U.S. English Foundation Research

ROMANIA

Legislation

(Unofficial translation into English)

November 12, 2004, No. 500

The Parliament of Romania adopts the following Act:

Article 1

(1) Any text written or spoken in the Romanian language, being of public interest in the sense of Article 2, shall be correct in terms of terminology accuracy but also grammar, orthoepy and, as the case may be, punctuation and spelling according to the present academic standards.

(2) Any text written or spoken in a foreign language, regardless of length, being of public interest, shall be accompanied by its translation or adaptation in Romanian.

Article 2

In the sense of the present Act, a text of public interest is any text which, for the purpose of a service function, is posted, exposed, broadcasted or spoken in public places or by mass media with the aim of informing the public about a denomination, a piece of information or a message of a direct or indirect advertising character.

Article 3

TV broadcasting in foreign languages offered by Romanian channels or foreign TV broadcasting under Romanian audio-visual license shall be captioned in Romanian and, in case of urgency, recourse shall be made to simultaneous translation.

Article 4

Terms, instructions and other explanations in foreign languages, relevant for Romanian consumers and referring to foreign commercial products, shall be accompanied by translations in Romanian, according to the present legislation.

Article 5

Exceptions to the present Act:

a) registered brand names;

b) scientific, literary, artistic, cultural, and religious texts;

c) publications drafted partially or entirely in a foreign language, including those of national minorities;

d) satellite, ground or radioelectric broadcasting, relayed and transmitted by audio-visual cable service;

e) radio broadcasting in the languages of national minorities;

f) TV programs broadcasted live in the languages of national minorities;

g) religious, ethnographic and entertainment programs of the local and regional channels in the languages of national minorities;

h) special denominations and instructions regulated as such by present normative acts;

i) announcements resulting from cases regulated by normative acts and regarding individuals belonging to national minorities and their right to keep, develop and express their linguistic identity;

j) sports texts.

Article 6

In the case of texts of public interest written in a foreign language and posted in public places or broadcasted by the mass media, the complete translation in Romanian shall have characters of the same size as those in the foreign language and be integral part of the graphic design.

Article 7

(1) The provisions contained in the present Act shall come into effect within 30 days from its publication in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part 1.

(2) Within 30 days after the Act’s entry into force, all natural and legal persons who disseminate texts of public interest, written or recorded by the way of electronic audio-visual means, shall be obliged to abide by the present act.

Article 8

The Minister of Cultural and Religious Affairs shall establish, by decree, the necessary measures for implementing the requirements of the present Act within 30 days from its coming into effect.

Article 9

Any contrary provision shall be repealed once the present Act comes into effect.

This Act has been passed by the Parliament of Romania in accordance with Article 75 and 76 (section 2) of the rewritten Romanian Constitution.

President of the Chamber of Deputies

Valer Dorneanu

President of the Senate

Nicolae Vacaroiu

Source: Mercator Legislation, Bulletin No. 60, I Quarter 2005, http://www.ciemen.org/mercator/index-gb.htm

Top of page