Article by Alex Cartoafă, volunteer within GIL Constanța.
In the previous article we talked about the context in which this action was born and the steps we proposed to take at that time to reach our goal: declaring OUG 8/2021 unconstitutional. In the present article I will detail the steps and share the whole experience, so that the readers will have an example of how we tried to get involved to defend our rights.
With the help of Mihai’s coordination and other people, the documents to be filed in court were ready and standardized so that all members of the group could use them. On February 23, 2022 I filed at the Court of Appeal of Constanta the petition against the Romanian Government, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Education, asking for the annulment of GD 341/2022. The file can be accessed on this link:https://portal.just.ro/36/SitePages/Dosar.aspx?id_dosar=3600000000047865&id_inst=3
The first court date was set for 4 April 2022, where I went with a lot of emotions, but also with hope. We didn’t get to debate much at the first term, although I was hoping to finish it all, so two more terms of trial followed, with a final favorable outcome: on 30 May 2022 the court referred the case to the CCR! This first major step was achieved by most of us, in the case of each of the group the court had referred the case to the Court, as was the case with me.
After some time, in the summer of 2022, the Court registered files for each individual referral. After a few more months, the Court set a trial date on the same day for some of the cases: 29 June 2023! This was good news for us, it seemed that the end of the story was already in sight. On the morning of 29 June the members of the group, even some of those who had no deadline that day, gathered at the Constitutional Court. After some time of waiting, during which other cases were discussed, the time came to debate the unconstitutionality of OUG 8/2021.
After nervously listening to what my colleagues had to say, we all went outside and took a photo with all of us to celebrate the fact that the effort for us was over. Whatever the Court decides, we have finished the job, so we can only hope for a favorable outcome. For now, the Constitutional Court has postponed its ruling until 3 October, so I cannot speak about a solution at the moment. I will write more about this in the autumn, detailing what it means if this ordinance is qualified as unconstitutional.
Until then, regardless of the solution, I have chosen to describe this experience not to brag or stand out, but because I want to share an example to inspire others to step forward when they feel their rights are being curtailed.
The project is implemented by The Romanian Academic Society in partnership with the Act For Tomorrow Association and Vellenes Fellesorganisasjon and benefits from a 249.989 euros grant from Active Citizens Fund Romania, funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants Grants 2014 -2021. The content of this website does not necessarily reflect the official position of the EEA and Norway Grants 2014-2021; for more information, visit www.eeagrants.org. More details about Active Citizens Fund Romania are available at www.activecitizensfund.ro.