DOI: 10.24193/tras.SI2020.8 Published First Online: 11/23/2020 RULE OF LAW IN TOUGH TIMES – A CASE STUDY ON THE ROMANIAN SANCTIONING POLICY DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC Laura ȘTEFAN Cezara GRAMA Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic was a genuine stress Laura ȘTEFAN test for societies around the globe. Societal values Executive director, Expert Forum Association, were put under public scrutiny, while fear reigned Bucharest, Romania supreme allowing large margins of maneuver for PhD candidate, Doctoral School of Administration governments in taking restrictive measures prom- and Public Policy, Faculty of Political, Administrative ising at least to win some time for health systems to adapt to the new challenges. Along with health and Communication Sciences, systems governments, judicial systems and so- Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania cieties at large had to change the way they func- Tel.: 0040-21-211.7400 tion to face the pandemic. In this paper we will E-mail:
[email protected] present a case study on Romania and the usage of sanctioning mechanisms by the Police and Cezara GRAMA Gendarmerie during the state of emergency, March Legal counsellor, Expert Forum Association, 16–May 14, 2020. We will explore the challenges Bucharest, Romania regarding the adoption of a sound legal basis for restrictive measures in line with the constitutional Tel.: 0040-21-211.7400 provision and the actual implementation of these E-mail:
[email protected] restrictions with a focus on the performance of two enforcement institutions – the Romanian Police and the Gendarmerie – in this process. In times of crisis, or particularly in times of crisis when the government enjoys even more pow- er than usual, the governmental action must be transparent to build trust and ensure that abuses do not happen.