Silviu Gabriel BARBU started his legal career in the mid-1990s, being admitted to the Bucharest Bar Association in 1995. A former magistrate and former diplomat, he is currently Associate Professor with a Ph.D. in Legal Studies, and a legal professional with over 30 years of experience spanning the judiciary, central public administration and academia.
From the outset, Silviu Gabriel BARBU built a rare, comprehensive professional background that covers the essential perspectives of the judicial system and state administration. Over time, he served successively as prosecutor, judge across three levels of jurisdiction — including managerial responsibilities at Court of Appeal level — as well as prison director, senior government official within the Presidential Administration and the Government apparatus, diplomat within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs both at headquarters and abroad, and, throughout, an attorney equipped to translate institutional complexity into clear and effective legal strategies.
During nearly a decade as civil and military prosecutor, Silviu Gabriel BARBU conducted criminal investigations, supervised criminal investigation bodies, represented cases before courts, and engaged in crime prevention activities, including within military institutions. He subsequently developed a strong judicial track record as judge, initially handling a broad range of matters, then focusing exclusively on criminal law, and later specializing in administrative and tax litigation. This dual perspective — from case building to judicial scrutiny — enables him to identify strengths and vulnerabilities in investigative acts, indictments, evidentiary frameworks, and contested administrative decisions, and to anticipate the court’s approach depending on the level of jurisdiction.
A defining component of Silviu Gabriel BARBU’s practice is his extensive experience in constitutional litigation and procedural strategy. He has repeatedly advised on and drafted referrals to the Constitutional Court of Romania, both in relation to exceptions of unconstitutionality and legal conflicts of a constitutional nature. This expertise allows him to provide thorough constitutional assessment and litigation support across any area of law, including strategic design of constitutional arguments integrated with administrative, criminal, and EU-law considerations.
Silviu Gabriel BARBU has devoted a significant part of his professional activity to administrative law and disputes involving public authorities — a field in which he has acted both as administrative and tax law judge and as senior government official with coordination, control, and evaluation responsibilities at governmental level. His work covers the legality of individual and normative administrative acts, internal administrative procedures, administrative and jurisdictional control mechanisms, frequent legality and procedural errors in acts and contracts issued by central or local authorities, and the assessment of legal risks associated with administrative decisions. He is equally comfortable operating in the pre-litigation phase, in court proceedings, and in higher-court judicial review dynamics, including the specific procedural routes for constitutional review connected to administrative disputes.
In central public administration, Silviu Gabriel BARBU held senior positions that provided direct insight into decision-making at the highest level of the state, including: Secretary of State – Head of the Prime Minister’s Control Office; Vice-President and subsequently President (Secretary of State) – National Authority for Citizenship; Deputy Secretary General – Ministry of Justice (coordinator of the penitentiary system); Inspector General and Director – Diplomatic Control and Evaluation Department within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and State Counselor – Presidential Administration, Constitutional and Legislative Department. These roles offered hands-on knowledge of governmental endorsement and approval circuits, internal mechanisms for control, audit and administrative evaluation, inter-institutional relations between central authorities and subordinate structures, and cooperation patterns with both domestic and international institutions, including relationships with large-scale private economic entities active in Romania.
Silviu Gabriel BARBU’s European and international dimension is equally substantial. Within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he worked in the structure of the Government Agent for the Court of Justice of the European Union, contributing to the preparation of Romania’s positions before the CJEU and to the implementation of mandatory European provisions at national level. He also served in the external diplomatic service as Head of the Diplomatic Mission of Romania in Zimbabwe and Malawi, Chargé d’Affaires at the Embassy of Romania in Harare. This experience strengthened his understanding of EU institutional practice, diplomatic operations and international cooperation, as well as the legal and strategic aspects of international economic relations and state representation in European and global bodies.
In criminal law and criminal procedure, Silviu Gabriel BARBU relies on a robust foundation built as prosecutor, military magistrate and criminal judge. He provides legal assistance and representation in cases with institutional, administrative or financial dimensions, including business criminal law, with particular focus on the legality of investigations, evaluation of evidence, identification of procedural errors and vulnerabilities in the acts of criminal investigation bodies, and defense strategies grounded in case law, European standards and human rights requirements. Where appropriate, he integrates domestic litigation with referrals and arguments before the Constitutional Court, the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Alongside practice, Silviu Gabriel BARBU has maintained a strong and consistent academic track record. He is Associate Professor with a Ph.D. at the Faculty of Law of Transylvania University of Brașov and Associate Lecturer at the Faculty of Law of the University of Bucharest, with 25 years of experience in legal academia. He has published over 80 scholarly works in public law, constitutional law, administrative law, criminal law and judicial procedure, including university textbooks, monographs and collections of case law. He remains active in academic projects, national and international conferences and applied legal research, and is co-founder and scientific coordinator of the website www.abcjuridic.ro.
By combining judicial, administrative, diplomatic and academic experience, Silviu Gabriel BARBU offers an integrated approach to complex litigation involving public authorities, strategic referrals to national and European central courts, and high-level legal and institutional assessments. His practice is particularly suited for projects requiring sophisticated strategic analysis, administrative compliance and control, public governance expertise, and risk-sensitive legal architecture for interactions between private entities and the state, including national and international commercial contexts.
Silviu Gabriel BARBU speaks Romanian and English and has a good understanding of French.
