Alexandra OANŢĂ (NACU), Short Digression in the History Referring to the Control of Constitutionality in Romania

Alexandra OANŢĂ (NACU)
PhD candidate, Faculty of Law, University of Craiova;
E-mail: oanta.alexandra@yahoo.com

Abstract
This short excursion in the history of the control over the constitutionality of laws in Romania, shows us that, in the period prior to 1912, in Romania, there used to be an incipient and accidental form of control of constitutionality, exercised by the Court of Cassation. Between 1912 and 1923, it was exercised by the judges from all the courts, regardless their degree, while the Constitutions from 1923 and 1938 were stipulating that only the Court of Cassation and Justice, in joint sections, had the competence to judge the constitutionality of laws. The socialist constitutions stipulated the political control over the constitutionality of laws, exercised by the Grand National Assembly, and, in 1991, the Romanian constituent legislator implemented, for the first time in Romania, the institution of the control over the constitutionality of laws, exercised by an independent and specialised jurisdictional body, appointed by the Constitutional Court.

Keywords
control of constitutionality, law, court, Constitutional Court, competence.