TITLE I
BASIC RULES AND ACTIONS IN THE CRIMINAL TRIAL

Chapter l
AIM AND BASIC RULES OF THE CRIMINAL TRIAL

Art.5 - The person's liberty is guaranteed all throughout the criminal trial.

No person may be retained, arrested or deprived of liberty in any way or subjected to any form of liberty restraint, except for the cases and circumstances stipulated by the law.

If the person subjected to preventive arrest or hospitalization or any measure of liberty restraint considers such measures illegal, he/she has the right, during the trial, to bring the matter to the attention of the competent court, under the law.

Any person who was, during the criminal trial, deprived of liberty, or whose liberty was restrained, illegally or unjustly, is entitled to reparation of the damages, in the conditions stipulated by the law.

During the criminal trial, the accused person or the defendant who is preventively arrested may require temporary release, under judicial supervision or on bail.

TITLE I
BASIC RULES AND ACTIONS IN THE CRIMINAL TRIAL

Chapter l
AIM AND BASIC RULES OF THE CRIMINAL TRIAL

Art. 5(1) - Any person subjected to criminal investigation or to criminal trail must be treated with respect for human dignity.

Torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment are punished under the law.

TITLE I
BASIC RULES AND ACTIONS IN THE CRIMINAL TRIAL

Chapter l
AIM AND BASIC RULES OF THE CRIMINAL TRIAL

Art. 5(2) - Any person shall be presumed innocent till found guilty by a final decision of the court.

TITLE I
BASIC RULES AND ACTIONS IN THE CRIMINAL TRIAL

Chapter l
AIM AND BASIC RULES OF THE CRIMINAL TRIAL

Art.6 - The right to defence is guaranteed to the accused person, to the defendant and to the other parties all throughout the criminal trial.

During the criminal trial, the judicial bodies must ensure the parties' full exertion of their procedural rights, under the circumstances stipulated by the law and must administrate the evidence necessary for defence.

The judicial bodies must inform the accused person or the defendant, immediately and before hearing, of the deed of which he is held responsible and of its judicial status, and must ensure the preparation and exertion of his/ her defence.

Any party is entitled to assistance by defender during the criminal trial.

The judicial bodies must inform the accused person or the defendant, before his/ her first statement, on his/ her right to be assisted by a defender; this will be recorded in the official report of the hearing.
Under the circumstances and in the cases stipulated by the law, the judicial bodies must provide judicial assistance for the defendant, if the latter has not chosen a defender.

TITLE I
BASIC RULES AND ACTIONS IN THE CRIMINAL TRIAL

Chapter l
AIM AND BASIC RULES OF THE CRIMINAL TRIAL

Art. 7 – The judicial procedure of the criminal trial is conducted in Romanian.

In front of the judicial bodies, the parties and other persons summoned to trial are ensured the use of their native tongue, the procedure documents being drawn in Romanian.

TITLE I
BASIC RULES AND ACTIONS IN THE CRIMINAL TRIAL

Chapter l
AIM AND BASIC RULES OF THE CRIMINAL TRIAL

Art.8 - The parties who do not speak or do not understand the Romanian language, or who cannot express themselves, are given the possibility, free of charge, to get acquainted with the record, to speak in court and pass conclusions, through an interpreter.

TITLE III
EVIDENCE AND MEANS OF EVIDENCE

CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Art. 65 - The task of administrating the evidence during the criminal trial belongs to the criminal investigation body and to the court.

Upon request from the criminal investigation body or the court, any person who knows of a piece of evidence or holds a means of evidence must reveal or present it.

TITLE III
EVIDENCE AND MEANS OF EVIDENCE

CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Art. 66 - The accused person or the defendant benefits from the presumption of evidence and is not obliged to prove his/her innocence.

In case there is evidence for his/her guilt, the accused person or the defendant has the right to prove their inconsistency.

TITLE III
EVIDENCE AND MEANS OF EVIDENCE

CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Art. 68 - It is forbidden to use violence, threats or any other constraints, as well as promises or encouragement with the purpose of obtaining evidence.

Also, it is forbidden to force a person to commit or to continue committing an offence with the purpose of obtaining evidence.

