For the Government of Romania, observing and protecting children’s rights is a matter of special interest and a national priority. Setting out from the major political premise of continuing and furthering the reform in the field by capitalizing on the experience and good results scored so far, the new strategy seeks to review and improve things.

Romania ratified the UN Convention on the children's rights as early as 1990. With the coming into force of the Constitution in 1991, an important principle imposed by the Convention was also included among the constitutional tenets guaranteeing free development of the human personality. Thus, it is stipulated that: "Children enjoy special protection and assistance in obtaining their rights." For the ratification of the Convention on children protection and cooperation in matters of international adoption, the Parliament of Romania passed a special law.

In mid-June 2004, the Romanian Parliament passed the bill on the setting up, organization and running of the Romanian Office for Adoptions; the amendment of the Emergency Ordinance no. 12/2001 on the setting up of the National Authority for the Protection of Child’s Rights and Adoptions; the law on adoption as well as the law on the defense and observance of children’s rights.

In the light of the new regulations, it is the courts of law alone that are authorized to rule on opening domestic adoption procedures, on entrusting a child to a family with a view to adoption, and on granting adoption, provided the child to be adopted is a resident of Romania, and is a Romanian citizen or a foreign citizen without citizenship (this category includes children that are foreign citizens in emergency situations on the territory of Romania).

Article 39 of the law on the child’s legal status provides that "international adoption of the child residing in Romania may only be granted provided the adopting person or one of the spouses in the adoptive family living abroad is the grandfather of the child."

The Romanian authorities may cooperate in matters of international adoption with private bodies running their activity on the territory of the recipient state provided the latter are accredited by the said state.

The law stipulates that the persons that should consent to adoption are the biological parents or the guardian of the child (the child having turned ten years of age), and the adopting person or family.

According to the provisions that were not subject to amendments in the Law on the defense and observance of the children’s rights, special protection shall be granted to children whose parents are deceased, unknown or found incompetent in exercising parental rights.

The court of law shall appoint as guardian a relative or friend of the child’s family that is capable to fulfill this task, and the child benefits by special protection until becoming of age.

Whenever a child falls victim to an abuse, either by their parents or guardian, the public authorities and private bodies stand the obligation to take steps for the minor’s physical and psychological rehabilitation, and for their social reintegration.

With the coming into force of Law 273/2004 as of January 1, 2005, international adoptions have been resumed. Also, the Romanian Office for Adoptions (ORA) was established, the only institution entitled to coordinate this kind of procedures.

After an interruption of over three years, Law 273/2004 on the legal status of adoption brings new regulations that enable the resumption of international adoptions.

It accepts as foreign adopters only second degree relatives of the children to be adopted. The Law also provides restrictions referring to the age of the children who can be adopted and the factors that can be involved in the process.

According to the provisions of the Law in force, national adoption has absolute priority, the adoption of minors abroad being seen as a last variant to be resorted in case none of the existing forms of protection can ensure ‘adequate care". Children under two years of age cannot be the object of international adoptions.

The new law eliminates all intervention by foundations in the process of adoption, the only bodies accepted in this case being foreign associations authorized to the purpose in their country of origin. Romanian non-governmental organizations have the right to get involved in services of child protection through foster homes or mother surrogates, by reintegrating children in their families and supporting the respective families to prevent dereliction.

Under the law, adoptions can be undertaken only by the state’s specialized institutions (local child protection departments) under the supervision of the Romanian Office for Adoptions. ORA is under the legal obligation to set up a register containing all data referring to adoptions.

According to some European experts, among which the authors of the Hague Convention, the Adoption law was mapped out in the spirit of the said convention on children’s rights.

Tribunals for Minors have also been set up for the protection of children and they will hear various cases in which children are a party.