First instance body dealing with electoral disputes
Romania
Art. 32. (1) The electoralbureau of constituency shall acknowledge a candidature within 24 hours of itsfiling, by decision, which may be contested by the citizens entitled to vote,political parties, political alliances, electoral alliances and organizationsof citizens belonging to national minorities, within 48 hours of the display ofthe acknowledgement decision.
(2)The electoral bureau of constituency shall reject a candidature within 24 hoursof its filing, by decision, which may be contested by the candidate or by theelectoral competitors who put forward the respective candidature, within 48hours of the display of the rejection decision.
(21) Theelectoral bureaux of constituency shall draw up minutes which mention the dateand the time for displaying the decision of acceptance, or if the case may be,of rejection of the candidature.
(22) Thecandidatures put forward to several uninominal colleges, or for both offices ofdeputy and senator shall be null and void, except for the ones provided for inarticle 9 (11). Nullity shall be found by decision of the Central ElectoralBureau.
(3) The contestations shallinclude the full name, the address and quality of the person making thecontestation, the full name of the person whose candidature was accepted orrejected, explanation of the grounds of the claim, the date, and the signatureof the person making the contestation, and the indication, if need be, of theperson designated to represent this petitioner.
(4) The contestation andthe appeal shall be made to the competent court, under the sanction of nullity.
(5) The contestationsregarding the acceptance or rejection of the candidatures shall be settledwithin 48 hours of theregistration, by the tribunal under the jurisdiction of which the constituencyfalls. The contestations against the candidatures for the constituencyfor the Romanians with the domicile outside Romania shall be settled by theTribunal of Bucharest. The sentence shall be visibly posted at the seat of thecourt having pronounced it.
(6) They may appeal thesentence pronounced for the contestation within 24 hours of the pronouncement,to the hierarchically superior court. The appeal shall be settled within 24hours of the registration.
(7) The sentence pronouncedin the appeal shall be final and irrevocable.
LAWNo. 35 of13 March 2008 for the electionto the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate and for the amendment?and completionof Law No. 67/2004 for the election of local public administrationauthorities,?of Law No. 215/2001 on the local public administration, and of LawNo. 393/2004?on the Statute of local electees, Publishedin OJ No. 196 of 13 March 2008
?All BEC decisionsregarding the registration of candidates can be contested or appealed to thetribunal in the respective county?.
OSCE/ODIHR Election ExpertTeam Final Report, Parliamentary Elections 9 December, 2012 Romania, Warsaw 16January, 2103 http://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/98757
Additional information: There are additional provisions for alliances: Art. 91. ? (1) Political parties, political alliances and organizations of citizens belonging to national minorities may associate between themselves only at national level, based on a protocol, forming an electoral alliance, with a view to participating in the election to the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. A political party, a political alliance or an organisation of citizens belonging to national minorities may only belong to a single electoral alliance. The electoral alliance that has participated in the previous elections under a certain name may keep this name only if it has not changed its initial structure. Also, the respective name may not be used by another alliance.
(2) The protocol for setting up the electoral alliance shall be submitted to the Central Electoral Bureau within 48 hours of its setting up.
(3) The Central Electoral Bureau shall pronounce in open meeting on the approval or rejection of the protocol for setting up the electoral alliance, within 24 hours of its submission.
(4) The decision of the Central Electoral Bureau approving the protocol for setting up the electoral alliance may be appealed by any interested natural or legal person to the High Court of Cassation and Justice, within 24 hours of its pronouncement.
(6) The High Court of Cassation and Justice shall pronounce on the contestations stipulated in articles (4) and (5) within 24 hours of the registration of the contestation, byfinal and irrevocable decision.
(7) The other provisions of the present law referring to the political alliances shall also be applied accordingly to the electoral alliances.
Article 91.
(4) The decision of the Central Electoral Bureau approving the protocol for setting up the electoral alliance may be appealed by any interested natural or legal person to the High Court of Cassation and Justice, within 24 hours of its pronouncement.
