Justice Ministry Draft Decree Restricts Publishing of Information from Criminal Cases

A new provision added to the Criminal Procedure Code states that public authorities will be forbidden from making statements or publishing information regarding the acts and individuals involved in criminal cases, and will also be forbidden to address culprits as if they were guilty before a final decision is reached.

Information pertaining to criminal cases can be published by exception if it is deemed to be of public interest, according to the bill.

Romania’s Justice Ministry sent the country’s top judicial watchdog CSM a draft emergency decree which amends the country's criminal codes, as well as temporarily enabling appeals for annulment in past cases judged by the Supreme Court’s five-judge panels, judicial sources told MEDIAFAX.

According to the draft decree seen by MEDIAFAX, the statute of limitations is effectively reduced for all offences, regardless of interruptions caused by criminal proceedings.

The draft decree also allows convicts who received final sentence from the Supreme Court’s five-judge appeal panels prior to November 2018 to file an appeal for annulment, a procedure which requests the annulment of the sentence based on procedural issues, within a 60-day period after the decree is enacted. Normally, the procedure can be filed within a maximum of 30 days following the decision.

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