Article by Ioana Banu, partner
As of 20 March 2021, malpractice lawsuits against medical clinics and/or doctors can be started with a judicial tax of only 100 lei.
Law no. 32/2021 completing GEO no. 80/2013 on judicial tax provides that those who claim damages for material or non-material losses will pay a fixed tax of 100 lei. This is “a historical day for medical malpractice lawsuits.”
Before the change, the suffering patients were taxed according to the same rules as corporations claiming debts from business partners in court ie. a percentage of the claimed amount. For instance, a family whose baby died as a result of medical malpractice had to pay about 6,000 euro only to be heard in court in a medical malparice trial claiming 500,000 euro
In the past, victims of medical malpractice could end up paying thousands of euros to seek justice in court. This new provision considerably simplifies things.
Before this change came into force, the high judicial tax made patients often ask for smaller amounts than what was fair for the damages suffered – simply because they did not afford to pay the judicial tax.
It was an unfair time for patients, especially when we consider that other type of litigation was taxed at capped judicial tax or none at all, although the stake was not this high; for instance, employees do not pay judicial tax for suing their employer. Things were normalised and hurt patients or the families of deceased victims in medical malpratice are to pay a fixed tax of 100 lei regardless of the amount claimed. The judges have the possibility to reduce the amount claimed if and when the case.
