"THE RIGHT OF ACCESS TO JUSTICE IN THE LIGHT OF THE LAW ON SOME MEASURES TO PREVENT AND COMBAT THE EFFECTS OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC"

Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic, among many other legislative changes, also led to the issuance of the Romanian Law on some measures to prevent and combat its effects. Law no. 55 of 15 May 2020 concerns the establishment during the state of alert of some measures in order to protect the rights to life, to physical integrity and to the protection of health, including by restricting the exercise of other fundamental rights and freedoms, and, in order to implement the measures provided by this law, the Government adopts decisions. The latter are normative administrative acts which enjoy a presumption of legality, so that, as long as the administrative act exists, it is presumed that it was issued in compliance with all the substantive and formal conditions provided by law, the obligation to comply with it being detached from that of compliance with the law. Therefore, the present study aims to highlight the legal regime of these normative administrative acts and the considerations of the Decision of the Romanian Constitutional Court no. 392 of 8 June 2021 precisely to illustrate the infringement of the right of access to justice, namely the absence of a regulation providing for a short-term procedure for the settlement of actions brought against the possible illegality of Government decisions issued under Law no. 55/2020, so that judgments can produce effective effects, that is while these administrative acts are applicable. Respect for the right of access to justice would also contribute to strengthening citizens’ confidence in the pertinence of measures taken to prevent and combat the effects of the current pandemic.