TITLE I
BASIC RULES AND ACTIONS IN THE CRIMINAL TRIAL

Chapter l
AIM AND BASIC RULES OF THE CRIMINAL TRIAL

Art.5 - The person's liberty is guaranteed all throughout the criminal trial.

No person may be retained, arrested or deprived of liberty in any way or subjected to any form of liberty restraint, except for the cases and circumstances stipulated by the law.

If the person subjected to preventive arrest or hospitalization or any measure of liberty restraint considers such measures illegal, he/she has the right, during the trial, to bring the matter to the attention of the competent court, under the law.

Any person who was, during the criminal trial, deprived of liberty, or whose liberty was restrained, illegally or unjustly, is entitled to reparation of the damages, in the conditions stipulated by the law.

During the criminal trial, the accused person or the defendant who is preventively arrested may require temporary release, under judicial supervision or on bail.

TITLE I
BASIC RULES AND ACTIONS IN THE CRIMINAL TRIAL

Chapter l
AIM AND BASIC RULES OF THE CRIMINAL TRIAL

Art. 5(1) - Any person subjected to criminal investigation or to criminal trail must be treated with respect for human dignity.

Torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment are punished under the law.

TITLE I
BASIC RULES AND ACTIONS IN THE CRIMINAL TRIAL

Chapter l
AIM AND BASIC RULES OF THE CRIMINAL TRIAL

Art. 5(2) - Any person shall be presumed innocent till found guilty by a final decision of the court.

TITLE I
BASIC RULES AND ACTIONS IN THE CRIMINAL TRIAL

Chapter l
AIM AND BASIC RULES OF THE CRIMINAL TRIAL

Art.6 - The right to defence is guaranteed to the accused person, to the defendant and to the other parties all throughout the criminal trial.

During the criminal trial, the judicial bodies must ensure the parties' full exertion of their procedural rights, under the circumstances stipulated by the law and must administrate the evidence necessary for defence.

The judicial bodies must inform the accused person or the defendant, immediately and before hearing, of the deed of which he is held responsible and of its judicial status, and must ensure the preparation and exertion of his/ her defence.

Any party is entitled to assistance by defender during the criminal trial.

The judicial bodies must inform the accused person or the defendant, before his/ her first statement, on his/ her right to be assisted by a defender; this will be recorded in the official report of the hearing.
Under the circumstances and in the cases stipulated by the law, the judicial bodies must provide judicial assistance for the defendant, if the latter has not chosen a defender.

TITLE I
BASIC RULES AND ACTIONS IN THE CRIMINAL TRIAL

Chapter l
AIM AND BASIC RULES OF THE CRIMINAL TRIAL

Art. 7 – The judicial procedure of the criminal trial is conducted in Romanian.

In front of the judicial bodies, the parties and other persons summoned to trial are ensured the use of their native tongue, the procedure documents being drawn in Romanian.

TITLE I
BASIC RULES AND ACTIONS IN THE CRIMINAL TRIAL

Chapter l
AIM AND BASIC RULES OF THE CRIMINAL TRIAL

Art.8 - The parties who do not speak or do not understand the Romanian language, or who cannot express themselves, are given the possibility, free of charge, to get acquainted with the record, to speak in court and pass conclusions, through an interpreter.

TITLE III
EVIDENCE AND MEANS OF EVIDENCE

CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Art. 65 - The task of administrating the evidence during the criminal trial belongs to the criminal investigation body and to the court.

Upon request from the criminal investigation body or the court, any person who knows of a piece of evidence or holds a means of evidence must reveal or present it.

TITLE III
EVIDENCE AND MEANS OF EVIDENCE

CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Art. 66 - The accused person or the defendant benefits from the presumption of evidence and is not obliged to prove his/her innocence.

In case there is evidence for his/her guilt, the accused person or the defendant has the right to prove their inconsistency.

TITLE III
EVIDENCE AND MEANS OF EVIDENCE

CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Art. 68 - It is forbidden to use violence, threats or any other constraints, as well as promises or encouragement with the purpose of obtaining evidence.

Also, it is forbidden to force a person to commit or to continue committing an offence with the purpose of obtaining evidence.