TITLE III
EVIDENCE AND MEANS OF EVIDENCE

CHAPTER III
MEANS OF EVIDENCE

Section I
Statements of the accused person or the defendant

Art. 69 - The statements given by the accused person or defendant during the criminal trial may lead to the truth only to the extent to which they are corroborated with facts and circumstances resulted from all the evidence in the case.

TITLE III
EVIDENCE AND MEANS OF EVIDENCE

CHAPTER III
MEANS OF EVIDENCE

Section I
Statements of the accused person or the defendant

Art. 70 - Before being heard, the accused person or defendant is asked about his/her name, surname, nickname, date and place of birth, name and surname of parents, citizenship, education, military service, working place, occupation, address, criminal antecedents and other data necessary to determine his/her personal situation.

The accused person or defendant is then informed about the deed that makes the object of the case, the right to have a defender, as well as the right not to make any statement, at the same time being informed that everything he declares may be used against him/her as well. If the accused person or defendant makes a statement, he/she is asked to declare everything he/she knows related to the deed and to the accusation in connection to this.

If the accused person or defendant agrees to make a statement, the criminal investigation body, before hearing him/her, asks him/her to write personally a statement related to the guilt he is made responsible of.

TITLE III
EVIDENCE AND MEANS OF EVIDENCE

CHAPTER III
MEANS OF EVIDENCE

Section I
Statements of the accused person or the defendant

Art. 71 - Every accused person or defendant is heard separately.
During the criminal investigation, if there are several accused persons or defendants, each of them is heard without the others attending.

The accused person or defendant is first left to declare everything he/she knows in relation with the case.

The hearing of the accused person or defendant cannot begin by reading or reminding the statements that the latter has previously given in relation with the case.

The accused person or defendant cannot present or read a previously written statement, but he/ she may use notes for details that are difficult to remember.

TITLE III
EVIDENCE AND MEANS OF EVIDENCE

CHAPTER III
MEANS OF EVIDENCE

Section XI
The use of interpreters

Cases and procedurefor the use of interpreters
Art. 128 - When one of the parties or other person that is to be heard cannot understand or speak Romanian, and the criminal investigation body or the court cannot communicate with him/her, they provide an interpreter, free of charge. The interpreter may be appointed or chosen by the parties; in this case, it must be an authorized interpreter, according to the law.

The provisions of the previous paragraph are also enforced accordingly in case some of the writings in the case record or presented in court are in another language than Romanian.

The provisions of art. 83, 84 and 85 are enforced accordingly on the interpreter as well.

TITLE IV
PREVENTIVE MEASURES AND OTHER PROCEDURAL MEASURES

CHAPTER I
PREVENTIVE MEASURES

Section IV
Preventive arrest

1. Arrest of the accused person

Arrest of the accused person during criminal investigation
Art. 146 – The prosecutor, ex officio or solicited by the criminal investigation body, when the conditions stipulated in art. 143 are met and there is evidence from which results one of the cases provided at art. 148, if he considers the accused person's arrest to be in the interest of the criminal investigation, and only after hearing the latter in the presence of his/her defender, presents the case file, with the motivated proposal to take the measure of preventive arrest of the accused person, to the president of the court or to the judge delegated by the latter.

The file is presented to the president of the court that would be competent to judge the case at first instance, or of the corresponding court in whose jurisdiction the detention place is, or to the judge delegated by the court president.

TITLE IV
PREVENTIVE MEASURES AND OTHER PROCEDURAL MEASURES

CHAPTER I
PREVENTIVE MEASURES

Section IV
Preventive arrest

2. Arrest of the defendant

Duration of the defendant’s arrest
Art. 149 - The duration of the defendant's arrest during criminal investigation may not exceed 30 days, except for the case when it is extended under the law. The due time is calculated from the date when the warrant was issued, when the arrest was ordered after hearing the defendant, and in case the arrest was ordered in the defendant's absence, the due time is calculated from the date of execution of the arrest warrant.

When a case is moved in the course of criminal investigation from one investigation body to another, the arrest warrant previously issued remains valid. The duration of the arrest is calculated according to the provisions of the previous paragraph.

