Members of the Leaders for Justice community - Iulia Georgescu, Costin Udrea, Veronica Sîrbu, Luca Ciubotaru - have been part of the working teams in the elaboration of the guide Honourable Instance. The complete guide in .pdf format is available at https://bit.ly/2U2BDpA. Project implemented by Funky Citizens (www.funky.ong), with the support of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation's Rule of Law Programme South East Europe.
The material below is taken from www.onoratainstanta.ro
Short introduction:
You are a citizen, so your right to justice is guaranteed. But face to face with justice, in whatever role you are - defendant, plaintiff, accused or witness - you are confused. It's like when you go to a strange place, where you need a map, you want to understand how things work so you don't get lost. Eventually, you read something beforehand, understand what the rules and directions are and then find out on the spot how they apply. The way justice works may seem simple at first glance, right? Judge, defendant, prosecutor, trial. But when you get to the trial, you see that things are a bit more complicated, and it's good that they are, precisely to ensure a fair trial that looks at all aspects in depth.
WHY COURTS EXIST
Courts are in charge of dispensing justice, i.e. they are those public institutions that we, the citizens, entrust with the resolution of conflicts/litigation.
A court is a panel of judges, in the composition prescribed by law, and a registrar, with the participation of the public prosecutor in certain cases.
Conflicts may arise from relations between people, usually from violations of rules of good conduct, customs or laws. Every conflict, if it ends up being settled by a court, becomes a file that goes through a process.
WHAT TYPES OF CONFLICTS DO THE COURTS RESOLVE?
Civil law
The civil division of the court resolves conflicts concerning personal values, between individuals (wealth or inheritance, reputation and divorce, business interests or the exploitation of intellectual property);
Examples:
- Ionel wants to divorce Viorica and also get custody of their two children
-Mishu wants to force Livia to execute the contract to paint him a painting.
Criminal Law
The criminal section of the court resolves disputes concerning state values. This is why the state - through the prosecutors of the public prosecutor's office - is judged against criminals, i.e. those who threaten the life, property or health of a person, the safety and public order of all, the proper functioning of institutions for the benefit of citizens.
Examples:
-Ionel stole Viorica's car.
-Mishu and Livia receive bribes from two CGMB councillors not to take legal action.
Administrative Litigation Law
The Administrative Litigation Section of the court resolves conflicts concerning the values of coexistence, related to the application of the law by institutions, therefore conflicts between persons and authorities (acts, administrative decisions, protection or fruition of rights or obligations of the person towards the institutions and vice versa);
Examples:
-Mayor gave a building permit for a 10-storey building near Ionel and Viorica's house, on the nașpa.
-Mishu and Livia follow the work of the CGMB and see that they gave an illegal decision to allocate money from the local budget.