What is an Official report in Romania?
Although the name of this document may be misleading, all Official reports are drawn up in writing. The importance and legal value of an Official report is defined by certain factors, which, if not met, may even result in the nullity of the document.
To understand more precisely what an Official report means, we will cover the following topics in this article:
- What is an Official report?
- Types of Official reports.
- The importance and value of the Official report.
- Rules to follow for properly drafting an Official report.
Broadly speaking, an Official report is a written document that formally records procedures, decisions, or events that took place during a meeting, gathering, or formal activity. Simply put, in general, an Official report is an official document that records specific information about various subjects from different fields of activity, for the purpose of acknowledging their existence, occurrence, accuracy, or storing details that must be preserved.
Types of Official reports in Romania
- Findings Official report
A Findings Official report is drawn up to confirm the existence of a fact or event. This type of document presents information about the events that occurred at that time, how they happened, and who was present.
- Attendance Official report
An Attendance Official report is drawn up to describe the details of a meeting, conference, or gathering. It must include information about the location, date and time of the meeting, the persons present, and the topics discussed.
- Registration Official report
A Registration Official report is drawn up to document the logging of documents such as invitations, forms, declarations, or other existing acts. This document must include the entirety of the documents and reflect the purpose and reason for which they were recorded.
- Allocation Official report
An Allocation Official report is a document that records the arrangements made for dividing a task, responsibility, materials, goods, etc., between two or more parties. It must contain information on how the parties agreed to split the task and how the agreement was reached.
- Contravention Official report
The Contravention Official report is primarily used by Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI) officers, specifically traffic officers. It must include the exact date and place of issuance, the name and surname, as well as the institution of the issuing agent. It is also mandatory to include the details of the offender, such as personal ID information, occupation, institution or workplace, and a description of the offense, including the exact location, date, and time; if the act involves a traffic accident, the insurance company must also be indicated. All these criteria must be respected, as failure to do so leads to the nullity of the Official report and, implicitly, its cancellation.
The importance and value of the Official report in Romania
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, the value and importance of an Official report depend on several factors. For example, the document may have the value of simple information (e.g., Official report for the cancellation of a fiscal receipt) when it holds information of low importance, but it can also have significant legal value, such as that of authentic evidence when drawn up by public officials or representatives of state institutions (e.g., Findings Official report for a contravention). The legal value of the document can also be determined by the presence of the mandatory elements in Official reports, and their absence may render the report null and void.
Rules to follow for properly drafting an Official report in Romania
To be correctly drawn up, an Official report must include essential information for understanding, using, and recounting the details it contains. Therefore, an Official report must include: the date and place of issuance, the full name, title, and institution of those present, a summary of the actions being documented, conclusions, documents presented, other notes specific to the type of report, and the signatures of all involved parties.