Court deadline calculator (Romania)

How is a time limit counted in clear days?

Under Codul de procedură civilă (the Code of Civil Procedure), procedural time limits set in days are counted in clear days: neither the day the time limit starts to run nor the day it ends is counted (art. 181 alin. (1) pct. 2). The rule is identical in criminal proceedings, under art. 269 alin. (2) Codul de procedură penală (the Code of Criminal Procedure).

A concrete example: a civil judgment is served on Monday, 1 June 2026, and the time limit for an appeal in civil cases is 30 days. 1 June is not counted, then the 30 days run, and the day the time limit ends is not counted either. The last day on which the appeal can validly be filed is therefore Thursday, 2 July 2026, that is the date of service plus 31 calendar days. An appeal filed on 3 July would be out of time. In criminal cases the counting works the same way, but the time limit for an appeal is only 10 days (art. 410 Codul de procedură penală).

Time limits in months or years are counted differently: they end on the corresponding day of the last month (art. 181 alin. (1) pct. 3 Codul de procedură civilă, art. 269 alin. (3) Codul de procedură penală). A one-month time limit that runs from 15 March ends on 15 April. If the last month has no corresponding day, the time limit ends on the last day of that month: one month from 31 January 2026 means 28 February 2026, and since that is a Saturday, the act can validly be filed until Monday, 2 March 2026.

What happens if the time limit ends on a non-working day?

When the last day of the time limit falls on a non-working day, a Saturday, a Sunday or a public holiday, the deadline moves to the next working day (art. 181 alin. (2) Codul de procedură civilă, art. 269 alin. (4) Codul de procedură penală). The move works as a chain: a time limit that ends on Friday, 25 December 2026, Christmas Day, moves past the second day of Christmas and past the weekend, to Monday, 28 December 2026.

The calculator above takes into account all the public holidays listed in art. 139 Codul muncii (the Labour Code), including those with a variable date: Orthodox Good Friday, Orthodox Easter and Orthodox Pentecost (Rusalii) are calculated automatically for each year.

Does the court vacation suspend time limits?

No. During the court vacation, usually between 1 July and 31 August, courts hear only certain urgent cases, but procedural time limits keep running without interruption. If a judgment is served in June and the appeal time limit ends in August, it expires in August. It is a common and costly mistake in practice, because missing the time limit leads to forfeiture and the act done after it is void (art. 185 Codul de procedură civilă).

When does the time limit for an appeal expire?

In civil cases, an appeal is filed within 30 days of service of the judgment, unless the law provides otherwise (art. 468 alin. (1) Codul de procedură civilă), and a second appeal (recurs) also within 30 days of service (art. 485 alin. (1) Codul de procedură civilă). There are, however, many shorter special time limits: for interim injunctions (ordonanță președințială), for eviction or in employment disputes. In criminal cases, the time limit for an appeal is only 10 days (art. 410 alin. (1) Codul de procedură penală). The 15-day time limit to challenge a traffic fine has its own traffic fine calculator.

Just as important is the moment from which the time limit starts to run. As a rule it runs from service, but in some procedures it runs from the delivery of the judgment or from another moment expressly set by law. The calculator assumes that the time limit runs from service, so it is worth checking together the correct starting point in your procedure. If you need an appeal looked at, the pages on my civil law (Romanian) and criminal law (Romanian) services can help, or you can contact me directly.