Considerable changes took place in Romanian law after the conclusion of the Second World War and the establishment of the Romanian Socialist Republic. Pre-war legislation was not abolished in toto. It was replaced gradually by new laws more suited to the new government programs.

During the early period of legislative change and reform, there was no option for systematic and codified modification of the existing law. Therefore, a greater than usual emphasis was placed on ministerial decrees, orders, instructions, and regulations. These, as well as the regulations and instructions of other government agencies, proliferated extensively. More recently, some of these temporary legislative methods either have been repealed or have become obsolete through passage of time.

The ensuing uncertainty of repealed statutes and other legislative provisions eventually led to the adoption of the following legal measures:

1. 1) Establishment of a consultative body, known as the Legislative Council;

2. 2) Creation of a register (or index) of legislation in force (for this purpose the entire legislation before 1973 was scanned and, as a result, 2300 laws and other legislative acts were cancelled and another 3000 were found to have lost significance);

3. 3) Establishment of a clear program of legislation, with fixed objectives for the areas of law requiring improvement and codification;

4. 4) Formulation of a set of rules (methodology) governing all legislative activity and dealing with the initiation and passage of legislation, legislative drafting, delegation of legislative power, public discussion of legislative projects, and other matters pertaining to the making of laws.