Institute of Commercial Diplomacy and Arbitration
"Nicolae Titulescu"

Code of Ethics

I. Objectives and scope

Art. 1.(1) The Code of Ethics reflects the ethical vocation of 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute as a prestigious private institution involved in the development and practice of national and European values. The Code of Ethics operates as a guide for developing professional ethical relations involving community members (student practitioners, teachers and researchers, auxiliary teaching staff, non-teaching staff). The individuals who are affiliated as members of the Institute, by decision of the Board of Directors, are also part of the Institute community. Moreover, the Code of Ethics regulates the manner of conducting the relations between members of the Institute and external collaborators and the method of reporting to the community, as a whole.
(2) This Code aims to guide and regulate the conduct of all the Institute community members, within 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute and in relation thereof. The Code of Ethics of 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute is a tool used for modelling the Institute community in the spirit of principles and values, in terms of preventing any breach of the Institute's ethics. The Institute's Code of Ethics is a benchmark for assessing the morality of actions of its community members, providing principles to establish patterns of behaviour, cohesion and exploitation of the Institute's community potential.
(3) The Code of Ethics is guided by the regulations of Law no. l / 2011, according to Art. 130, paragraph 1 and it is binding, as a result of the Decision of the Institute Board of Directors.
(4) The provisions of this Code shall be construed as restricting some of the rights granted by law or by the collective labour agreement.

II. Fundamental principles

Art. 2. This Code is based on the following fundamental principles: institutional freedom, competence and professionalism, integrity, intellectual honesty, collegiality, loyalty, justice and equity, responsibility.

Institutional freedom
Art. 3. Institutional freedom includes the right of any member of the Institute community to openly express his/her scientific and is/her professional views during courses, seminars, conferences, debates but also on the papers drafted and presented or published.
Art. 4. Any member of the Institute community can express freely his/her opinions, inside or outside 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute, without being censored, within the limits prescribed by this Code. The critical approaches, intellectual partnerships and cooperation are encouraged, regardless of political or religious beliefs.
Art. 5. Institutional freedom implies, at the same time, the respect for the institutional freedoms of another, within all of its components.
Art. 6. The following do not fall within the institutional freedom and are hence not accepted within the Institute:
a) political propaganda performed within or in connection with the events of the 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute or by using its infrastructure;
b) religious proselytism;
c) promoting extremist, racist or xenophobic doctrines or ideas;
d) defamation of the Institute by members of its community;
e) personal attacks or defamatory statements against other members of the Institute community.

Competence and professionalism
Art. 7. (1) 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute undertakes to promote an environment appropriate for competence and competitiveness. Professionalism is a central ethical value. 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute supports the development of high standard institutional programs, capable of leading to the evolution of knowledge, to training top specialists and to increasing the prestige of research in Economics and International Commercial Affairs.
(2) 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute undertakes to support and reward scientific, professional, pedagogical, managerial and administrative excellence, collegial solidarity and competitive loyalty, acknowledges and rewards the professionalism of teachers and researchers who are devoted to their profession and to the industry in which they operate, while assuming their moral duty of substantially contributing to a better preparation of student practitioners in the areas of Economics and International Commercial Affairs.
Art. 8. Each community member of the Institute undertakes, at its level, to take responsibility for the quality of education.
Art. 9. Any teacher of the Institute must master the discipline he/she teaches, in detail, ensuring that the entire contents of the course is updated, representative and adequate to the curriculum level of the subject.
Art. 10. The scientific arguments between teachers and 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute should not affect student preparation and outcomes.
Art. 11. Any teacher of the Institute should pay particular attention to preparing and delivering the courses provided, to developing, preparing or providing the teaching materials necessary for students during the course, seminar or laboratory, to holding consultations, to supervising and advising the elaboration of works (projects, Bachelor or dissertation theses) by students, as well as assessing and publishing the results during the deadline.
Art. 12. In pedagogical terms, competence involves choosing the most appropriate ways of dealing with each theme from the syllabus, communicating course objectives, choosing the appropriate methods for assessment, in accordance with these objectives. It is also important to adapt the teaching style to the needs and level of the course, as well as to the specifics of the group of students in the areas of Economics and International Commercial Affairs.
Art. 13. The following are considered a breach of the principle of competence and professionalism:
a) assigning courses, seminars or laboratories to individuals who do not have the adequate level of knowledge;
b) spending a major part of the time allocated for the course or seminar on off-topic discussions;
c) intentionally erroneous interpretation of research results to establish a theory supported by the person concerned;
d) negative reporting to colleagues and to their results within own teaching activities;
e) forcing students to exclusively adopt the views of the teacher or the refusal to consider, based on arguments, other points of view regarding the same matter;
f) partial approach of a fundamental course, by the teacher, covering solely the aspects of personal interest;
g) choosing the appropriate methods for examination, in line with course objectives;
h) breach of the obligations set forth under Art. 8-12.

