1 THE COURT CLERK PROFESSION In the accomplishment of the act of justice, the work of the court clerks is a real

support for magistrates, their competence and the correct fulfilment of their tasks playing an important role in the proper carrying out of the entire activity of law courts. The Romanian court clerk draws up many procedural documents, contributing materially to the prompt solving of the cases judged by law courts, but he/she is also a person the public comes into contact with, which is important for the creation of the justice image. Relevant legislation/regulation Until recently, there was a summary regulation regarding the court clerk office, which was not in line with the importance of its role in the justice rendering process and which did not constitute a status of the Romanian court clerk. Thus, the Law no. 92/1992 for the judicial organisation included only a few general provisions regarding the activity of the court clerk and the other specialised auxiliary personnel employed by law courts and prosecutors offices. These duties were detailed within the framework of Interior Regulations of Courts and prosecutors offices. The same law included a few provisions regarding the rights and obligations of the specialised auxiliary personnel, without any differentiation of the personnel categories as far as their specialisation is concerned, only stating that they benefit from all the rights granted by the applicable legislation to employees in budgetary units, as well as free medical care. The appointment of a court clerk was made by the chairman of the court of appeal or by the general prosecutor of the prosecutors office under the court of appeal in the circumscription of which the court clerk was to carry out his/her activity, except for judiciary executors and chief accountants, who were appointed by order of the ministry of justice. The specialised auxiliary personnel was instructed and trained according to the regulation approved by the ministry of justice, and until 1 December 2000 there was no school providing training for such personnel.

2 In the context of the justice reform undertaken in Romania, and the more and more substantial changes made in the field in Europe, the enhancement of the role of court clerks in the activity of the law courts became a necessity and a solution to improve the quality of the judicial act and to avoid the overburdening of judges. Thus, the need appeared to create a statute of the court clerk, which would regulate all the aspects related to the exercise of this profession. Currently, the court clerk profession is regulated by the Law no. 567/2004 regarding the status of the auxiliary personnel working in law courts and prosecutors offices, as further amended, and the Law no. 304/2004 regarding the judicial organisation, the provisions of which were detailed by the rules and regulations of the law courts and prosecutors offices functioning under such courts. Pursuant to the provisions of the Law no. 567/2004, as further amended, the auxiliary personnel working in law courts and prosecutors offices is made of: (session) court clerks; statistician court clerks; documentary court clerks; archivist court clerks; record keeping court clerks IT specialist. Concurrently, the body of court clerks is made of clerks with higher legal education and clerks with high-school education. Court clerks attributions According to the present legislation, the court clerk in Romanian law courts has many competences, both in file management and the carrying out of trial sessions, and in the auxiliary departments of a law court. The most important attributions of the session court clerk are: a) participates in trial sessions;

3 b) draws up the concepts for the summoning of the parties in trial; c) draws up procedural documents ordered by the trial panel; d) fills in the dockets and delivers mail for dispatch purposes; e) fills in the book of the trial sessions, where the briefs examined during that session are entered, in the same order as in the case list, with the following observations: current issue, name or denomination of parties, file number and object; the hearings, indicating the reasons for staying of hearings; in the event of staying of proceedings, it will be mentioned the date of this; f) serves the court decisions within the legal term; g) types the court decisions and other materials given by court administrators; h) transcribes the audio records or the stenographies of the trial sessions, under the law. Court clerks who carry out their activity in prosecutors offices have the following main responsibilities: a) within the registry department, registers the letters addressed to the prosecutors office, the notifications regarding criminal acts and other complaints, claims, notifications and memos of citizens; b) registers, delivers or dispatches works according to the resolution, after making the remarks of subtraction and closure of the positions; c) types procedural and processual documents, as well as the solutions ordered in the brief, regarding the sending or non-sending to trial; d) any other activities completing the activity carried out by the prosecutor (summons etc.). The Law no. 567/2004 regarding the status of the auxiliary personnel working in law courts and prosecutors offices is the first regulatory document regarding the status of the court clerk in Romania.

4 The aim of this law is to create a model of status of the court clerk in keeping with the European standards regarding the exercise of this profession, to avoid the overburdening of judges by passing certain duties from judges to court clerks, and to improve the image of justice and to increase its efficiency by the revaluation of the court clerks activity. The Law no. 567/2004 was amended by the Law no. 17/2006 and by the Emergency Government Ordinance no. 100/2007 for the amendment and supplementing of some regulatory documents in the field of justice, by Emergency Government Ordinance no 195/2008 for the amendment and supplementing of some regulatory documents in the field of justice and by Law no 263/2010 regarding the unified public pension system. Court clerks recruitment Court clerks are usually recruited through the National School of Clerks, set up by the Government decision no. 425/1999, under the name Training Centre for Court Clerks and the Other Specialised Auxiliary Personnel, which started functioning at the end of the year 2000, the name of National School of Court Clerks which it currently bears being conferred to it in 2004, by the above-mentioned law. As NSC does not have the capacity to train enough new court clerks, the law allows the organisation of contests for the direct occupation of the vacant court clerk offices, contests organised by courts of appeal or the prosecutors offices under the courts of appeal, or by the High Court of Cassation and Justice or its prosecutors office, but only if the carrying out of the activity is seriously affected by the large number of vacant offices. A person who fulfils the following requirements can be appointed as a court clerk: is a Romanian citizen, has the domicile in Romania and full exercise capacity; does not have a criminal record, no tax record and a good reputation; speaks Romanian; is medically able to hold the office; has higher legal education or high-school education, PC or typing skills; graduated National School of Clerks.

