Protection of social values promoted by relegion by means of the regulations of the new criminal code of Romania

• Author: Gheorghe Ivan - Claudia Ivan Mari
• Position: Science Research Associate, 'Andrei Radulescu' Institute for Judicial Research within the Romanian Academy; Ph.D. Assistant Professor, 'Dunarea de Jos' University of Galati, Faculty of Judicial, Social and Political Science; Chief Prosecutor - Galati Regional Department, National Anticorruption Directorate - Bachelor of Laws, University of ...
• Pages: 248-250

PROTECTION OF SOCIAL VALUES PROMOTED BY RELEGION BY M EANS OF THE

REGULATIONS OF THE NEW CRIMINAL CODE OF ROMANIA

Gheorghe Ivan

Mari Claudia Ivan

Abstract

Considering the important pa rt religion plays in shaping human behavior, it is only fair that the

regulatio ns of the new Criminal code of Romania (Law no.286/2009) should also protect the social values

promoted by religious cults.

All throughout the study the auth ors highlighted shar ed aspects of the crimes aga inst religious freedom and

the respect for the decea sed.

Key words: religion, the new Criminal Code of Romania, cr imes aga inst religious freedom and respect

for the deceased.

Introduction

Religion diffuses and pr ofesses a certain ethic by means of specific moral laws (commandments), such

as: you shall not steal, you sha ll not kill, you sha ll not live in fornication, you sha ll not a rgue, you shall love

your neighbor, tolera nce, forgiveness of transgression s, piety, etc. Religion brings out a number of noble

feelings of man thus sha ping his moral beha vior

1.

With the important par t reli gion pla ys in sha ping human behavior in mind, it is only fair tha t the

regulatio ns included in the new Cr iminal Code of Romania (Law no. 286/2009)2 should also protect the socia l

values promoted by various religious cu lts, orga nized and functioning accor ding to the law. This is achieved in a

specific way: by incriminating the acts that may har m religious values.

1. Incriminating framework. Crimes against religious freedom and respect for the deceased are

stipulated in Chapter III of Title VI II – entitled “Crimes harming various relations regarding social cohabitation”

in the Special Part of the new Criminal Code of Romania.

Hindrance of the exercise of religious freedom is a crime stipulated in art. 381; the crime of profanation

of sacred places and ritualistic objects is a crime stipulated in art. 382; finally, art. 384 refers to the crime of

illegal organ and tissue sampling which, of course, have to belong to a corpse.

2. The generic judicial and special objects of crimes. Title VIII of the Special Part of the new

Criminal Code includes three groups of distinct crimes- crimes against public law a nd order (chapter I), crimes

against the family (chapter II), crimes against religious freedom and respect for the deceased (chapter III) which

however share the same judicial obj ect: the social relations for the proper evolution of which, protection of a

shared social value is needed: social cohabitation.

The generic judicial object of crimes against religious freedom and respect for the deceased consists in

the social relations making up the shared judicial ob ject of all the crimes stipulated in Title VIII of the Special

Part of the new Criminal Code.

The special judicia l object consists in the social relations of social cohabitation regarding the respect for

the religious freedom and sacred places and ritualistic objects belonging to various religious as well as respect

for the memory of the deceased.

3. The material object. Some of the crimes also have a material object, consisting in the body of the

victim of the crime [for example, the crime of hindrance of the exercise of religious freedom, in the t ype versions

specified in art. 281, ¶ (2) and (3) of the new Criminal Code] or a personal or real property (for example crimes

related to profanation of sacred places or ritualistic objects, corpse and tomb profanation and illegal organ or

tissue sampling). Others lack such an ob ject as the incriminated act affects a non material object [for instance

hindrance of the exercise of religious freedom, in t he type version specified in art . 381, ¶ (1) of the new Criminal

Code]. 4. The active subject is uncircumstanced as crimes against religious freedom a nd respect for the

deceased may be committed by any person.

Criminal participation is possible in all forms (co-authorship, inducement and co mplicity).

 Science Research Associate, “Andrei Radulescu” Institute for Judicial Research within the Romanian Academy; Ph.D. Assistant Professor,

“Dunarea de Jos” University of Galati, Faculty of Judicial, Social and Political Science; Chief Prosecutor – Galati Regional Department,

National Anticorruption Directorate, ivan_gheorghe_p@yahoo.com; ivan.gheorghe@ugal.ro.

 Bachelor of Laws, University of Bucharest, Faculty of Law; MA student, “Titu Maiorescu” University, Faculty of Law, Bucharest ;

mariclaudia_i@yahoo.com.

1Gheorghe Ivan, Individualization of the Punishment, (Bucharest: C.H. Beck Publishing House, 2007, p. 22-23.

2 Published in the Official Monitor, Part I, no. 510 fom July 24th 2009. The new Criminal Code will become effective on the day established

in the law for its enforcement.