Press release – Panel for the Clarification of Certain Points of Law in Criminal Matters in its session of 25 May 2021
High Court of Review and Justice
PRESS RELEASE
In its session of 25 May 2021, the High Court of Review and Justice – Panel for the Clarification of Certain Points of Law in Criminal Matters, lawfully established in each Case, considered two requests for a preliminary ruling for the clarification of certain points of law, and returned the following Judgments:
Decision #35 in Case #764/1/2021
Denies as inadmissible the request brought by the Tribunal Cluj, Criminal Chamber, in Case #1494/219/2020*, for a preliminary ruling for the clarification in principle of the following point of law:
“When, in the procedure of the challenge to service of a sentence, in the interpretation of Art. 598 para. (1) letter c) final thesis in the Criminal Procedure Code (prevention of service), the foreign authority for sentence service denies surrender of a person for part of the sentences indicated in the European arrest warrant issued by the Romanian requesting judicial authority, while for another part of sentences it sustains surrender of a person:
- is the impediment, in the matter of sentences whose service was denied on grounds that the convicted individual does not have avenues to challenge the conviction pronounced in absentia, of a temporary nature and thus such sentences can be served later, in the conditions of Art. 117 para. (4) letter c) in Law #302/2004 as republished (a text that is also applicable, by analogy, to the hypothesis of denied surrender), or
- is the impediment, in the matter of sentences whose service was denied on grounds that the convicted individual does not have avenues to challenge the conviction pronounced in absentia, of a definitive nature, and such sentences returned by Romanian courts cannot be served on Romanian territory after service of the sentences for which surrender was sustained.”
Obligatory as of the date of publication in the Official Journal of Romania, Part I under Art 477 para. (3) in the Criminal Procedure Code.
Returned in public session today, the 25th of May 2021.
Decision #36 in Case #797/1/2021
Denies as inadmissible the request brought by the Tribunal Bihor – Criminal Chamber, in Case #8288/272/2020/a1 for a preliminary ruling for the clarification in principle of the point of law concerning the interpretation and application of the stipulations of Art.65 para.(1) corroborated with Art.64 para.(1) letter c) in the Criminal Procedure Code and Art.114 para.(4) in the Criminal Procedure Code, in the sense of establishing whether the criminal investigator who developed the report on a crime found as it was taking place can continue with their investigation and subsequently be interviewed as a witness in that Case; if that is not possible, what is the available legal punishment, is it absolute nullification of the results of the criminal investigation as a consequence of a violation of jurisdiction regulations, in agreement with Art. 281 para. (1) letter b) in the Criminal Procedure Code and Decision by the Constitutional Court of Romania #302/2017, or is it relative nullification on the basis of Art. 282 in the Criminal Procedure Code, as a consequence of finding a case of incompatibility because the investigator becomes a witness to the commission of the crime.
Obligatory as of the date of publication in the Official Journal of Romania, Part I under Art 477 para. (3) in the Criminal Procedure Code.
Returned in public session today, the 25th of May 2021.
After the justification is written and the Judgment signed it shall be published in the Official Journal of Romania, Part I.
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