TITLE IV
PREVENTIVE MEASURES AND OTHER PROCEDURAL MEASURES

CHAPTER I
PREVENTIVE MEASURES

Section IV
Preventive arrest

2. Arrest of the defendant

Checking related to the defendant’s arrest during trial
Art. 160b – During trial, the court checks periodically, but no later than 60 days, the legality and justification of the preventive arrest.

If the court establishes that the reasons which determined preventive arrest have ceased or there are no new reasons to justify the deprivation of freedom, it orders, through closing, the revocation of preventive arrest and immediate release of the defendant.

When the court establishes that the reasons which determined preventive arrest impose further deprivation of freedom or that there are new reasons that justify the deprivation of freedom, it orders, through motivated closing, the maintaining of preventive arrest.

The closing may be attacked by recourse, the provisions of art. 160a par. 2 being applied accordingly.

TITLE V
TRIAL-RELATED AND COMMON PROCEDURAL ACTS

CHAPTER I
JUDICIAL ASSISTANCE AND REPRESENTATION


Assistance of the accused personor defendant
Art. 171 – The accused person or defendant has the right to be assisted by a defender all throughout the criminal investigation and the trial, and the judicial bodies must inform him/her of this right.

Judicial assistance is obligatory when the accused person or defendant is a juvenile, military in service, military with reduced service, called-up reservist, student of a military educational institute, held in a re-education centre or in a medical-educational unit, when arrested in another case, or when the criminal investigation body or the court appreciate that the accused person or defendant could not defend himself/herself, as well as in other cases stipulated by the law.

During the trial, judicial assistance is obligatory, also in the cases in which the law provides for the offence committed life detention or imprisonment for 5 years or more.

When judicial assistance is obligatory, if the defendant has not chosen a defender, measures are taken for appointing one ex officio.

When judicial assistance is obligatory, if the chosen defender does not appear, without reason, at two consecutive summons, according to the case, at the date established for an action of criminal investigation or at the date settled for trial, thus creating difficulties for the development and solution of the criminal trial, the judicial body appoints an ex officio defender to replace the chosen one, granting him/her the necessary time to prepare the defence, which may not be shorter than 3 days, except the solution of requests regarding preventive arrest, when the due time may not be shorter than 24 hours.

The delegation of the ex officio defender ceases once the chosen defender appears.

If the defender is absent from the trial and cannot be replaced, in the conditions of par. 41, the case is postponed.

The rights of the defender
Art. 172 - During the criminal investigation, the defender of the accused person or defendant has the right to assist in the performance of every criminal investigation act and may draw up requests and statements. The absence of the defender does not impede the performance of the criminal investigation act, if there is proof that the defender has been informed on the date and time of the act performance.

When judicial assistance is obligatory, the criminal investigation body will ensure the presence of the defender at the defendant's hearing.

In case the defender of the accused person or defendant is present at the performance of a criminal investigation act, this will be mentioned and the act is also signed by the defender.

The arrested accused person or defendant has the right to get in touch with the defender, the confidentiality of talks being ensured.

The contacting of the defender may not be forbidden at the extension of the arrest duration by the court, while at the presentation of the criminal investigation material it is obligatory.

The defender has the right to complain, under art. 275, if his/her claims have not been approved ; in the situations stipulated in paragraphs 2, 4 and 5, the prosecutor must solve the complaint in maximum 48 hours.

During the trial, the defender has the right to assist the defendant to exert the trial-related rights of the latter, and in case the defendant is arrested, to get in touch with him.

The defender chosen or appointed ex officio must ensure the judicial assistance of the accused person or defendant. In case of non-compliance with this obligation, the criminal investigation body or the court may inform the managing board of the bar, in order to take measures.

Assistance of other parties
Art. 173 - The defender of the victim, of the civil party and of the party bearing the civil responsibility has the right to draw up requests and statements.

During the trial, the defender exerts the rights of the party that he/she assists.

When the court considers that, for certain reasons, the victim, the civil party or the party bearing the civil responsibility cannot handle their own defence, it orders, ex officio or upon request, enforcement of the measures for appointing a defendant.

