Romania/political Structure

POLITICAL STRUCTURE

Romania is a democratic republic where administrative functions are shared between the president and the prime minister. The president is elected by popular vote, and resides at Cotroceni Palace. After the constitutional amendment which was in the 2003, the president's term is on one year longer, five years , when before was only 4 years. The prime minister is a head of the Romanian Government, which is based at Victoria Palace. The prime minister assigns the other members of his or her cabinet and he is, most of the time, the head of the party or coalition that holds a majority in the parliament. However, if none of the parties hold 50% + 1 of the total seats in parliament, the president will assign the prime minister.

LEGAL SYSTEM

The parliament is the legislative part of the government, which consists of two parties вЂ" the Senate, which has 137 members, and the Chamber of Deputies which has 332 members. The members of both chambers are elected every four years under a system of party-list proportional representation.

The justice system is independent and is made up of a hierarchical system of courts culminating in the High Court of Cassation and Justice, which is the supreme court of Romania.

There are also courts of appeal, county courts and local courts. The whole Romanian judicial system is strongly influenced by the French model, considering that it is based on civil law and is inquisitorial in nature.

The Constitutional Court is responsible for judging the compliance of laws and other state regulations to the Romanian Constitution, which is the fundamental law of the country. The constitution, which was introduced in 1991, can only be amended by a public referendum; the last amendment was in 2003. The Romanian Constitutional Court structure is based on the Constitutional Council of France being made up of nine judges who serve nine-year, non-renewable terms. Following the 2003 constitutional amendment, the court's decisions cannot be overruled by any majority of the parliament.

The country's entry into the European Union in 2007 has been a significant influence on its domestic policy. As part of the process, Romania has instituted reforms including judicial reform, increased judicial cooperation with other member states, and measures to combat corruption.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romania#Politics