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Article 96 of Law No 303/2004 as thus amended (‘Law No 303/2004 as amended’), is worded as follows: ‘(1) The State shall make good using its own resources any damage resulting from judicial errors. (2) The liability of the State shall be established in accordance with the law and shall not exclude the liability of judges and prosecutors who, even if they are no longer in office, have performed their duties in bad faith or with gross negligence for the purposes of Article 991. (3) A judicial error exists where: (a) in the course of legal proceedings, a procedural act has been performed in clear breach of provisions of substantive or procedural law, entailing a serious infringement of the rights, freedoms or legitimate interests of an individual and causing harm that it has not been possible to remedy by means of an ordinary or extraordinary appeal; (b) a final judgment has been delivered that is manifestly contrary to the law or inconsistent with the factual situation established by the evidence taken in the course of the proceedings, entailing a serious infringement of the rights, freedoms or legitimate interests of an individual, and causing harm that it has not been possible to remedy by means of an ordinary or extraordinary appeal. (4) Specific cases in which a judicial error exists may be covered by the Code of Civil Procedure, the Code of Criminal Procedure, or other special laws. (5) In order to obtain compensation for the damage caused, the injured party may bring an action exclusively against the State, represented by the Ministry of Public Finances. Jurisdiction to hear the civil action shall lie with the Regional Court in whose area of jurisdiction the applicant is domiciled. (6) The State shall pay any sums due by way of compensation within one year, at the latest, of the date of notification of the final judgment. (7) Within two months of notification of the final judgment delivered in the action referred to in paragraph 6, the Ministry of Public Finances shall refer the matter to the Judicial Inspectorate, so that it may ascertain whether the judicial error was caused by a judge or prosecutor as a result of his or her performing his or her duties in bad faith or with gross negligence, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 741 of Law No 317/2004, republished, as amended. (8) The State, represented by the Ministry of Public Finances, shall bring an action for indemnity against the relevant judge or prosecutor where, following the advisory report of the Judicial Inspectorate referred to in paragraph 7 and its own assessment, it considers that the judicial error was caused by the judge’s or prosecutor’s performance of his or her duties in bad faith or with gross negligence. The action for indemnity shall be brought within six months of the date of notification of the report of the Judicial Inspectorate. (9) The Civil Division of the Curtea de Apel (Court of Appeal) of the judicial district where the defendant is domiciled shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine at first instance the action for indemnity. If the judge or prosecutor against whom that action for indemnity is brought carries out his or her duties in that Court of Appeal or in the prosecutor’s office attached to that Court of Appeal, the action for indemnity shall be brought before a neighbouring Court of Appeal to be selected by the applicant. (10) The decision delivered in the proceedings described in paragraph 9 may be appealed before the competent division of the Înalta Curte de Casație şi Justiție [(High Court of Cassation and Justice), Romania]. (11) The Supreme Council of the Judiciary shall establish, within six months of the date of entry into force of this law, the conditions, terms and procedures pertaining to the compulsory professional insurance of judges and prosecutors. The insurance shall be paid for entirely by the judge or prosecutor and its absence shall not delay, diminish or exclude the civil liability of a judge or prosecutor for any judicial error caused by the performance of his or her duties in bad faith or with gross negligence.’