Am primit azi de la prieteni un video, postat acum câteva zile, în care o persoană cu o poziție importantă în stat (nu contează care, nu e despre asta ce scriu aici) arăta niște imagini cu un polițist agresat de câteva persoane în timp ce era la muncă, iar comentariul era că, dacă în 6 luni agresorul primește o pedeapsă de 2 săptămâni sau hai, 4 săptămâni „de pușcărie” (adică de închisoare, cu executare) „𝑠̦𝑖 𝑙𝑢𝑐𝑟𝑢𝑙 𝑎̆𝑠𝑡𝑎 𝑠𝑒 𝑖̂𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑝𝑎̆𝑟𝑒𝑠̦𝑡𝑒 𝑖̂𝑛 𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣, 𝑜 𝑠𝑎̆ 𝑣𝑒𝑑𝑒𝑚 𝑐𝑎̆ 𝑜𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑖 𝑜 𝑠𝑎̆ 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒, 𝑖̂𝑛 𝑠𝑓𝑎̂𝑟𝑠̦𝑖𝑡, 𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑎 𝑖̂𝑛 𝑡̦𝑎𝑟𝑎 𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑎”. Nu o să comentez fondul acestei declarații, nici oportunitatea ei sau efectul asupra celor care au în lucru dosarul, nici despre cum oricum o pedeapsă așa mică nu e posibilă (legal) pentru ultraj și nici măcar despre faptul că arătarea unor imagini ale unor evenimente în curs de investigație ar respecta sau nu

O decizie pronunțată luni, 21 iulie 2025, de Tribunalul din Châlons-en-Champagne ține, de atunci, prima pagină a ziarelor ori a blogurilor din Franța. Decizia merită atenția noastră, din mai multe perspective. Pe scurt, la culesului viilor din regiunea Champagne, în septembrie 2023, la Nesle-le-Repons, undeva la sud-vest de Reims, Inspecția Muncii a constatat că 𝟓𝟕 𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐝, 𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐚, 𝐝𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐝𝐞 𝐕𝐞𝐬𝐭 (𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐢, 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥, 𝐌𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐚) 𝐬̦𝐢 𝐚𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐭̦𝐢 𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐢̂𝐧 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭̦𝐚 𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐳𝐚𝐭̦𝐢 𝐢̂𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐭̦𝐢𝐢 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐛𝐫𝐞 (saltele așezate direct pe podea, dușuri improvizate cu foarte puțină apă caldă, instalație electrică defectă). Inspecția fusese sesizată de vecinii locului în care erau cazați muncitorii. Victimele au declarat că au muncit într-un ritm intens, sub amenințări, adesea până la 10 ore pe zi, cu o pauză scurtă la mijlocul zilei, fără echipament de protecție, cu mult prea puțină apă (în ciuda caniculei) și cu hrană insuficientă și parțial improprie consumului, fiind transportați zilnic înghesuiți

