Issues of Restitution in Post-Communist Romania (Research Brief)

My research focused on legal, political and sociological controversies regarding the implementation of Law 221/2009 concerning Politically Motivated Court Sentences and Their Related Administrative Measures during the period 6 March 1945 – 22 December 1989 that was passed by the Romanian legislature in 2009. I examined the logistical difficulties deriving from the three-year statute of limitations encountered by claimants in obtaining the necessary documentation from the National Council for the Study of Securitate Archives (the communist secret police) in order to benefit from the provisions of the law. Moreover, the outcome of Law 221/ 2009 is still uncertain. In the fall of this year, the legislature has to address the Supreme Court’s recent decision declaring unconstitutional that part of the law that provides material compensation for moral suffering. During my stay in Bucharest, Romania, I conducted interviews with potential beneficiaries of this law, representatives of the Association of Former Political Prisoners, employees from the National Council for the Study of Securitate Archives (CNSAS) and legal experts representing the judicial committee of the parliament. I also consulted archival documents that provide insight into the repression during the communist regime as well as court files concerning Law 221 decisions at the Supreme Court in Bucharest. Based on these interviews and primary sources, I drew some conclusions concerning the country’s coming to terms with the past and especially with the current status of restitution policies and results.

Monica Ciobanu, of the Plattsburg State University of New York, was a 2011-12  Short-Term Travel Grants (STG) fellow.