The romanian criminal law enforcement in time in the light of the changes introduced by the new romanian criminal code

• Author: Liviu Alexandru Lascu
• Position: Law and Economics Faculty, Social Sciences Department Agora University of Oradea - Romania
• Pages: 85-92

AGORA International Journal of Juridical Sciences, www.juridicalj ournal.univagora.ro

ISSN 1843-570X, E-ISSN 2067-7677

No. 3 (2013), pp. 85-92

85

THE ROMANIAN CRIMINAL LAW ENFORCEMENT IN TIME IN THE

LIGHT OF THE CHANGES INTRODUCED BY THE NEW ROMANIAN

CRIMINAL CODE

L. A. Lascu

Liviu-Alexandru Lascu

Law and Economics Faculty, Social Sciences Department

Agora University of Oradea, Oradea, Romania

*Correspondence: Liviu-Alexandru Lascu, 5 M. Eminescu St., Oradea, Bihor, Romania

E-mail: liviulascu@yahoo.com

Abstract

The article aims to analyze the changes introduced by the new Criminal Code in

relation to the criminal law enforcement in time, mainly in order to harmonize the criminal

provisions with some constitutional principles and also, for the reason of their easily

application in practice.

From this perspective we can observe that the new Criminal Code has taken over the

greatest part of the provisions nowadays into force and also, has eliminated those provisions

in contradiction with the constitutional principles. Among the latter we can mention those

provisions which provide the retroactivity of the additional punishment, education and safety

measures for reasons of public interest or the provisions relating to the optional application

of the most favorable criminal law in the closed cases. We may see, also, the introduction of

the laws declared unconstitutional and the Ordinances of the Government among the laws

which are subjects for the application of the principle of the most favorable criminal law.

Keywords: the law activity, ultra activity, non-retroactivity, the principle of legality

of the punishment, the most favorable criminal law.

Introduction

1. Introductory remarks.

The adoption of a new Romanian Criminal Code in accord with the new social and

political realities of Romania, a Member State of the European Union and of the Council of

Europe, requiring the rule of law in a democratic state governed by constitutional principles

and laws adopted in the spirit of the Constitution, has been advertised since many years ago.

After the implementation’s failure of the Criminal Code adopted in 2004, the

Romanian Parliament succeeded to adopt a new Romanian Criminal Code (embedded into

the Law no. 286/2009), the content of which does not indicate a specific date for

implementation but provides in the article 446 paragraph (3), a requirement for the

Government that within 12 months of its adoption, to submit to the Parliament a draft law

relating to its application. Long after this deadline, on November 12, 2012, in the Official

Monitor of Romania no. 757/2012, has been published the Law no. 187/2012 surnamed the

Law of applying the new Romanian Criminal Code. This latest law foresees the date when the

new Criminal Code is going to enter into force, namely February 1, 2014.

It is not our purpose in this article to analyze the feasibility of this process which

requires some huge transformations of Romanian judicial system within a relatively short

period of time. In the other hand, without reference to how this new Criminal Code was

adopted (by using the special proceeding of Romanian Government assuming its

responsibility in Parliament which entailed some criticism, especially in terms of overlapping