I hear or read a lot lately, either in court or in doctrinal articles, that precautionary measures ordered in criminal proceedings should be lifted because 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒕𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒆. I also heard this sentence when the measures had been in place for a few months, but also for 4-5-6 or even 10-11 years. Invariably, ECHR case law on the matter is invoked, in particular the 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝐸𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑐. 𝑅𝑒𝑝𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑖 𝐶𝑒ℎ𝑒, sometimes also 𝐵𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑡 𝑃𝑟𝑎ℎ𝑎 𝑐. 𝑅𝑒𝑝𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑖 𝐶𝑒ℎ𝑒, and more recently also 𝐶𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑡 𝐸𝑢𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝐿𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐿𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐. 𝑅𝑜𝑚𝑎̂𝑛𝑖𝑒𝑖 or 𝑊𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑒 𝐿𝑡𝑡𝑑. 𝑐. 𝑅𝑜𝑚𝑎̂𝑛𝑖𝑖𝑒𝑖. How much is actually too much in this matter, according to the ECHR? First of all, it should be noted that 𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚̆𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐢 𝐂𝐄𝐃𝐎 𝐂𝐄𝐃𝐎 𝐧𝐮 𝐬𝐩𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐚̆ 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐦𝐚̆𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚̆𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐚̆𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐢 𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐮𝐥 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐮𝐥 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚̆ 𝐫𝐞𝐭̦𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐚 𝐢̂𝐧𝐜𝐚̆𝐥𝐜𝐚̆𝐫𝐢𝐢 𝐢̂𝐧𝐜𝐚̆𝐥𝐜𝐚̆𝐫𝐢𝐢 𝐚𝐫𝐭. 𝐝𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐥 𝟏 𝐥𝐚 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭̦𝐢𝐞 (𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭̦𝐢𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐚̆𝐭̦𝐢𝐢). Specifically, in the cases cited above: - In 𝐹𝑜𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑐. 𝑅𝑒𝑝𝑢𝑏𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝐶𝑒ℎ𝑒, the length of the proceedings is 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐚̆ 𝐜𝐮 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚

A bill amending Law No. 286/2009 on the Criminal Code and amending and supplementing Law No. 26/2024 on protection orders (PL-X 54/2024 – https://www.cdep.ro/pls/proiecte/upl_pck2015) was sent for promulgation today.draft

Among the topics being discussed today on social media is the law passed in Norway that changes the definition of rape. 𝗖𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝘂𝗻𝗲𝗮 𝗖𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗹 𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗻𝗼𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗮𝗻? The Norwegian Penal Code (Section 291) had a definition of rape similar to that in Romania – 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘢 𝘶𝘯𝘶𝘪 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢̂𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘤𝘶 𝘰 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘢𝘯𝘢̆ 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘶 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴̦𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢̆ 𝘴𝘢𝘶, 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦, so that we may all be united 𝘰𝘳𝘪 𝘧𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘢 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘪 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘢𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦, 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯 𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵̦𝘢̆ 𝘴𝘢𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢in the context of 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢̆ 𝘰 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘢𝘯𝘢̆ 𝘴𝘢̆ 𝘪̂𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘵̦𝘪𝘯𝘢̆ 𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘶 𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘢̆ 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘢𝘯𝘢̆ 𝘴𝘢𝘶 𝘴𝘢̆ 𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘦𝘻𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘻𝘢̆𝘵𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘪 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘢̆𝘵̦𝘪 𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘳𝘢 𝘴𝘢. The penalty is imprisonment for up to 10 years. The Criminal Code in English can be read here: https://lovdata.no/dokument/NLE/lov/2005-05-20-28/*#&#x2a What about other situations? There are other situations in which a sexual act may be committed without consent that are not covered by such regulations. My colleagues have written extensively on these issues in the context of the legislative changes in 2023/2024, which were also discussed at the conference held in December 2022 – a

The Official Gazette No. 522 of June 4, 2025, published ICCJ Decision No. 189/2025 – Criminal Case regarding the offense of sexual assault committed against a minor (the issue is identical, however, in the case of adults as well). Specifically: In the case in which the complaint was filed, a woman was brought to trial who, in 2022, induced her minor daughter, aged three and a half years “𝑠𝑎̆ 𝑖̂𝑖 𝑒𝑥𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑧𝑒 𝑣𝑖𝑧𝑢𝑎𝑙, 𝑖̂𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑝𝑒, organic, pre-computer era𝑟𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑎̆ 𝑎 𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑖𝑎 𝑐𝑢 𝑚𝑎̂𝑛𝑎, 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑢 𝑓𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑖̂𝑛𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑑𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑎̆ 𝑐𝑢 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑒“Fonul Mobil,” 𝑖𝑎𝑟 𝑑𝑜𝑢𝑎̆ 𝑠𝑎̆𝑝𝑡𝑎̂𝑚𝑎̂𝑛𝑖 𝑚𝑎𝑖 𝑡𝑎̂𝑟𝑧𝑖𝑢 “𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑎 𝑖-𝑎 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑖 𝑠𝑎̆ 𝑜 𝑠𝑎̆𝑟𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑠̧𝑖 𝑠̧𝑖-𝑎 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑏𝑎 𝑖̂𝑛 𝑔𝑢𝑟𝑎 𝑎𝑐𝑒“𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑖𝑎”. The court of first instance held that “𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑎̆ 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑖𝑡𝑎̆ 𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑎̆ 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑎 𝑛𝑢 𝑎 𝑢𝑟𝑚𝑎̆𝑟𝑖𝑡 𝑠𝑎̆ 𝑜𝑏𝑡̧𝑖𝑛𝑎̆ 𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡̧𝑖𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑥𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑎̆, new 𝑐𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑧𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎̂𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒 𝑑𝑒 𝑎𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑢𝑛𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑥𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑎̆ 𝑖̂𝑛 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑙 𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑖 𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑒.” The prosecution filed an appeal. In the appeal, the High Court