Integrity
Art. 14 The integrity of the Institute community is essential to provide the optimal conditions for teaching and research. Each community member of the Institute must seek to avoid any situation which could create integrity doubts, mainly related to conflicts of interest.
Art. 15. A conflict of interest is deemed to arise when the personal interests of a community member of the Institute (teaching or research staff member, student, member of the administrative staff) enter into conflict with the obligations arising from this statute or likely to affect the independence and impartiality necessary to implement said obligations.
Art. 16. In the sphere of teacher-student relations, the following are considered breaches of the integrity obligation:
a) demanding or accepting favours of any kind, including sexual favours;
b) demanding or accepting gifts or other benefits;
c) money loans between the teacher and students;
d) paid activities provided by the teacher in favour of the student, his/her spouse or a next of kin, up to the third degree;
e) paid or unpaid activities provided by the student in favour of the teacher, his/her spouse or a next of kin, up to the third degree;
f) obtaining freedoms from the student or his/her next of kin, including up to the third degree.
Art. 17. Any examination carried out by a teacher of an individual who is his/her husband/wife or next of kin, up to the IIIrd degree, or with whom the decision-maker has a relationship or a contractual relationship, with the exception of contractual relations of economic research nature which are likely to create an impression of nepotism among other students. To avoid this situation, the teacher in question shall submit a statement of abstention:
a) where there are other teachers for the same expertise, the student examination shall be done by another teacher, appointed by the Board of Directors or by the Director, as applicable;
b) where substitution is not possible, another teacher will be appointed, with close specialization, if possible, to assist in examining the respective student lecturer.
Art. 18. It is prohibited to include in any competition or evaluation commission from 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute of an individual falling under the situation described in Art. 17 with one of the candidates. To the extent that the incompatibility was not known at the time of the commission appointment, the teacher in question shall abstain and request substitution from the commission.
Art. 19. Any individual who is a member in an evaluation, appeal, contest or promotion commission covering the evaluation of the professional and/or scientific activity of an Institute employee, as spouse, next of kin and relative, including up to the third degree, is incompatible.
Art. 20. In the scientific research activity, integrity means:
a) accepting and mentioning, as authors of a work, only the persons who actually participated in its elaboration;
b) indicating the source of an idea, an expression, a result of previous research, whether published or not. This rule also applies for items taken from the works of students, of any nature, and subsequently used by teachers in their research;
c) explicit recognition of the contribution of any individual who participated in a research activity. If the contribution consisted only in a supervisory or advisory activity, no formal recognition of the contribution is required. In these cases, however, it is advisable to include an appreciation note;
d) compliance with the destination of funds allocated for a research project. The funding sources laying the grounds for research will be mentioned in the publications created from the research;
e) compliance with special ethics norms regarding the research on human subjects or animal experiments, as well as on any other items related to research ethics;
f) the research activity should be conducted only pursuant and in accordance with ecological and biological ethics.
Art. 21. The following shall comprise a breach of ethics in the area of research:
a) plagiarism;
b) failure to admit, either by mentioning the author of a work, or by indicating the source, the contribution of third parties to a work;
c) ordering the authors of a work to also mention the individual who did not participate in its creation, as authors;
d) mentioning, as authors of a work, individuals who have significantly contributed to its creation;
e) guiding the research activity of students for obtaining personal advantage for the advisor;
f) inventing results, replacing results with fictitious data;
g) violating the conditions of confidentiality;
h) violation of the rules set out in previous articles.
Art. 22. During the administrative activity, integrity involves:
a) proper performance of all procedures for the selection, election or appointment of staff taking administrative responsibilities. It is forbidden to receive, accept, solicit, give or offer money, goods or other benefits or favours in exchange for supporting the filling in of an administrative position.
b) fulfilling any administrative responsibility, in good faith and for the benefit of 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute.
Using an administrative position to obtain personal benefits of any kind is a violation of the duty of integrity.
c) upon the administrative transfer of responsibilities, the former owner shall make available for the new holder all the tools, information and items updated, required for immediately taking over this responsibility.
d) providing accurate information to the management of 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute and by all structures entitled to request such information.
e) when, for whatever reason, a person can no longer properly fulfil the assigned administrative duties, he/she is required to bring this to the attention of superiors.
Art. 23. In addition to the situations mentioned above, there is a conflict of interest when:
a) a person decides upon granting an award or a distinction in favour of an individual who is the husband/wife, a relative up to the IIIrd degree, or a contractual relationship with the exception of academic research contractual relations;
b) an opening is listed in order to be filled in by an individual having the relation
stipulated under letter a) with the director of the Institute where the job is ascribed or with an individual from this Institute, who can decisively influence the result of the contest;
c) a individual from the Institute employs or participates in the contractual hiring of the unit he/she directs, in favour of a company owned in whole or in part by an individual who is in a relationship as referred to under letter a);
d) a student is employed or included in an internship program at a company or another organization owned by the examiner or the individuals stipulated under letter a), or where said individual holds a management position.
Art. 24. In any conflict of interest, said person is obliged to inform the superior, preferably in writing, of the existence of conflict of interest and to refrain from engaging in any decision that would or could create appearance of personal interest.

