ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the role played by the Constitutional Court of Romania in sustaining the neoliberal transition. It suggests that being trained to view themselves as neutral arbiters of the law, the judges of the Court adopted an ambivalent stance, both neoliberal and social, with regard to economic questions of crucial relevance to society. In a country where neoliberalism was implemented without much resistance from below, the Court's rulings can therefore be read as a mechanism of signalling, that is alerting society to political alternatives. Before examining the case-law which will be the background of my theoretical remarks, it will offer a brief presentation of the Romanian context by addressing, first, the ideological, social and economic transformation of the country post-1989 as well as, second, the socialist legacy in law and legal culture.