5 Prior to starting exercising their function, the specialised auxiliary personnel take an oath before the head of the law court or the prosecutors office where they are appointed. The specialised auxiliary personnel of the law courts and prosecutors offices hired for the first time after graduating their studies, except for the graduates who obtained at the final examinations an average grade of at least 7, are considered beginners for a period of 6 months, being permanently appointed as holder of the office based on an examination. The failure to pass the examination entails the dismissal of the candidate as being professionally non-qualified. The promotion of court clerks to executive offices The promotion of court clerks to executive offices is made by contest or examination, to the immediately superior position. The promotion to management positions first court clerk, court clerk in chief, court clerk department head or chief computer specialist competition is performed through professional training and managerial skills verification contest. The contest is organized by the courts of appeal, the prosecutors offices under the courts of appeal, or by the High Court of Cassation and Justice or its prosecutors office or by National Anticorruption Direction, according to the regulation approved by Superior Council of Magistracy, taking into account the following criteria: a length of service as court clerk of at least 3 years, respectively IT clerk. A length of service as court clerk of at least 6 months is required for the clerks with higher legal education; exceptional professional activity, assessed with very well for the last 3 years, respectively for the last 6 months; First registrars and chief registrars hold their office for 5 years, with the possibility of reappointment just one time, by decision of the chairman of the court of appeal or the general prosecutor of the public prosecutors office under the respective court. The suspension of the specialised auxiliary personnel The suspension of the specialised auxiliary personnel can be ordered in the following circumstances: when a criminal action was initiated against them;

6 when he/she has a psychical disorder that prevents him/her to exercise her duties properly; in case of serious misconduct, for the duration of the preliminary investigations. The removal of the specialised auxiliary personnel The removal of the specialised auxiliary personnel can be ordered in the following circumstances: resignation; retirement, according to the law; the acknowledgement of a lack of adequate vocational training or, as the case may be, the improper performance of the duties specific to the management position; the failure to fulfil any of the requirements for the appointment; as a disciplinary sanction; final conviction for committing a criminal offence. Court clerks can be delegated or seconded under the law. The specialised auxiliary personnel rights The main rights of the Romanian specialised auxiliary personnel are: the right to receive a wage according to their position and the level of the court or prosecutors office where they carry out their activity; the right of association into trade unions or professional organisations; the right to strike; the right to improve their vocational training on a continuous basis; the right to an annual vacation of 30 working days; the right to unpaid leaves, for studies or other events, as well as to sick leaves, according to the law; free medical care, drugs and prostheses for the clerk and his/her family, with the observance of the legal provisions regarding the payment of the contribution to health insurances; the right to an allocation of home service if the clerk, his wife/her husband or the dependent children, dont benefit from personal property home in the city

7 where he/she is carring out his/her activities or if a home was not assigend to him/her by local public administration authorities; if a home service was not assigend to the clerk, the right to receive a compensation of the difference between the rent due, according to the law, for a home service and a rent payable under a lease, according to the law. This right is non-wage and it is not taxable. The compensation is not paid if the clerk ends lease with grade 1 or 2 relatives. In exceptional circumstances determined by the inexistence of an adequate housing fund in the city where the clerk is carring out his activities, the lease may cover a house located in another city in the same district court. The right to reimbursement of travel expenses incurred between the area where the clerk has his domicile or residence and the city where the headquarters unit, for the specialised auxiliary personnel within courts and prosecutors offices who doesnt benefit from personal property home or a service home or doesnt receive compensation for rent. If the travel is by car, the clerk benefits from the settlement value of 7.5 liters fuel per hundred kilometers, for the period he actually worked . the right to a pension, under the law; the right of the specialised auxiliary personnel with a continuous length of service in the judiciary system of 25 years before retirement or removal for reasons not imputable to them to benefit from an indemnity equal to three gross base monthly salaries, subject to taxation under the law; the right of the court clerks with higher legal education to have their years of study considered as length of service in the judicial field; the right to obtain distinctions, according to the law; the right to be provided, for free, a dress which is appropriate for the court of law or the prosecutors office where they carry out their activity. The court clerks duties The court clerks duties are also specified in the Law no. 567/2004. The main responsibilities of the court clerks are: to perform their duties with professionalism, impartiality and promptness;

8 to observe the incompatibility of their office with any other public or private offices, except for teaching positions; to observe the interdiction to carry out trading activities, directly or indirectly; to observe the interdiction to carry out arbitration activities in civil, commercial or other disputes; to observe the interdiction to become a shareholder or member of a managing board or control body in any civil society, company etc. to observe the interdiction to be a member of a group of economic interests; to keep the professional secret; to observe the working hours and to perform their tasks in due time; to submit, according to the legal provisions, the fortune statement and the interest statement. The specialised auxiliary personnel of law courts and prosecutors offices are liable from disciplinary, administrative and criminal point of view, as the case may be, under the law. Currently, the reform of the Romanian justice aims to transfer new duties, particularly administrative ones, from the judge to the court clerk, so that the judge can be the person who only speaks the law, i.e. solves the cases deferred to justice. The Superior Council of Magistracy initiated a pilot programme in this respect, by creating, as an experiment for now, trial panels made of a judge and two court clerks, one with higher legal education and the other one with high-school education, the duties being divided among them as shown above. Following this experiment, the legislation is to be amended so as to create a legislative framework required for the performing of the said competence transfer. Of course, we must not ignore the fact that such an evolution requires a major increase of the number of court clerks and their adequate training.