Intellectual honesty
Art. 25. In addition to integrity, honesty and fairness, 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute strongly promotes intellectual honesty construed as respect for intellectual property rights and copyright and as respect for the proper evaluation of performance for teachers, students and all other employees.
Art. 26. The respect for intellectual property and compliance with copyright is a professional obligation. Its violation is a severe ethical misconduct and it will be sanctioned.
Art. 27. The full or partial reproduction of longer or smaller sections, of intellectual contributions, without resorting to a proper awarding by specifying relevant factors such as those relating to copyright, to the work or other identifying and awarding elements, etc. shall be deemed as breaches of intellectual property and copyright. Plagiarism by evading proper attribution is a serious breach of the Institute's Ethics.
The Ethics Commission may proceed to consultation with specialists from the country or abroad, in the area of expertise or in related areas where said work can be classified.
Art. 28. From an ethical standpoint, intellectual property and copyright obligations are breached, and author of these breaches shall be morally held liable within the following situations:
a) reproduction of text or sections, regardless of their number and size, of works belonging to authors to whom no direct reference is made;
b) taking ideas, arguments, data, results without making any reference to the respective author;
c) acquiring intellectual works of other authors and submitting them as own results, without explicitly mentioning the sources of such contributions, without specifying that no ownership title are held on said contributions.
Art. 29. Even if the author makes an important personal and original contribution, in a particular work or paper, but if plagiarized elements are included, non-compliant with the principles of conferral, said author has violated the ethical rules regarding intellectual property.
Art. 30. In the case of students, the teachers present at the examination or the teachers and researchers responsible for coordinating student activities shall be in charge of identifying fraudulent attitudes during examinations, in making reports, papers or projects, taking the measures stipulated in the internal regulations of the Institute.

Collegiality
Art. 31. The activity within the Institute community involves the collaboration between its members, in the spirit of collegiality and mutual respect. Collegiality implies:
a) courtesy and respect for each member of the Institute community. The violation of this obligation by an individual does in no way entitle the affected individual to adopt a similar conduct;
b) the obligation to assist Institute community members, by substitution of colleagues, offering support in the teaching and administrative activity, cooperation in good faith in projects involving several individuals; the Institute community members will not abuse of collegial substitution; substitutions shall not be requested repeatedly, but only occasionally/exceptionally, in objectively justified situations;
c) mutual compliance of linguistic, religious, social differences between the Institute's community members;
d) understanding, respect and support for people with special needs;
e) the obligation of confidentiality on the data and information submitted by a member of the Institute community to another member, with private purposes. Regarding the situation of a student, the confidentiality obligation applies within the limits set by the decision of the Board of Directors, pursuant to the Law on the protection of personal data.
Art. 32. The following shall be deemed as breaches in the principle of collegiality:
a) gender, ethnicity discrimination or harassment or any other form, the use of physical or mental violence, offensive language or authority abuse against a member of the Institute community, regardless of his/her position within the 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute (student, teacher or research staff member, member of 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute, administrative staff member);
b) if the management of 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute encourages or tolerates the behaviours described under this article;
c) unfair discrediting of ideas, hypotheses or research results of a colleague without taking into account the requirements implied by the principles of academic debate and nuanced critical reasoning;
d) inconsiderate comments made before students with regards to the professional training of a colleague;
e) comments on moral or some aspects of privacy to a colleague made before students;
f) advising students not to follow a course held by a colleague;
g) making repeated complaints or manifestly ill-founded referrals to a colleague;
h) the use or disclosure of confidential information (personal data, life experience, etc.) by another colleague in the teaching or research activity;
i) breach of confidentiality on the academic, social, health situation of any student.
Art. 33. Regarding the examination of students, collegiality requires their prior and detailed information on the objectives and course requirements, on the rules and evaluation periods, according to Student Status of 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute.

