The Penal Code of Romania (''Codul penal al României'') is a document providing the legal basis regarding

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and Well-being, welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal l ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. The Code contains 446 articles. The articles mention aspects such as the national boundaries of law and the crimes that fall under the incidence of penal law.

Judicial discretion Judicial discretion is the power of the judiciary to make some legal decisions according to their discretion. Under the doctrine of the separation of powers, the ability of judges to exercise discretion is an aspect of judicial independence. Where ...

is granted by the Code through the use of minimum and maximum sentences. The most recent version of the Romanian Penal Code has come into effect on 1 February 2014. In the modern history of Romania, there have been four criminal codes, the first three codes being associated with the rulings of

Alexandru Ioan Cuza Alexandru Ioan Cuza (, or Alexandru Ioan I, also Anglicised as Alexander John Cuza; 20 March 1820 – 15 May 1873) was the first ''domnitor'' (prince) of the Romanian Principalities through his double election as List of monarchs of Moldavia ...

Carol II Carol II (4 April 1953) was King of Romania from 8 June 1930, until his forced abdication on 6 September 1940. As the eldest son of Ferdinand I of Romania, King Ferdinand I, he became crown prince upon the death of his grand-uncle, King Carol I, ...

and

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( ; ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian politician who was the second and last Communism, communist leader of Socialist Romania, Romania, serving as the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 u ...

respectively, and the current code being based on a modernized understanding of the law, within the European context, in the 21st century. Each of these codes had been modified several times after their enactment, including in connection with a change of political regime, such as the installation of the communist regime after World War II, and the fall of the communist regime after the Romanian Revolution of 1989.

History

The Penal Code of 1865

The Romanian Penal Code was first issued in 1865, under the leadership of A.I. Cuza. The Code (also known as the ''Cuza Code'') standardized the laws of the

Principality of Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Muntenia ...

and Principality of Moldova, which since 1859 were united under a single

Principality A principality (or sometimes princedom) is a type of monarchy, monarchical state or feudalism, feudal territory ruled by a prince or princess. It can be either a sovereign state or a constituent part of a larger political entity. The term "prin ...

. The Code has been developed using several notions from the Penal Code of France and the Penal Code of Prussia. The ''Cuza Code'' included the principle of

legal equality Equality before the law, also known as equality under the law, equality in the eyes of the law, legal equality, or legal egalitarianism, is the principle that all people must be equally protected by the law. The principle requires a systematic ru ...

. Instead of the

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

, the most extreme punishment that could be legally enforced was

penal labor Penal labour is a term for various kinds of forced labour that prisoners are required to perform, typically manual labour. The work may be light or hard, depending on the context. Forms of Sentence (law), sentence involving penal labour hav ...

Cruel and unusual punishments Cruelty is the intentional infliction of suffering or the inaction towards another's suffering when a clear remedy is readily available. Sadism can also be related to this form of action or concept. Cruel ways of inflicting suffering may involv ...

were prohibited. Based on the Code, crimes were classified under three headings:

delict Delict (from Latin ''dēlictum'', past participle of ''dēlinquere'' ‘to be at fault, offend’) is a term in civil and mixed law jurisdictions whose exact meaning varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction but is always centered on the notion of ...

s, misdemeanors and

contravention In civil law, a contravention is a lesser offense, similar to an infraction or civil penalty in common law countries. France Brazil In Brazil, contravention is a sort of penal infraction — not only an administrative offense - which is c ...

s. The concept of attempted crimes was not mentioned throughout the code; attempting to commit a crime was punished just as harshly as if the crime happened. The accomplice was to receive the same punishment as the author of the crime. The Code did not criminalize prostitution. Cannabis consumption was not a punishable offense. The Penal Code of 1865 marked the beginning of unitary penal law in Romania.

