High Court of Review and Justice
PRESS RELEASE
In its session of 19 June 2023, the High Court of Cassation and Justice, Panel for the Clarification of Certain Points of Law in Criminal Matters, lawfully established in the Case, considered a request for a preliminary ruling for the clarification of certain points of law, and returned the following Judgment:
Decision 56 in Case 1235/1/2023
Denies as inadmissible the request brought by the Court of Appeal of Constanța, Criminal, Juvenile and Family Chamber, by judgment of the sitting of 10 February 2023, in Case No 4392/118/2022/a1, for a preliminary ruling for the clarification of the following points of law:
“On the application of the provisions of Article 16 para. (1) point (f) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, Art. 309 para. (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure and Article 315 para. (1) point (b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, in the preliminary chamber proceedings governed by Art. 342 et seq. of the Code of Criminal Procedure, namely whether, in the context of this procedure – aimed at verifying the legality of the referral to the court, the taking of evidence and the performance of acts by the prosecution authorities (in the context of the examination, in particular, of objections of illegality of the act of bringing the criminal proceedings and the act of referral to the court, on the ground that they were issued after the expiry of the limitation period for criminal liability) – may the preliminary chamber judge consider the expiry of that period as an incidental ground, as a concrete basis for the unlawfulness of the contested acts, that is to say, for the unlawfulness of the taking of evidence after the expiry of the limitation period for criminal liability, subsequent to a finding that the act initiating the criminal proceedings is invalid?”
Mandatory 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, 19 June 2023.
After the justification is written and the Judgment signed it shall be published in the Official Journal of Romania, Part I.