Residential lease duration question of law referral inadmissible on procedural grounds

The High Court of Cassation and Justice (Înalta Curte de Casaţie şi Justiţie), sitting as a panel for the resolution of questions of law, dismissed as inadmissible the referral from the Timiş Tribunal seeking a preliminary ruling on the interpretation and application of the single article of Government Emergency Ordinance No. 44/2009, as approved by Law No. 309/2009, concerning the duration of residential lease contracts; the referral was rejected on procedural grounds, and no substantive ruling was given on the legal question, with the dismissal being binding under art. 521 para. (3) of the Civil Procedure Code. The case arose in litigation over the duration of a lease for housing premises, with the referring court questioning the legal rule governing lease terms, but the High Court found the referral failed to meet the statutory admissibility conditions for an advance ruling.