On January 4, 2023, the Parliament of Romania promulgated a law on amendments and additions to Art. 6 of the Law on Physical Education and Sports No. 69/2000, which allows, after a long period of time, on the order of tens of years, according to Article 9 as amended, “free access to open spaces and sports grounds of educational institutions, which are part of the public domain. communes, cities and municipalities and managed by local councils for all children (…) and young people over the age of 18 who attend secondary school or vocational education courses organized in accordance with the terms of the law until they graduate. The draft of this law has been in the Romanian Parliament for several years, but, unfortunately or not, it was not discussed with the increased attention of our political representatives. As far as I understand, even now the draft law was not widely discussed, but was voted on by itself. The circumstance is not accidental or simply the result of a rare conjuncture. Why was it not so easy to provide state sports facilities and facilities for payment or without payment to interested individuals or legal entities?

Here the conversation should begin with some historical and sociological explanations and details. Usually, that is, in Denmark or the Netherlands, the public authorities trust the country’s citizens, minors or adults, when they, having a necessary break, spend time in parks. There is security and protection, but also the cleanliness of the parks. If a citizen needs urgent medical intervention, in any situation of this kind, we are at the service of 112. If conflicts of a physical nature arise between individuals, of course undesirable, you can call the police and intervene more or less promptly, depending on the seriousness of the situation. It’s all good on paper, but as always, practice kills us. That is why the management of educational institutions for years did not want to allow easy access to the school yard, not necessarily because of the desire to protect the space for public use from the needs, complaints or legitimate interests of citizens. Of course, there was access to the bases and sports facilities, but according to the provisions on the current regime, access schedule, non-working hours, as also stated in Article II of the amended and supplemented law, which, let’s understand, required certain restrictions. The schoolyard, as a rule, became a relatively closed space, with a fenced gate. Why did this happen?

Suppose hypothetically, according to what the Americans mean benefit of the doubt, that we have the majority of Romanian citizens who use the external space of the school correctly. They can be students, parents or teachers. There is nothing wrong with playing football, badminton or just spending time at school in your spare time. However, not all schools in Romania have city hall guards or a private security company that is paid for by contract from the local budget. We are talking about poor local communities that do not receive the necessary funds to purchase such security services, as well as other local councils that have not taken these minimum surveillance and control needs seriously. Do the parks in Romania look perfectly clean and in good condition for use? If something illegal happens in the park, do the authorities immediately intervene? It depends on which settlement we are talking about. One is sector I of Bucharest, the other is the city of Mizil or a commune that unites several destroyed and, in any case, depopulated villages. Against this background, it becomes clear why the management of DEU did not agree to such leisure activities being held in the schoolyard – often not arranged for the influx of people – in recent years (many, to be sure), since the law got into the parliamentary pseudo-debate. Who protects students or parents if there is an accident or some act of violence? Undoubtedly, principals and members of boards of directors, school teachers cannot spend unpaid extra hours after daily working hours to do such things, especially given that the new amended law refers to activities in the extracurricular space “after school hours, on weekends and during the school holidays”. Who provides weekend or late night coverage? It is possible to use a shortened schedule, but this is also a problem: how much can it be shortened? The need for security, local police and medical services seems obvious, but all this costs staff and money, which not all local councils in Romania have.

But let’s assume once again that we have all the means to ensure the safety of citizens. What do we do in the event of a conflict with bloodshed, a serious or fatal accident, a robbery or any other act related to the criminal code? Who is in charge? Who is responsible in court as an indirect defendant? Who pays for damage to a public building or the immediate perimeter, if it comes to that? None of these secondary but extremely relevant definitions have been re-discussed until now and defined as changes and additions in the new law. Read the whole article and comment on contribuoros.ro