Administrative contract in Romanian Legislation and the doctrine during the inter-war period

Administrative contracts are some of the most used dynamic legal instruments – on the one hand – to efficiently and flexibly carry the fulfilment of the objectives of administration, and – on the other hand – for the development of sustainable and lasting relations between economic organizations and institutions and the decision-making factors which control public administration. In the work “New law on administrative litigation, Genesis and explanations†, Professor Antonie Iorgovan pointed out that “The philosophy of administrative contracts presupposes that the agreement of the parties be subordinated to the public interest. The administrative contract is not an end in itself, such as civil or commercial contract, like unilateral administrative act, they are legal means by which public administration is carried out, either under the form of application to concrete cases of law, or under the form of provision of public services, in the broad sense of the term, within the limits of the law†. Professors Jean Rivero and Jean Waline, in their textbook of administrative law – at the 19th edition –, consider that “given the economic importance of operations carried out through administrative contract, its regime presents a considerable practical interest†. The published literature, the works of some reference authors in this field emphasised the importance of the criteria which determine the existence of an administrative contract, the regime of these contracts regarding both the conclusion manner – with inherent limits brought to contractual liberties – as well the specific procedures of execution of administrative contracts, and in the end the specific modalities by which is made the termination, the cessation of administrative contracts.