The Constitutional Bar (), also known as the Romanian Constitutional Bar () or the Bota Bar () and which fictitiously called itself the National Association of Romanian Bars () in order to obtain material benefits, also called UNBR Bota () by then; was a parallel, illegal bar, bereft of juridical personhood, established by Pompiliu Bota in 2002 as an alternative to the "classic bars" of Romanian lawyers, reorganized after 1990 within UNBR, which is the genuine Romanian bar association.
The Constitutional Bar had as object of activity the practice of law as lawyers by persons who legally did not have the right to practice as lawyers, according to Art. 348 of the new Romanian Criminal Code (Art. 281 of the old code). It also violates Art. 367 of the Criminal Code, as an organization that has the purpose of committing crimes or organized criminal group.
History
In 2002, the Deva Court recognized the legal personality of the "Bonis Potra" Charitable Association, which had included in its Statute, among other objects of activity, "the establishment of bars in compliance with the provisions of the Romanian Constitution, the provisions of international human rights pacts and conventions.".
After the finality of the court decisions, the "board of directors" of the Romanian Constitutional Bar was constituted, and Pompiliu Bota called himself "dean". On January 17, 2003, the "Annual Panel of Constitutional Bar Lawyers" was drawn up, in which 35 people were registered, 20 of whom were granted the pseudo-right to draw conclusions in courts and courts of appeal, the professional offices being located in Orăștie, Alba Iulia, Baia Mare, Timișoara, Reșița, Piatra Neamț, Satu Mare, Negrești Oaș, Turnu Severin, Petroșani and Bucharest.
It is obvious nonsense for a charity to be able to set up bars, unions, foundations or trade unions, as only courts of law can legally set up organizations, and they cannot delegate this prerogative to a private association. That is why the Constitutional Bar was never a legally established organization. There is no court ruling that explicitly provides for the establishment of the Constitutional Bar. The "Bonis Potra" Association or the "Figaro Potra" Association could not issue court rulings.
Non-unitary practice of courts
The courts did not have a unitary practice in assessing the quality of lawyer of the members of the Constitutional Bar.
The following trends could be identified in the practice of the courts:
accepting and allowing members of the Constitutional Bar to provide legal assistance and representation; to consider the members of the "Constitutional Bar" to present "evidence regarding the quality of lawyer under the conditions of Law no. 51/1995" and, in their absence, not to be allowed to provide assistance and representation; to qualify the mandate of representation as being given to a non-lawyer and, in accordance with the provisions of art. 68 paragraph 4 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the members of the mentioned bar are not allowed to draw conclusions.
Criminal conviction of Pompiliu Bota
On April 5, 2012, the Deva Court decided to sentence Pompiliu Bota, dean of the Constitutional Bar, to 6 months imprisonment for the unlawful exercise of a regulated profession and to 6 months imprisonment for the crime of complicity in the crime of unlawful pursuit of a regulated profession. Following the merging of the two sentences, the heaviest sentence of 6 months imprisonment was applied. The court also ordered the conditional suspension of the execution of the sentence applied to Pompiliu Bota for a probation period of 2 years and 6 months.
The sentence given by the Deva Court was appealed by Pompiliu Bota on April 26, 2012, to the Alba Iulia Court of Appeal, but the appeal was rejected on May 29, 2012, so that the sentence of conviction of Pompiliu Bota by the Deva Court remained final. The action for annulment was also dismissed.
Bota and others will be tried in 2022 at the Suceava Court of Appeal for violating Art. 348 and Art. 367 of the Criminal Code; the injured parties (the plaintiffs who filed the complaint) number almost two hundred people.
Florin Talpan, jurist of the Steaua București Army Sports Club (CSA Steaua), stated: "First of all, Bota is not a lawyer! He is a jurist, who has repeatedly violated the law, being sentenced to suspended imprisonment. He is a person of bad faith who evades the law all the time, making a point of it." Bota entered into a conflict with CSA Steaua by abusively registering their trademark with the European Union Intellectual Property Office.