Loyalty
Art. 34. Institute loyalty entails the obligation of every member of its community to act in the interests of 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute to support its objectives, strategies and policies in order to achieve its mission and to increase competitiveness.
Art. 35. 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute highly appreciates the commitment and loyalty to individuals who build their academic career in its service, without discouraging participation in public life or engaging in other activities than those implied by the membership of the Institute community.
Art. 36. The following shall be deemed as breaches in the loyalty obligation:
a) engaging in activities aimed at the loss of property or non-property rights legally acquired by 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute;
b) conducting teaching or research activities, in other institutions, which compete with those organized by 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute;
c) advising students to drop the courses of 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute in favour of other similar institutions;
d) conducting activities which could significantly affect the time allocated for teaching and research activities within 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute of the person concerned outside 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute;
e) carrying out actions aimed at discrediting 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute or affecting its image and prestige.

Justice and equity
Art. 37. Justice and equity are values which 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute promotes among its members and between them, by rejecting any form of discrimination or exploitation, regardless if they are practised directly or under subtle forms of manifestation.
Art. 38. There are breaches of the obligations on justice and equity: discrimination or unequal treatment of members of the Institute community, explicitly or implicitly based on extra-professional criteria such as race, gender, ethnicity, religion, affiliation to minority groups, political beliefs, orientations and personal preferences etc. They are prohibited since they seriously cause harm on equality rights. However, said extra-professional criteria cannot be used in the Institute community to cause reverse discrimination.

Responsibility
Art. 39. (1) The responsibility for compliance with the provisions of this Code lies with each member of the Institute community.
(2) Membership of the Institute community requires each member to take responsibility for his/her actions or omissions.
(3) Violation of the provisions of this Code will result in disciplinary action under Law no. l/2011, the Labour Code and the internal regulations of 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute.

III. Procedural rules

Art. 40. The monitoring of compliance with provisions of this Code lies in the competence of the Ethics Commission of 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute.
Art. 41. The Ethics Commission of 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute is an independent structure of 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute Directorate, operating under the provisions of decisions issued by the Institute's Board of Directors and shall be guided by the rules stipulated by Law no. 206/2004 regarding proper conduct in scientific research, technological development and innovation, as further amended and supplemented.
Art. 42. The Ethics Commission of 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute has the following responsibilities:
a) to examine and resolve complaints on deviations from the Institute ethics, based on complaints or by own initiative, under the Code of Ethics and Conduct of 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute;
b) to prepare an annual report on the state of compliance with the Institute ethics and with the ethics of research activities, which shall be submitted to the President of the Board of Directors (BD) and to the Board of Directors of the Levantine Committee - Balkanik Handel Haus (Balkan House of Commerce) which is a public document;
c) to contribute to developing and amending the Code of Ethics and Conduct of 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute which shall be submitted to the Board of Directors of the Institute for adoption;
d) other duties prescribed by law or established under the Charter of the Institute.

IV. Final provisions

Art. 43. This Code of Ethics may be amended solely with the consent of the Board of Directors of 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute. With the approval of this regulation by the Board of Directors, all previous provisions which are contrary to its provisions shall be repealed.
This Code of Ethics was adopted at the meeting of the Board of Directors of the 'Regina Maria' Commercial Diplomacy and International Affairs Institute, dated March 17th, 2015, the date of entry into force.