Parts I–II

Following the 2003 constitutional amendment, special administrative courts are optional and free of charge in Romania. According to Law No. 187/1999 on its organization and operation, the National Council for the Study of the Securitate Archives (CNSAS) had a number of jurisdictional powers that were declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court in Decision No. 51/2008. In this Decision, the Court held that the jurisdiction exercised by the CNSAS is an extraordinary jurisdiction and does not fall within the special administrative jurisdictions provided for by the Constitution. This extraordinary nature of its jurisdiction stems from the confusion between its investigative, adjudicative, and appellate functions regarding appeals against its own decisions; the lack of adversarial proceedings and public hearings; the limitation of the right to defense for those under investigation; the discretion in the administration and evaluation of evidence; and the ability to issue, in the same cases, new verdicts that contradict those upheld by final court decisions.

This article analyzes special administrative jurisdictions from the perspective of the Constitutional Court’s case law, with a particular focus on the Decision regarding the constitutionality of the powers of the CNSAS as provided for by Law No. 187/1999.