Two weeks ago, during the victimology course in Dubrovnik, we attended a very interesting presentation by Prof. Hans-Jörg Albrecht and Anna-Maria Getos Kalac on 𝐟𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐝 (or femicide). The professors pointed out that classifying this behavior as a distinct crime actually has no preventive effect and that scientific studies do not support such criminalization; rather, it actually creates problems with law enforcement. The presentation caused a stir in the room, with one participant exclaiming, “𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛’𝑡 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑, 𝑑𝑜𝑛’𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠?” The tragedy in Cosmopolis highlights the need for 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 regarding domestic violence, gender-based violence, risk assessment, and other related issues. This need is essential in Romanian society (and beyond). However, just like the professors mentioned above, I believe that using criminal law to address this need must be viewed with caution. 𝐌𝐚𝐢 𝐢̂𝐧𝐭𝐚̂𝐢, 𝐜𝐞 𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐥? The definitions proposed in

Law No. 70/2025 was published in the Official Gazette No. 452 of May 15, 2025 (in force since May 18, 2025), amending three articles on precautionary measures in criminal proceedings. I have read a few summaries of the amendments, including in the press (in the "shock and awe" category and with references to confiscation) and pretty much all of them present the Law as something that fundamentally changes the philosophy of precautionary measures. In reality, what has really changed is that all precautionary measures (so including those ordered by the pre-trial judge or the court) are taken 𝐟𝐚̆𝐫𝐚̆ 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐞 - new para. (6³) of art. 249 C.pr.pen. I have written several times about the inconsistency between taking precautionary measures without citation in civil vs. criminal proceedings (where it was concluded that citation is necessary, as this is the rule for proceedings before the court), how citation (or postponing the judgment for

On February 4, 2025, the High Court of Cassation and Justice referred to the Constitutional Court, at our request, the constitutionality of the provisions of Article 438 para. (1) C.pr.pen. In support of the application we pointed out that the legal provisions in question do not allow the lodging of an appeal in cassation in the event that the criminal proceedings were wrongly not terminated, although the cause of termination (not submitted to the parties) was examined by the appellate court. This infringes several provisions of the Basic Law.

Lawyers Andra Trandafir and Mihaela Ghirca-Bogdan successfully argued for the lifting of a precautionary measure amounting to more than 40 million EUR maintained on our client's accounts for 9 years, including after the criminal case was closed. The case raised several legal issues, including: - The lack of clear rules in civil procedure applicable after the criminal case has been dismissed; - the scope of the precautionary measure ordered in the course of criminal proceedings on the civil claims of a party both from the perspective of the civil party's civil action in the criminal proceedings and the separate action brought before the civil court; - the legality and proportionality of maintaining the precautionary measure in the light of ECHR case-law. This case law marks an important development in clarifying the limits and conditions for the maintenance of precautionary measures ordered in criminal proceedings and continued in civil proceedings after the conclusion of the criminal proceedings.