Representation
Art. 174 - During the trial, the accused person and the defendant, as well as the other parties may be represented, with the exception of the cases when the presence of the accused person or defendant is obligatory.

In all the cases when the law allows the representation of the accused person or defendant, the court has the right, when it considers the presence of the accused person or defendant necessary, to order his/her presentation.

Article 55
Rights of persons during an investigation
1. In respect of an investigation under this Statute, a person:
(a) Shall not be compelled to incriminate himself or herself or to confess guilt;
(b) Shall not be subjected to any form of coercion, duress or threat, to torture or to any other form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;
(c) Shall, if questioned in a language other than a language the person fully understands and speaks, have, free of any cost, the assistance of a competent interpreter and such translations as are necessary to meet the requirements of fairness; and
(d) Shall not be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention, and shall not be deprived of his or her liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedures as are established in this Statute.
2. Where there are grounds to believe that a person has committed a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court and that person is about to be questioned either by the Prosecutor, or by national authorities pursuant to a request made under Part 9, that person shall also have the following rights of which he or she shall be informed prior to being questioned:
(a) To be informed, prior to being questioned, that there are grounds to believe that he or she has committed a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court;
(b) To remain silent, without such silence being a consideration in the determination of guilt or innocence;
(c) To have legal assistance of the person's choosing, or, if the person does not have legal assistance, to have legal assistance assigned to him or her, in any case where the interests of justice so require, and without payment by the person in any such case if the person does not have sufficient means to pay for it; and
(d) To be questioned in the presence of counsel unless the person has voluntarily waived his or her right to counsel.

Article 63
Trial in the presence of the accused
1. The accused shall be present during the trial.
2. If the accused, being present before the Court, continues to disrupt the trial, the Trial Chamber may remove the accused and shall make provision for him or her to observe the trial and instruct counsel from outside the courtroom, through the use of communications technology, if required. Such measures shall be taken only in exceptional circumstances after other reasonable alternatives have proved inadequate, and only for such duration as is strictly required.

Article 66
Presumption of innocence
1. Everyone shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty before the Court in accordance with the applicable law.
2. The onus is on the Prosecutor to prove the guilt of the accused.
3. In order to convict the accused, the Court must be convinced of the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt.

Article 67
Rights of the accused
1. In the determination of any charge, the accused shall be entitled to a public hearing, having regard to the provisions of this Statute, to a fair hearing conducted impartially, and to the following minimum guarantees, in full equality:
(a) To be informed promptly and in detail of the nature, cause and content of the charge, in a language which the accused fully understands and speaks;
(b) To have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of the defence and to communicate freely with counsel of the accused's choosing in confidence;
(c) To be tried without undue delay;
(d) Subject to article 63, paragraph 2, to be present at the trial, to conduct the defence in person or through legal assistance of the accused's choosing, to be informed, if the accused does not have legal assistance, of this right and to have legal assistance assigned by the Court in any case where the interests of justice so require, and without payment if the accused lacks sufficient means to pay for it;
(e) To examine, or have examined, the witnesses against him or her and to obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses on his or her behalf under the same conditions as witnesses against him or her. The accused shall also be entitled to raise defences and to present other evidence admissible under this Statute;
(f) To have, free of any cost, the assistance of a competent interpreter and such translations as are necessary to meet the requirements of fairness, if any of the proceedings of or documents presented to the Court are not in a language which the accused fully understands and speaks;
(g) Not to be compelled to testify or to confess guilt and to remain silent, without such silence being a consideration in the determination of guilt or innocence;
(h) To make an unsworn oral or written statement in his or her defence; and
(i) Not to have imposed on him or her any reversal of the burden of proof or any onus of rebuttal.
2. In addition to any other disclosure provided for in this Statute, the Prosecutor shall, as soon as practicable, disclose to the defence evidence in the Prosecutor's possession or control which he or she believes shows or tends to show the innocence of the accused, or to mitigate the guilt of the accused, or which may affect the credibility of prosecution evidence. In case of doubt as to the application of this paragraph, the Court shall decide.