The emotions at the beginning of college are charged with excitement, but also with a state of confusion. On the one hand, you are excited by the idea that you’ll be a Law student for the next four years and that you’ll get to know your colleagues with whom you’ll sit in the lecture halls to study. On the other hand, you feel lost among so many new notions and subjects whose content you do not understand, and legal expressions overwhelm you.

Amidst all this, constitutional law comes as a breath of fresh air, a breathing exercise in stressful times. You suddenly remember the lessons about fundamental rights that you learned in middle school and you have a feeling that you’ll finally understand the political discussions. This subject works with ideas that anyone can understand, the lessons are an effective opportunity to spark debates, and today we’re going to introduce the main things you learn in constitutional law.

On the constitution and on the activity of the Constitutional Court of Romania

As it is clear from the title of the subject, the Constitution is the epicenter of constitutional law, the fundamental law of a state and the guarantor of justice. In the courses and seminars of this discipline, you will always put the Constitution of Romania on the bench, which you will rely on in solving cases and other legal problems. Any law that enters into force in the Romanian state must be in accordance with this document, short in number of pages if we were to compare it with other didactic materials from Law, but extremely important for the smooth development of the entire legislative process.

You’ll have the opportunity to study how the idea of such a law appeared in people’s minds, but also how it is adopted or modified, you’ll acquire concepts regarding the constitutional principles and how they guide the implementation of the normative system.

At the same time, you’ll discover that one of the valuable institutions of the Romanian state is the Constitutional Court of Romania, a jurisdictional authority that ensures compliance with the rules and principles of the fundamental law, among its attributions being the provision of advisory opinions on various state problems and the decision on the exceptions of unconstitutionality.

You will learn, however, that there doesn’t need to be a constitution in a state for constitutional law to exist because it is a branch of public law that encompasses a wide range of norms and activities.

Notions about the unfolding of the system of state powers

Another reason to be grateful for the existence of constitutional law is the fact that you’ll study about the principle of the hierarchy of normative acts in a state, respectively about Hans Kelsen’s pyramid, which will also be useful to you in other subjects such as civil law. You’ll learn about the procedure by which a law is adopted or implemented in Romania, about the separation of powers in the state, but also how they collaborate.

The concept of citizenship and its significance

A large part of the subject matter of constitutional law focuses on citizenship, the condition of its legal nature and its application in Romania. During the lessons, you’ll be explained the procedures for acquiring or even losing citizenship and the reasons why it is so valuable to enshrine it in the Constitution.

And, finally, about the fundamental rights and obligations

Summing up an entire Title in the Constitution entitled Fundamental rights, freedoms and duties, which includes no less than 46 articles, this chapter of constitutional law clarifies the questions students have regarding the benefits of a citizen, but also those related to the obligations of a person. You’ll learn the types of classification and about the generations of rights and why they are so important, their magnitude being much more complex than what would be understood only from their statement in the law.

The value of this entire chapter is to discover what the state offers you, but also the limits of rights and freedoms.

In conclusion, constitutional law is an exceptional discipline, which will both enrich your knowledge of general culture, but which will also be a reliable support for you in the coming years of college, using the concepts studied in the framework of learning other branches of law.

Păduraru Constantina

Legal Intern R&R Partners Bucharest

If you would like to address more questions or if you need a legal consultation, you can contact us at office@rrpb.ro or by accessing our site www.rrpb.ro for more information.