The Romanian Association of Constitutional Law, in partnership with the Centre for Constitutional Law and Political Institutions (CDCIP) of the University of Bucharest Faculty of Law and with CEREFREA Villa Noël (Centre Régional Francophone d’Études Avancées en Sciences Sociales, University of Bucharest), is holding the 27th edition of its Annual Roundtable on Friday, 25 September 2026, under the theme “Democracy and Demagoguery: Contemporary Challenges to Constitutionalism”.
The event takes place at CEREFREA Villa Noël (6 Émile Zola Street, Bucharest), starting at 09:00. The full programme is available here: 2026 Roundtable programme (PDF, trilingual).
Opening
The event is opened by Prof. Marieta Safta (Titu Maiorescu University of Bucharest), President of the ARDC Board of Directors. Opening remarks are delivered by Prof. Elena-Simina Tănăsescu, President of the Constitutional Court of Romania (to be confirmed), Prof. Ștefan Deaconu, Director of the CDCIP, Prof. Mihai Bădescu, President of the Romanian Association for the Philosophy of Law, and Ionel Leon, attorney at the Hauts-de-Seine Bar, France.
Panel I (09:45 – 11:15)
Chair: Prof. Ștefan Deaconu (University of Bucharest).
- Prof. Lóránt Csink (Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Budapest): Inverse Constitutionalism – The Situation of Hungary
- Acad. Prof. Ion Guceac (Academy of Sciences of Moldova; Moldova State University): The crisis of democratic legitimacy and the reshaping of law in contemporary constitutionalism
- Assoc. Prof. Marius Bălan (“Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iași): The risks of democracy in a state governed by the rule of law and the ubiquity of populism and demagoguery
- Prof. Emilian Ciongaru (Titu Maiorescu University; “Acad. Andrei Rădulescu” Legal Research Institute): Law in democracy and democracy in law: conceptual approaches
- Prof. Mihai Bădescu (Bucharest University of Economic Studies): The limits of constitutional tolerance: reassessing militant democracy in the face of illiberal discourse
Panel II (11:40 – 13:15)
Chair: Prof. Emilian Ciongaru (Titu Maiorescu University of Bucharest).
- Dr. Flavius Al. Boar (University of Bucharest; notary public): Recognising personal “status” through CJEU rulings: European “anti-law”, the fuelling of demagoguery and the prospect of ultra vires review
- Luca Ciubotaru (doctoral candidate, University of Bucharest): Online disinformation: constitutional limits, proportionality, challenges
- Dr. Iosif Friedmann-Nicolescu (Vice-Dean of the Bucharest Bar): Democracy and demagoguery, two components of contemporary life
- Dr. Andrei-Răzvan Lupu (University of Bucharest): Countering disinformation without regulating the truth: the new European architecture of online political influence
- Prof. Dan Claudiu Dănișor (University of Craiova): The limits of the people’s power in a democracy
ARDC General Assembly (14:15 – 15:30)
The closing section is devoted to the General Assembly of the Romanian Association of Constitutional Law: a report on the ARDC’s activity and outlook (Prof. Marieta Safta), organisational and statutory matters (Alexandru Bajdechi, Secretary) and any other business.
Members of the association and everyone with an interest in constitutional law are warmly welcome.