Background
In 1948, the Greek-Catholic Church of Romania [Biserica Română Unită cu Roma, Greco-Catolică] was dissolved by Nicolai Ceaușescu and its property handed over to the Orthodox Church by decree. After the fall of Ceaușescu in 1989, Legislative Decree No. 126/1990 was passed to provide that the legal status of property that had belonged to the Greek-Catholic Church would be determined by joint commissions made up of representatives of both the Greek-Catholic and Orthodox Churches, taking account of the “wishes of the adherents of the communities which own these properties”. The Decree provided that in the event of disagreement, a party with an interest in bringing proceedings could do so under the ordinary law.