Romanian Court Administration Project Comes to Successful Conclusion

November 2007

For the last nine months, (January 1–September 30, 2007) the ABA Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) worked in Romania to improve the administration of civil courts. The project has come to a successful close.

The project, called “Improving the Institutional Framework of Family and Civil Litigation in Romania,” was carried out with the financial support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).  It included closed files research and discussions with judges from two pilot courts (Bucharest and Ploiesti), to determine what improvements to the court system might be initiated under the project.

It also involved judicial seminars to familiarize magistrates with project findings and the basic principles of case management. Two final working sessions with representatives of the Commission for the Revision of Civil Procedures, the Superior Council of Magistrates (SCM) and the National Institute for Magistrates (NIM) focused on the operational impacts of long-term reforms of both legal and policy frameworks. Nial Raaen, a U.S. expert in court management, presented principles of fact based research, issues related to the collection of court data, and implementation of technology in the court environment.