Relevance of claim value for appeal admissibility in consumer law disputes under Law No. 77/2016

The High Court of Cassation and Justice rejected as inadmissible a referral for a preliminary ruling submitted by the Oradea Court of Appeal, resulting in no substantive legal determination on the merits and leaving the procedural dispute unresolved at this level. The case involved a civil dispute concerning the admissibility of an appeal in actions based on the Consumer Law, specifically addressing whether the statutory value of the claim (criteriul evaluabil în bani) is relevant for assessing the right to lodge an appeal under Law No. 77/2016, Article 8. The decision was grounded exclusively in the procedural requirements for referrals under Article 521(3) of the Code of Civil Procedure, which mandates that such referrals be obligatory and meet specific criteria for the Supreme Court to intervene in the unification of case law.