NRDO

Corneliu-Liviu Popescu, The Human Rights Regresses in the Constitutional Revision Proposals of the Presidential Commission

The Report of the Presidential Commission regarding a possible constitutional revision, accepted by the President of Romania, constitutes a significant regress in the field of human rights protection, as it includes solutions which are outdated, non-scientific, unconstitutional and contrary to International Law and European Union Law.

Keywords: human rights; constitutional revision; horizontal effect; reciprocity; maintaining protection standards; extradition

Dan Claudiu Dănişor, On the Causes of and Solutions to the Impasse of the Romanian Constitutional System

The study analyzes the normative inflation following the 1991 Constitution and its negative impact on the predictability of laws. It is argued that the lack of functionality of the constitutional system is not a result of the normative system as such, but rather of the political and social impulses which feed it. The latter include the lack of definite party ideologies, the absence of fundamental social cleavages polarizing the voters, ignorance among the latter and the parties of the fundamentals of democracy, the tendency to invest persons rather than structures with problem-solving abilities. The stability of the constitutional system is considered more important than any innovation in this field.

Keywords: constitutional revision; normative system; social cleavages; electoral system; separation of powers; autonomy of local communities

Bakk Miklós, Religions and Political Communities - Constitutional Aspects of the "Hungarian Issue"

The study analyzes the options of territorial-administrative reform reflected in the projects of the political representatives of the Hungarian minority in Romania. The constitutional amendments advanced in the Report of the Presidential Commission analyzing Romania's political and constitutional regime (the "Stanomir Report") offer possible alternatives of territorial-administrative reform which reach beyond the improvement of community services and of the relevant policies, and may lead to the emergence of new, subnational polities. The projects of the Hungarian community target this final aspect, i.e., a profound constitutional reform in Romania, possibly in the direction of asymmetric regionalism. The projects discussed in the article may provide a new model for Romania's political modernization.

Keywords:  constitutional revision; apple-like state structures; grape-like state structures; asymmetric regionalization; symmetrical regionalization

Valentin Constantin, Academic Discrimination before the Constitutional Court

The study carefully describes and analyzes the context of the Constitutional Court decision concerning a case of discrimination in regulating higher education. It has been shown that the decision was opposed to the opinions expressed by other institutions, among them the Civil Branch of the Iaşi Court, the Ombudsperson, and the Public Ministry. The latter considered that members of the Romanian Academy have a title which distinguishes them from other academics and which justifies special treatment. The significance of the Court's analysis of Article 129 of the Status of Teaching Staff is evident in the context of the Academy's current position, that of an institution focusing on ensuring and maintaining special privileges for its members - a special interest group with a solid corporatist structure.

Keywords: discrimination; Constitutional Court; the Academy; faculty; Protocol 12; necessary interference