The Successional Indignity in the New Romanian Civil Code (Law No. 287/2009): Conceptual Premises and Practical Perspectives

  • Mirela Carmen Dobrilă Lecturer PhD, Faculty of Law, University „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” Iaşi, România
Keywords: successional indignity, Law no. 287/2009, New Romanian Civil Code, Romanian succession law, the right to inherit, de jure and judicial indignity

Abstract

The new Romanian Civil Code changes the previous perspective of the institution of successional indignity, which was applicable, as a requirements in order to be able to inherit, only in cases of intestacy (ab intestat succession). In the New Civil Code (articles 958-961), successional indignity becomes a general condition for inheritance, applicable to both in cases of intestacy as well as in cases of succession by will. The institution of indignity has the effect of depriving the successor of the right to receive a determined succession belonging to a person to whom he has become undignified by committing serious actions, as limited by the legal norm.
The article analyzes the particularities of the successional indignity and the New Civil Code unitary regulation of the indignity pertaining to legal heirs, and that applicable to successors by will. The article analyzes both the particularities of de jure indignity (ope legis, Article 958 of the New Civil Code) and the particularities of the judicial indignity, declared by the court of law (Article 959 of the New Civil Code), as well as the effects of inheritance. The article analyzes the possibility of removing the effects of indignity and the conditions for pardoning the undignified heir, with new implications regulated in Article 961 of the New Civil Code.

References

Law no. 287/2009 on New Civil Code, published in the Official Gazette of Romania no. 511 of 24 July 2009, as amended by Law no. 71/2011 and rectified in the Official Gazette of Romania no. 427 of 17 June 2011 and in the Official Gazette of Romania no. 489 of 8 July 2011. Law no. 287/2009 published in the Official Gazette of Romania no. 505 of 15 July 2011 (pursuant to Article 218 of Law no. 71/2011 for the enforcement of Law no. 287/2009 on Civil Code, published in the Official Gazette of Romania no. 409 of 10 June 2011) and rectified in the Official Gazette of Romania no. 246 of 29 April 2013.

Decision No. 530/2005 of the Constitutional Court published in the Official Gazette of Romania no. 1040 of 23 november 2005.

Law no. 71 of 3 June 2011 for the implementation of the New Civil Code - Law no. 287/2009 on the New Civil Code, published in the Official Gazette no. 409 of 10 June 2011

Malaurie P, Aynés L. Les Successions, Les Libéralités. 4e édition. Paris: Defrénois; 2008. p. 45-47.

Macovei C, Dobrilă MC. Condiţiile generale ale dreptului de a moşteni. In: Baias FA., Chelaru E, Constantinovici R, Macovei I, eds. Noul Cod civil. Comentariu pe articole. Bucharest: Publisher C.H. Beck; 2012. p. 1073-1081.

Terré F., Lequette Y. Droit civil. Les successions. Les libéralités. 3rd Edition. Paris: Dalloz; 1997. p. 44-52.

Murariu S. Nedemnitatea succesorală raportată la infracţiunea de ucidere la cererea victimei [Internet]. 2015. Available from: https://www.juridice.ro/396336/nedemnitatea-succesorala-raportata-la-infractiunea-de-ucidere-la-cererea-victimei.html.

The European Court of Human Rights. Velcea and Mazăre v. Romania, no. 64301/01, from 01.12.2009, def. at 01.03.2010. Official Gazette of Romania no. 373 of 07/06/2010. Available at: www.scj.ro.

Bob MD. Probleme de moșteniri în vechiul și în Noul Cod civil. Bucharest: Universul Juridic; 2012. p. 101-112.

Court of Sighişoara. Civil sentence no. 416/2019. Available at: www.rolii.ro.

Deak F. Tratat de drept succesoral. 2nd edition. Bucharest: Universul Juridic; 2002. p. 59-73.

Court of Constanţa. Civil sentence no. 389/2019.

Dobrilă MC. Iertarea nedemnului: expresă, tacită sau recunoaşterea unui drept de a culege legatul lăsat de către testator printr-un testament întocmit după săvârşirea faptei de nedemnitate succesorală?. Journal Dreptul. 2018; 63-73.

Macovei C, Dobrilă MC. The New Institution of Indignity in Romanian Inheritance Law. In Sandu A, Caras A, eds. International Scientific Conference Tradition and Reform. Social Reconstruction of Europe, 2013. Bologna, Italy: MEDIMOND International Proceedings- Monduzzi Editore International Proceedings Division. 2013. 233-236.

Published
2019-10-08
How to Cite
Dobrilă, M. C. (2019). The Successional Indignity in the New Romanian Civil Code (Law No. 287/2009): Conceptual Premises and Practical Perspectives. LUMEN Proceedings, 9, 74-81. https://doi.org/10.18662/lumproc.155