National Union of Romanian Bar Associations – Unbr*

The recognition of the professional lawyer title obtained abroad is made in accordance with Directive 98/5/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 1998 to facilitate the permanent practice of the profession of lawyer in a member state other than that in which the qualification was obtained as transposed in Law no. 51/1995 (art. 13, 90-105) and the Statute of the lawyer profession.

Foreign lawyers submit a standard application (http://www.unbr.ro/pagina-internationala/avocati-straini/) accompanied by the documents indicated in the Required Documents section, namely:

a) signed curriculum vitae;

b) passport-size photo;

c) passport;

d) the certificate (attestation) issued by the professional body or, as the case may be, by the public authority from the state of which the applicant is a citizen or, as applicable, where he/she has domicile or professional headquarters,

e) the diploma issued by a university or college certifying the completion by the holder of a higher education cycle with a minimum duration of 3 years,

f) the certificate of honorability issued by the competent professional authorities or the declaration given before a competent authority from the country of origin or provenance of the applicant,

g) the applicant's own responsibility statement, representing his/her commitment not to carry out in Romania other activities except that of lawyer or compatible with the exercise of the lawyer profession;

In case the application is approved by the Permanent Commission, the petitioner may pick up the conformity endorsement from the headquarters of the National Union of Romanian Bar Associations - UNBR at the Palace of Justice, Splaiul Independenței no. 5 Sector 5 – Bucharest, (http://www.unbr.ro/contact/) only after fulfilling the following formalities:

1) submission of the original standard application and the documents provided in points a) and b)

2) submission of copies of the documents provided at points d), e), and f), with the original legalization performed in the respective state and with an authorized translation into Romanian (performed by a public notary from Romania or from abroad), both within 3 months from their issuance date;

3) submission of the statement from point g), made at a notary in Romania or at a Romanian consular office abroad;

4) payment into the account of the National Union of Romanian Bar Associations of the amount of 3,000 lei (IBAN Code: RO30BRDE410SV21199534100 B.R.D. - Academiei Branch).

On the basis of the conformity endorsement, the foreign lawyer can register for the examination to verify knowledge of Romanian law and the Romanian language (for those who have opted in this sense) or can register in the table of the bar in Romania where he/she opted to practice (those who have opted for the 3-year internship or have not opted to practice the profession in Romanian law).

Those who have opted for the 3-year internship acquire the right to practice the profession only after completing the internship.

​

​

Registration for the entrance exam to the legal profession of lawyer (for obtaining the professional title of trainee lawyer) and for acceptance into the profession of lawyer for persons who have passed the final exam in other legal professions (art. 17 of Law no. 51/1995 for the organization and practice of the lawyer profession) is done by submitting a standard application by the person who wishes to be admitted to the profession at the bar where they intend to practice.

The exam is held within the National Institute for the Training and Improvement of Lawyers (INPPA).

Registration for the exam is done based on an exam regulation adopted by the UNBR Council, together with the date, evaluation center, methodology, exam schedule, registration fee, exam topics and bibliography, which will be announced in a widely circulated newspaper and on the website of the UNBR (www.unbr.ro) and INPPA (www.inppa.ro), at least 60 days before the set exam date.

The other details regarding the organization and conduct of the exam are included in the Examination Regulation.

IMPORTANT! According to the Decision of the Permanent Commission of UNBR no. 443 of 12 February 2026, the next session of the examination for verifying knowledge of Romanian law and the Romanian language for foreign lawyers, registered in the special registers of foreign lawyers of the Bar Associations, in order to obtain the right to provide legal assistance in Romanian law, will take place on May 7 and 8, 2026, at the headquarters of the National Union of Romanian Bar Associations, in Bucharest, Sector 5, Splaiul Independenței no. 5. Standard registration applications can be submitted up to a maximum of 10 days before the date of the exam.

The examination for verifying knowledge of Romanian law and the Romanian language for foreign lawyers, registered in the special registers of foreign lawyers of the Bar Associations, in order to obtain the right to provide legal assistance in Romanian law is organized in accordance with the provisions of art. 13 para. (2) and art. 67 para. (1) letter a) and para. (3), 94 para. (2) and (3) of Law no. 51/1995 for the organization and exercise of the legal profession, art. 32 letter f) and i) of the Regulations on the organization and functioning of the U.N.B.R. and on the conduct of the sessions of the U.N.B.R. Council, and Annex XXXI of the Statute of the legal profession (Methodology for certification of lawyer qualification for registration in the roll of a bar in Romania in the situations provided by art. 13 and in Chapter VII of Law no. 51/1995 for the organization and exercise of the legal profession).

The exam is organized by the Permanent Commission of the National Union of Romanian Bar Associations (UNBR), headquartered at the Palace of Justice, Splaiul Independenței no. 5 Sector 5 – Bucharest (https://www.unbr.ro/contact/), which decides depending on the number of foreign lawyers who have opted for this method, and who have previously obtained the approval of the Permanent Commission of UNBR regarding the certification of lawyer qualification for registration in the bar.

The exam checks the theoretical knowledge and practice of applying Romanian law through an examination that consists of written and oral tests, in Romanian, as follows:

a). written multiple-choice test on the following subjects:
- organization and exercise of the legal profession;
- civil law
- civil procedural law
- criminal law
- criminal procedural law;
b). oral exam, on the subjects of civil law, criminal law and knowledge of the Romanian language .

The topics and bibliography for the exam are those provided in the REGULATION regarding the examination for verifying knowledge of Romanian law and the Romanian language for foreign lawyers seeking to obtain the right to provide legal assistance in Romanian law (Annex no. 2 to Decision of the Permanent Commission of UNBR no. 443 of 12 February 2026), which was adopted and published 60 days before the start date of the exam.

The registration fee for the exam is 6500 lei and must be paid into the UNBR account IBAN Code: RO30BRDE410SV21199534100 B.R.D. - Academiei Branch. The amount of the exam fee is set by the Exam Regulation, so it may differ from one exam to another.

Registration applications are standardized and can only be submitted in the period between the publication of the exam on the UNBR website and at most 10 days before the date of the exam at the UNBR headquarters, accompanied by a copy of the approval issued by UNBR.

To pass the examination, the candidate must obtain at least an average grade of 7 (seven), provided that for each test, written or oral, the grade obtained is at least 6 (six).