Part I

This article aims to analyze the influence of the Constitutional Court’s decisions resolving legal conflicts of a constitutional nature [Art. 146(e) of the Constitution] on the relationships between public authorities. The new authority of the Constitutional Court, introduced with the 2003 constitutional amendment, increases the Court’s influence. The impact of the Court’s decisions is all the greater given that relations between public authorities evolve within the limits set by a constitution characterized by rigid amendment procedures and ambiguous provisions regarding the distribution of powers among the President, the Government, Parliament, and the judiciary. The semi-presidential system of government provided for by the Romanian Constitution inherently contains the potential for conflict between the executive and the legislature, which manifests itself fully in certain political contexts. Furthermore, conflicts—regardless of their nature—between the head of state, the prime minister, members of the Government, and the Romanian Parliament stem from the logic of the political struggle for power and are determined by the prevailing political circumstances at any given time. Through the Constitutional Court’s general and binding decisions resolving legal conflicts of a constitutional nature, a series of new formal powers have been established for public authorities, rather than clarifying and/or interpreting those already provided for in the constitutional text. Several aspects are essential to our analysis. First, these new rules, which are binding erga omnes, arise from a conflict inter partes. Second, the manner in which this new authority was exercised, its utility and effectiveness, the new rules imposed as a result of the Court’s binding decisions, and the political-legal nature of the conflicts brought before the Court have led to a series of changes in the constitutional order. These changes have altered the relationships within the system of checks and balances. Finally, we will examine to what extent these decisions may or may not be subject to valid criticism, but, above all, whether they can lead to abuses and dysfunctions within the constitutional order.

Keywords: constitutional legal conflict, constitutional relationships among state authorities, the role of the Constitutional Court, political conflict, legal conflict, interpretation of the Constitution