TITLE III
EVIDENCE AND MEANS OF EVIDENCE

CHAPTER III
MEANS OF EVIDENCE

Section I
Statements of the accused person or the defendant

Art. 69 - The statements given by the accused person or defendant during the criminal trial may lead to the truth only to the extent to which they are corroborated with facts and circumstances resulted from all the evidence in the case.

TITLE III
EVIDENCE AND MEANS OF EVIDENCE

CHAPTER III
MEANS OF EVIDENCE

Section I
Statements of the accused person or the defendant

Art. 70 - Before being heard, the accused person or defendant is asked about his/her name, surname, nickname, date and place of birth, name and surname of parents, citizenship, education, military service, working place, occupation, address, criminal antecedents and other data necessary to determine his/her personal situation.

The accused person or defendant is then informed about the deed that makes the object of the case, the right to have a defender, as well as the right not to make any statement, at the same time being informed that everything he declares may be used against him/her as well. If the accused person or defendant makes a statement, he/she is asked to declare everything he/she knows related to the deed and to the accusation in connection to this.

If the accused person or defendant agrees to make a statement, the criminal investigation body, before hearing him/her, asks him/her to write personally a statement related to the guilt he is made responsible of.

TITLE III
EVIDENCE AND MEANS OF EVIDENCE

CHAPTER III
MEANS OF EVIDENCE

Section I
Statements of the accused person or the defendant

Art. 71 - Every accused person or defendant is heard separately.
During the criminal investigation, if there are several accused persons or defendants, each of them is heard without the others attending.

The accused person or defendant is first left to declare everything he/she knows in relation with the case.

The hearing of the accused person or defendant cannot begin by reading or reminding the statements that the latter has previously given in relation with the case.

The accused person or defendant cannot present or read a previously written statement, but he/ she may use notes for details that are difficult to remember.

TITLE III
EVIDENCE AND MEANS OF EVIDENCE

CHAPTER III
MEANS OF EVIDENCE

Section XI
The use of interpreters

Cases and procedurefor the use of interpreters
Art. 128 - When one of the parties or other person that is to be heard cannot understand or speak Romanian, and the criminal investigation body or the court cannot communicate with him/her, they provide an interpreter, free of charge. The interpreter may be appointed or chosen by the parties; in this case, it must be an authorized interpreter, according to the law.

The provisions of the previous paragraph are also enforced accordingly in case some of the writings in the case record or presented in court are in another language than Romanian.

The provisions of art. 83, 84 and 85 are enforced accordingly on the interpreter as well.

TITLE IV
PREVENTIVE MEASURES AND OTHER PROCEDURAL MEASURES

CHAPTER I
PREVENTIVE MEASURES

Section IV
Preventive arrest

1. Arrest of the accused person

Arrest of the accused person during criminal investigation
Art. 146 – The prosecutor, ex officio or solicited by the criminal investigation body, when the conditions stipulated in art. 143 are met and there is evidence from which results one of the cases provided at art. 148, if he considers the accused person's arrest to be in the interest of the criminal investigation, and only after hearing the latter in the presence of his/her defender, presents the case file, with the motivated proposal to take the measure of preventive arrest of the accused person, to the president of the court or to the judge delegated by the latter.

The file is presented to the president of the court that would be competent to judge the case at first instance, or of the corresponding court in whose jurisdiction the detention place is, or to the judge delegated by the court president.

TITLE IV
PREVENTIVE MEASURES AND OTHER PROCEDURAL MEASURES

CHAPTER I
PREVENTIVE MEASURES

Section IV
Preventive arrest

2. Arrest of the defendant

Duration of the defendant’s arrest
Art. 149 - The duration of the defendant's arrest during criminal investigation may not exceed 30 days, except for the case when it is extended under the law. The due time is calculated from the date when the warrant was issued, when the arrest was ordered after hearing the defendant, and in case the arrest was ordered in the defendant's absence, the due time is calculated from the date of execution of the arrest warrant.

When a case is moved in the course of criminal investigation from one investigation body to another, the arrest warrant previously issued remains valid. The duration of the arrest is calculated according to the provisions of the previous paragraph.

TITLE IV
PREVENTIVE MEASURES AND OTHER PROCEDURAL MEASURES

CHAPTER I
PREVENTIVE MEASURES

Section IV
Preventive arrest

2. Arrest of the defendant

Checking related to the defendant’s arrest during trial
Art. 160b – During trial, the court checks periodically, but no later than 60 days, the legality and justification of the preventive arrest.

