August 3, 1999

 

VIA OVERNIGHT DELIVERY

 

Philip Anderson, Esq.

President

American Bar Association

750 N. Lake Shore Drive

Chicago,  IL  60611

 

RE:     CEELI Award to Emil Constantinescu

            August 7, 1999

 

Dear Mr. Anderson:

           

On behalf of our nearly 2,000 members we write to express our dismay at ABA’s decision in awarding the CEELI award to Romania’s President, Emil Constatinescu.  Romania is the only country in East Europe that has not made a serious commitment to the principles of freedom and human rights.  This is (and has been, for nearly ten years) clearly illustrated in Romania’s refusal to acknowledge the rights to private property and the violation of those rights committed during the communist regime.  Unfortunately, those violations continue today under the Constantinescu presidency. This can be best seen in the enactment of Law No. 213 of November 24, 1998.  Article 6 reads as follows:

 

                       (1) Property belongs to the state, for public or private use, or to state agencies, and such property includes property obtained by the state in the period between March 6,1945 and December 22,1989,[1] provided that such property was obtained in accordance with valid title, the Constitution, any international treaties that Romania was a part of and in accordance with all laws in effect at the time the state took such property.

 

                       (2) Property confiscated or otherwise taken over by the state without valid title, including by forced consent, can be reclaimed by the owners or their heirs/successors, provided such property is not governed by other special laws of reparation.

 

                       (3) The Judiciary has jurisdiction to determine the validity of title to property.

 

President Constantinescu alone could have prevented the passing of this law which tries to place a patina of legality over the illegal acts of confiscation/nationalization committed by the communists.  Although the second paragraph of Article 6 appears to give some recovery rights, its language is deceiving.  First, it is acknowledged that property was taken under “forced consent.”  This implies that such property should be returned without further delay. Second, and more importantly, there are no means by which a wronged owner can reclaim its property.  Moreover, even owners who passed over incredible obstacles and obtained title to their real property, cannot enter in possession due to legislation “protecting” the illegal occupants.  Finally, the judiciary is a remnant of the communist system trained to serve the state and not the individual.  

 

We are aware of the ABA/CEELI’s efforts to reform the Romanian judiciary.  We welcome the opportunity to present you with more details regarding our efforts to ensure that property rights could become a reality in Romania.  We include a list of our members and the properties claimed.  Most of our members are American citizens and we believe that ABA’s commitment to justice would be served by ABA’s involvement and support of our cause. 

 

We would appreciate it if you would make this letter available to the ABA membership and present it to Mr. Constantinescu in connection with his appearance for the CEELI award.

 

 

Sincerely,

 

Mihai A. Vinatoru

President

 

 

Enclosure

 

 

cc: Mark Ellis, Esq.

      President

      ABA/CEELI

      740 15th Street, NW

      Washington, DC 20005-1022

 


[1] This period denotes the reign of the communist party in Romania.