The Penal Code of 1936

The Penal Code of 1936 (also known as ''The Penal Code of

'') was introduced in order to standardize the many changes in the legal system that have arisen as a result of the Union of 1918. The new Code was heavily updated; the

presumption of innocence The presumption of innocence is a legal principle that every person Accused (law), accused of any crime is considered innocent until proven guilt (law), guilty. Under the presumption of innocence, the legal burden of proof is thus on the Prosecut ...

was expressly mentioned. The sentence was defined as being given in order to punish the crime, not the person committing it. The concept of individual punishments (as opposed to

collective punishment Collective punishment is a punishment or sanction imposed on a group or whole community for acts allegedly perpetrated by a member or some members of that group or area, which could be an ethnic or political group, or just the family, friends a ...

) has been introduced in the Code. The Penal Code of 1936 remained unchanged in terms of complicity to crime. The 1936 penal code applied nationwide, providing for the first time a unitary legislation on the territory of Romania, replacing the Hungarian Penal Code (known as ''The Csemegi Code'') which had been in force in

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

since 1880, and the Austrian Penal Code (promulgated under Emperor Franz Josef I) which had been in force in

Bukovina Bukovina or ; ; ; ; , ; see also other languages. is a historical region at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. It is located on the northern slopes of the central Eastern Carpathians and the adjoining plains, today divided betwe ...

since 1852. After the communists came into power, they made several changes to the Code, in accordance with communist ideology, but the Code remained in force until January 1, 1969, when the new Ceaușescu Penal Code replaced it.

The Penal Code of 1969

The Penal Code of 1969 has been developed under Nicolae Ceaușescu and in accordance to

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

ideals. Capital punishment was a lawful punishment.

Parasitism Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The en ...

has been introduced as a legal offense. Homosexual acts were classified as a criminal offense. Nonetheless, the Code retained the

. The Code was now expressly mentioning the concept of complicity to crime. It also included specific definitions of ''infraction'', ''attempt'', ''perjury'', ''rape'', ''bribe'', ''prostitution'', ''war propaganda'' and ''theft''.

Post-1989 amendments

The Penal Code after the Romanian Revolution of 1989 has been updated 29 times as of December 2008.

Capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

was replaced with

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...

, as the post-Communist

Constitution of Romania The current Constitution of Romania is the seventh permanent constitution in modern Romania's history. It is the fundamental governing document of Romania that establishes the structure of its government, the rights and obligations of citizens, ...

outlaws the death penalty. Many changes were made to the Ceauşescu Code in the 1990 - 2014 period, in order to rid it of communist ideology and modernize it, including with regard to

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

and the framework of the sexual offenses chapter, with changes including the decriminalization of

parasitism Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The en ...

adultery Adultery is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal consequences, the concept ...

and

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exc ...

relationships The Code was also republished in 1997. In post-communist Romania, reforms to the 1969 criminal code have gone in several directions. On one hand, several offenses were decriminalized, as they were seen as outdated, or otherwise inappropriate for a democratic society. On the other hand, the punishments for several violent

offences against the person In criminal law, the term offence against the person or crime against the person usually refers to a crime which is committed by direct physical harm or force being applied to another person. They are usually analysed by division into the fol ...

have become more severe, due to societal concern about violence during the difficult transition period.

The Penal Code of 2014

A new Penal Code (Law no. 286/2009) came into force on 1 February 2014, together with a new Penal Procedure Code. According to official explanatory notes released prior to its implementation, the new legislation aimed to simplify and accelerate criminal proceedings, eliminate overlaps between Penal Code provisions and those contained in special laws, transpose European regulations into national law and ensure the observance of human rights provisions contained by the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

and various international treaties signed by Romania. In this context, the code redefined the concept of criminal offences, adjusted prison sentences, amended the mechanisms by which criminal fines are calculated, eliminated prison sentences for juvenile offenders (replacing them with educational measures) and introduced new offences against persons, property, justice and professional conduct.

Prostitution Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, no ...

was decriminalized.

Structure

The code is divided into a General Part and a Special Part. The former contains general provisions on offences, penalties, criminal liability, the status of minors, security measures, and prescription, while the latter regulates individual offences, which are grouped into twelve titles, plus an additional title comprising final provisions. Compared to the Code of 1969, the new code is longer, comprising 446 articles versus its predecessor's 363.

Bibliography

{{LegalcodesofRomania Romanian criminal law

1865 in law 1936 in law 1969 in law 2014 in law