization of education; o) the organization of local public administration, territory, as well as the general rules on local autonomy; p) the general rules covering labour relations, trade unions, employers' associations, and social protection; r) the status of national minorities in Romania; s) the general statutory rules of religious cults; t) the other fields for which the Constitution stipulates the enactment of organic laws.

ARTICLE 74 - Legislative initiative

(1) A legislative initiative shall lie, as the case may be, with the Government, Deputies, Senators, or a number of at least 100,000 citizens entitled to vote. The citizens who exercise their right to a legislative initiative must belong to at least one quarter of the country's counties, while, in each of those counties or the Municipality of Bucharest, at least 5,000 signatures should be registered in support of such initiative.

(2) A legislative initiative of the citizens may not touch on matters concerning taxation, international affairs, amnesty or pardon.

(3) The Government shall exercise its legislative initiative by introducing bills to the Chamber having competence for its adoption, as a first notified Chamber.

(4) Deputies, Senators and citizens exercising the right of legislative initiative may present proposals only in the form required for bills.

(5) Legislative proposals shall be first submitted to the Chamber having competence for its adoption, as a first notified Chamber.

ARTICLE 75 - Notification of the Chambers

(1) The Chamber of Deputies, as a first notified Chamber, shall debate and adopt the bills and legislative proposals for the ratification of treaties or other international agreements and the legislative measures deriving from the implementation of such treaties and agreements, as well as bills of the organic laws stipulated under article 31 (5), article 40 (3), article 55 (2), article 58 (3), article 73 (3) e), k), 1), n), o), article 79 (2), article 102 (3), article 105 (2), article 117 (3), article 118 (2) and (3), article 120 (2), article 126 (4) and (5), and article 142 (5). The other bills or legislative proposals shall be submitted to the Senate, as a first notified Chamber, for debate and adoption.

(2) The first notified Chamber shall pronounce within 45 days. For codes and other extremely complex laws, the time limit will be 60 days. If such time limits are exceeded, it shall be deemed that the bill or legislative proposal has been adopted.

(3) After the first notified Chamber adopts or repeals it, the bill or legislative proposal shall be sent to the other Chamber,which will make a final decision.

(4) In the event the first notified Chamber adopts a provision which, under paragraph (1), belongs to its decision-making competence, the provision is adopted as final if the other Chamber also adopts it. Otherwise, for the provision in question only, the bill shall be returned to the first notified Chamber, which will make a final decision in an emergency procedure.

(5) The provisions of paragraph (4) concerning the bill being returned shall also apply accordingly if the decision-making Chamber should adopt a provision for which the decision-making competence belongs to the first Chamber.

ARTICLE 76 - Passing of bills and resolutions

(1) Organic laws and resolutions concerning the Standing Orders of the Chambers shall be passed by the majority vote of the members of each Chamber.

(2) Ordinary laws and resolutions shall be passed by the majority vote of the members present in each Chamber.

(3) At the request of the Government or on its own initiative, Parliament may pass bills or legislative proposals under an emergency procedure, established in accordance with the Standing Orders of each Chamber.

ARTICLE 77 - Promulgation of laws

(1) A law shall be submitted for promulgation to the President of Romania. Promulgation shall be given within twenty days after receipt of the law.

(2) Before promulgation, the President of Romania may return the law to Parliament for reconsideration, and he may do so only once.

(3) In case the President has requested that law be reconsidered or a review has been asked for as to its conformity with the Constitution, promulgation shall be made within ten days from receiving the law passed after its reconsideration, or the decision of the Constitutional Court confirming its constitutionality.

ARTICLE 78 - Coming into force of laws The law shall be published in the Official Gazette of Romania and come into force 3 days after its publication date, or on a subsequent date stipulated in its text.

ARTICLE 79 - Legislative Council

(1) The Legislative Council shall be an advisory expert body of Parliament, that advises draft normative acts for the purpose of a systematic unification and co-ordination of the whole body of laws. It shall keep the official record of the legislation of Romania.

(2) The setting up, organization and functioning of the Legislative Council shall be regulated by an organic law.