If the court establishes that the reasons which determined preventive arrest have ceased or there are no new reasons to justify the deprivation of freedom, it orders, through closing, the revocation of preventive arrest and immediate release of the defendant.

When the court establishes that the reasons which determined preventive arrest impose further deprivation of freedom or that there are new reasons that justify the deprivation of freedom, it orders, through motivated closing, the maintaining of preventive arrest.

The closing may be attacked by recourse, the provisions of art. 160a par. 2 being applied accordingly.

TITLE V
TRIAL-RELATED AND COMMON PROCEDURAL ACTS

CHAPTER I
JUDICIAL ASSISTANCE AND REPRESENTATION


Assistance of the accused personor defendant
Art. 171 – The accused person or defendant has the right to be assisted by a defender all throughout the criminal investigation and the trial, and the judicial bodies must inform him/her of this right.

Judicial assistance is obligatory when the accused person or defendant is a juvenile, military in service, military with reduced service, called-up reservist, student of a military educational institute, held in a re-education centre or in a medical-educational unit, when arrested in another case, or when the criminal investigation body or the court appreciate that the accused person or defendant could not defend himself/herself, as well as in other cases stipulated by the law.

During the trial, judicial assistance is obligatory, also in the cases in which the law provides for the offence committed life detention or imprisonment for 5 years or more.

When judicial assistance is obligatory, if the defendant has not chosen a defender, measures are taken for appointing one ex officio.

When judicial assistance is obligatory, if the chosen defender does not appear, without reason, at two consecutive summons, according to the case, at the date established for an action of criminal investigation or at the date settled for trial, thus creating difficulties for the development and solution of the criminal trial, the judicial body appoints an ex officio defender to replace the chosen one, granting him/her the necessary time to prepare the defence, which may not be shorter than 3 days, except the solution of requests regarding preventive arrest, when the due time may not be shorter than 24 hours.

The delegation of the ex officio defender ceases once the chosen defender appears.

If the defender is absent from the trial and cannot be replaced, in the conditions of par. 41, the case is postponed.

The rights of the defender
Art. 172 - During the criminal investigation, the defender of the accused person or defendant has the right to assist in the performance of every criminal investigation act and may draw up requests and statements. The absence of the defender does not impede the performance of the criminal investigation act, if there is proof that the defender has been informed on the date and time of the act performance.

When judicial assistance is obligatory, the criminal investigation body will ensure the presence of the defender at the defendant's hearing.

In case the defender of the accused person or defendant is present at the performance of a criminal investigation act, this will be mentioned and the act is also signed by the defender.

The arrested accused person or defendant has the right to get in touch with the defender, the confidentiality of talks being ensured.

The contacting of the defender may not be forbidden at the extension of the arrest duration by the court, while at the presentation of the criminal investigation material it is obligatory.

The defender has the right to complain, under art. 275, if his/her claims have not been approved ; in the situations stipulated in paragraphs 2, 4 and 5, the prosecutor must solve the complaint in maximum 48 hours.

During the trial, the defender has the right to assist the defendant to exert the trial-related rights of the latter, and in case the defendant is arrested, to get in touch with him.

The defender chosen or appointed ex officio must ensure the judicial assistance of the accused person or defendant. In case of non-compliance with this obligation, the criminal investigation body or the court may inform the managing board of the bar, in order to take measures.

Assistance of other parties
Art. 173 - The defender of the victim, of the civil party and of the party bearing the civil responsibility has the right to draw up requests and statements.

During the trial, the defender exerts the rights of the party that he/she assists.

When the court considers that, for certain reasons, the victim, the civil party or the party bearing the civil responsibility cannot handle their own defence, it orders, ex officio or upon request, enforcement of the measures for appointing a defendant.

Representation
Art. 174 - During the trial, the accused person and the defendant, as well as the other parties may be represented, with the exception of the cases when the presence of the accused person or defendant is obligatory.

In all the cases when the law allows the representation of the accused person or defendant, the court has the right, when it considers the presence of the accused person or defendant necessary, to order his/her presentation.

TITLE II
Fundamental rights, freedoms and duties

CHAPTER I
Common provisions

ARTICLE 21

(3) All parties shall be entitled to a fair trial and a solution of their cases within a reasonable term.

