The following information is provided in a translation of a 9 July 2001 letter from a Senior Legal Counsel of the Romania's Ministry of National Defence. The Romanian version was received from the Office of the Defence, Military and Air Attaché at the Embassy of Romania, in Ottawa.

In respect to "recall to military duty or obligations of reserve personnel", there are two aspects regulated by different parts of Romanian legislation, as follows:

a) we assume that "recall to military duty" means "recall to active duty of members of the reserve forces". This point is regulated by Act 80/1995 regarding the status of armed forces staff and entails fulfilment of certain conditions respecting:

- freely expressed consent of the reserve member;

- the recruiting requirements of the Ministry of National Defence;

- the age of the applicant;

- his health status;

- his studies and specialization.

b) In respect to "obligations of reserve personnel", these are stipulated in Act 46/1996 governing preparation of the population for defence and mainly refer to the following: response to the recall order at the day, time and place stipulated; contacting the military record office for inclusion on or removal from record, change of address, loss of military I. D. or the recall orders, travel abroad; informing the military centre of any absence from home exceeding 45 days or changes in employment, studies, qualifications, marital status, health status, or name change.

According to Art. 30 of the above-mentioned Act, military officers, NCO's and privates are called to duty for training and in order to complement the number of armed forces personnel. The duration of a callup for training shall not exceed 45 days and the intervals are specified and included in the recall order and communicated through the mass media.

Callups to complement the number of armed forces personnel are made in crisis situations (state of emergency, siege or call to arms) as well as in cases of disaster or severe disruption of sectors of the economy. The duration of the mobilization depends on the situation and it is communicated in the same way as callups for training.

Sanctions for those who do not respond to a call to armed-forces duty may include those applied to minor violations (fines) as well as those for greater offences, depending on the degree of danger of the offence to society, whether it be non-response to callup, intention, type of callup, situation that generated the callup, etc.

It is our opinion that a causal relationship cannot be established between reduction of military personnel and callup for training (recall for reserve duty). Reduction in military personnel is related to the carrying out of reforms in the armed forces, and callups for training depend on the financial status of the armed forces, the acquisition of new equipment and other aspects considered in military training.

In a 16 June 2001 correspondence, the Secretary General of the Cluj Napoca-based Coalition for Alternative Civil Service, Romania, referred the Research Directorate to Articles 29 and 77 of the Law on Defence Training of the Population of 1996. A translation of this law is attached to ROM33365.E of 24 December 1999, which is available in Regional Documentation Centres.

No further information on whether recalls for reserve duty are still being enforced despite cutbacks in military personnel could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Coalition for Alternative Civil Service, Cluj Napoca, Romania. 16 June 2001. Correspondence with Secretary General.

Romania. Ministry of National Defence, Bucharest. 9 July 2001. Letter from a Senior Legal Counsel. [Public Works and Government Services Canada. Certified True Translation]

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB Databases

LEXIS/NEXIS

Internet sources including:

European Bureau for Conscientious Objectors (EBCO)

World News Connection (WNC)