Press release – Panel for the Clarification of Certain Points of Law in Criminal Matters in its session of 9 June 2021

High Court of Review and Justice

 PRESS RELEASE

In its session of 9 June 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 #48 in Case #833/1/2021

Sustains the request brought by the Court of Appeals Ploieşti, Chamber for Criminal Matters and for Juveniles and Family Matters, in Case #5989/315/2020, for a preliminary ruling on the following point of law:

“In the matter of the use of the phrase ‘psychoactive substances’ as part of the criminalization text, does it involve a limitation of the sphere of applicability of said criminalization to the category of substances described by Law #194/2011 on Combating Operations with Products Likely to Have Psychoactive Effects, other than those already Scheduled in applicable law in its latest version, or should the sphere of psychoactive substances be treated in a broad manner with the inclusion, as the case may be, of substances included in Special Law #143/2000 on Preventing and Combating Illegal Trafficking and Consumption of Drugs, as republished with amendments and supplements, and Special Law #339/2005 on the Legal Regime of Narcotic and Psychotropic Plants, Substances and Preparations.”

The Court rules that “The use of the phrase ‘psychoactive substances’ as part of the criminalization in Art.336 para. (2) in the Criminal Code includes both the category of substances described by Law #194/2011 on Combating Operations with Products Likely to Have Psychoactive Effects, other than those already Scheduled in applicable law, and the substances included in Special Law #143/2000 on Preventing and Combating Illegal Trafficking and Consumption of Drugs, as republished with amendments and supplements, and Special Law #339/2005 on the Legal Regime of Narcotic and Psychotropic Plants, Substances and Preparations.”

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 9th of June 2021.

 

Decision #49 in Case #860/1/2021

Denies as inadmissible the request brought by the Court of Appeals Târgu Mureş – Chamber for Criminal Matters and for Juveniles and Family Matters, in Case # 3835/308/2019, for a preliminary ruling on the following points of law:

1. Does applying Art. 37 in the Criminal Code result in reversing the previous criminal conviction for part of the material acts that are included in the contents of a crime in continuous form, and in the affirmative case must such reversal be done in its entirety, on both the criminal and the civil side?

2. In the application of Art. 37 in the Criminal Code, is the duration of supervision established as under Art. 92 in the Criminal Code calculated as of the date of finality of the previous judgment that is reversed, or as of the date of finality of the judgment that returns a ruling on the entirety of the criminal violation?

3. Is the sentence of community service, returned as under Art. 93 para.(3) in the Criminal Code by the previous judgment that is reversed, to be deducted from a potential obligation of the same nature ordered in the case where the entirety of the criminal violation is being tried?”

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 9th of June 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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