TITLE II
Fundamental rights, freedoms and duties

CHAPTER II
Fundamental rights and freedoms

Right to life, to physical and mental integrity
ARTICLE 22

(1) The right to life, as well as the right to physical and mental integrity of person are guaranteed.

(2) No one may be subjected to torture or to any kind of inhuman or degrading punishment or treatment.

(3) The death penalty is prohibited.

TITLE II
Fundamental rights, freedoms and duties

CHAPTER II
Fundamental rights and freedoms

Individual freedom
ARTICLE 23

(1) Individual freedom and security of a person are inviolable.

(2) Search, detainment, or arrest of a person shall be permitted only in the cases and under the procedure provided by law.

(3) Detention shall not exceed twenty-four hours.

(4) Preventive custody shall be ordered by a judge and only in the course of criminal proceedings.

(5) During the criminal proceedings, the preventive custody may only be ordered for 30 days at the most and extended for 30 days at the most each, without the overall length exceeding a reasonable term, and no longer than i80 days.

(6) After the lawsuit has begun, the court is bound, according to the law, to check, on a regular basis and no later than 60 days, the lawfulness and grounds of the preventive custody, and to order at once the release of the defendant if the grounds for the preventive custody have ceased to exist or if the court finds there are no new grounds justifying the continuance of the custody.

(7) The decisions by a court of law on preventive custody may be subject to the legal proceedings stipulated by the law.

(8) Any person detained or arrested shall be promptly informed, in a language he understands, of the grounds for his detention or arrest, and notified of the charges against him, as soon as practicable the notification of the charges shall be made only in the presence of a lawyer of his own choosing or appointed ex officio.

(9) The release of a detained or arrested person shall be mandatory if the reasons for such steps have ceased to exist, as well as under other circumstances stipulated by the law.

(10) A person under preventive custody shall have the right to apply for provisional release, under judicial control or on bail.

(11) Any person shall be presumed innocent till found guilty by a final decision of the court.

(12) Penalties shall be established or applied only in accordance with and on the grounds of the law.

(13) The freedom deprivation sanction can only be based on criminal grounds.

TITLE II
Fundamental rights, freedoms and duties

CHAPTER II
Fundamental rights and freedoms

Right to defence
ARTICLE 24

(1) The right to defence is guaranteed.

(2) All throughout the trial, the parties shall have the right to be assisted by a lawyer of their own choosing or appointed ex officio.

The Special Part

Title VII
Crimes and delicts against the accomplishment of justice

Torture

Art.343 – (1) An act deliberately causing a person pain or intense suffering, either physically or mentally, in order to obtain from that person or from a third party information or confessions, to punish him/her for an act committed by him/her or a third party or that he/she or a third party is suspected to have committed, to intimidate or exercise pressure on him/her or on a third party, or for any other reason based on a form of discrimination, regardless of its nature, when such pain or suffering is applied by an agent of public authority or by any other person acting in official capacity or upon instigation or with the express or tacit consent of such persons shall be punished by strict imprisonment from 2 to 7 years.

(2) If the act in para.(1) resulted in any of the consequences in Art.186 or Art.187, the penalty shall be strict imprisonment from 5 to 15 years.

(3) Torture that resulted in the victim’s death shall be punished by life detention or by severe detention from 15 to 25 years.

(4) No exceptional circumstance, whatever its nature may be, regardless of whether it is a state of war or of war threats, internal political instability or any other exceptional state, can be invoked to justify torture ; also, the order of the law or command of legitimate authority cannot be invoked either.

(5) Acts in para.(1) shall not be offences of torture if the pain or suffering are the exclusive result of legal sanctions and are inherent to these sanctions or caused by them.

The Special Part

Title VII
Crimes and delicts against the accomplishment of justice

Allowance of illegal detainment or arrest

Art.345 – The act of a person who, taking cognizance in any way of any illegal detainment or arrest, does not take the legal measures immediately, but no later than 6 hours, although it was a duty inherent to his/her office, shall be punished by strict imprisonment from one to 5 years.

The Special Part

Title VII
Crimes and delicts against the accomplishment of justice

Subjection to ill treatment

Art.346 – Subjection to ill treatment of a person in a state of detainment, detention or executing a security or educatory measure, shall be punished by strict imprisonment from one to 5 years.