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The notion of „principle” has known three approaches throughout its history: ontological (philosophical), logical, and normative. Ontologically, it would mean the primary object of knowledge stemming from the intellectual act, by the procedure of induction, generalization (a form of reasoning), starting from the particular and ending with the general, from facts to concepts. In a logical sense, it is a general proposal induced from particular rules, being a source for deductive reasoning wherein the conclusion follows necessarily premises that are sources of orientation: ideas, facts, situations. Legal logic has a wide content, and it is considered that logical principles denote, on the one hand, a body of rules stemming from a methodic and reflected development, rules ordered systematically, and, on the other hand, the axioms that substantiate a rational structure. This is how principles are linked with the perpetual work of sensibly organizing the law (the activity of legislation). In a normative sense, the principle no longer describes the object or a form of logic, nor does it describe an axiom or a reason-based system of rules, but a legal norm/standard whereby an obligation is asserted, establishing a resource for the legal interpreter. Interpretative adages which relate, however, to formal rules of logical reasoning, may clash and lack any compelling force, being used by the judge in the development of his/her own policy. The role of the principles is to ensure the coherence and harmony of the legal system, since they are the expression of superior values embedded in the spirit of the law. Regarding the content and the extent of the principle of legal certainly, legal literature has identified three levels of approach: pre-judicial legal certainty; procedural legal certainty and post-judicial substantial legal certainty; all of them meet to ensure the „predictability of the law” so that the parties/the litigants have a feeling of certainty. -
The study is grounded on the thesis according to which the contestation against execution aimed at reducing the punishment imposed on the convicted person under the special cause of reducing the punishment provided in Article 19 of the Law No 682/2002 on the protection of witnesses is inadmissible.
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This study deals with the mediation in the criminal side of the trial. The legislator has limited the scope of application of the mediation in the criminal side of the trial to the offences in respect of which the criminal action is set in motion upon the prior complaint of the injured party and is extinguished by the withdrawal of the prior complaint, on the one hand, and to the offences in respect of which the criminal action, although set in motion ex officio, is extinguished by the reconciliation between the injured party and the perpetrator. The mediation procedure in the criminal side of the trial is marked by three stages: the pre-mediation stage, the stage of actual mediation and the stage of closing the mediation. The pre-mediation stage is marked by an initial moment, when the conflicting parties present themselves to the mediator, and by a final moment, when mediation is either accepted or refused. The stage of actual mediation takes place in the form of some mediation sessions and it concentrates the most important activity of the mediation procedure. After the mediation takes place, the procedure is closed by concluding an agreement between the parties as a result of the settlement of the conflict, by the mediator’s finding of the mediation failure or by the submission of the mediation contract by one of the parties. Within the mediation in the criminal side of the trial, three legal acts are drawn up: the mediation contract, the minutes of closing the mediation and the mediation agreement. The mediation contract ends at the final moment of the preliminary stage of the procedure, when the conflicting parties appear before the mediator. Upon closing the mediation procedure, the mediator draws up a minutes. It is mandatory to draw up the minutes, regardless of the modality by which the mediation procedure is closed. If the mediation is closed by settling the conflict between the parties, the minutes of closing the mediation procedure is doubled by a mediation agreement. In criminal matters, the mediation agreement in writing is mandatory.
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The recent case law of the Romanian Constitutional Court gives shape to a new doctrine regarding the Court’s role in ensuring the national legislator’s compliance with the European Union’s competences. In order to identify the new doctrine’s background, the current article analyzes the evolution of the Romanian constitutional case law on the application of Union law. Subsequently, the current position of the Constitutional Court is extensively described, emphasizing both its immediate consequences and possible future developments.
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The offence of international illicit trafficking in risk drugs is provided in Article 3 (1) of the Law No 143/2000 on preventing and combating illicit drug trafficking and consumption, and, following the amendment brought by the Law No 187/2012 for the implementation of the new Criminal Code, is currently punished by imprisonment from 3 to 10 years and the interdiction to exercise some rights. Prior to the amendment, the punishment was imprisonment from 10 to 20 years and the interdiction to exercise certain rights. -
The authors present another opinion on the subject regulated by Article 132 of the Law No 78/2000, arguing that it constitutes a special legal aggravating circumstance for the offences of abuse of office and usurpation of the function provided by Article 297 and Article 300 of the Criminal Code. In the current regulation the abuse of office provided by Article 297 of the Criminal Code by reference to Article 132 of the Law No 78/2000 is not a criminal offence assimilated to corruption offences and, consequently, may not fall within the competence of the NAD unless the damage caused exceeds the ROL equivalent of one million euros. Drawing attention to the fact that the provisions of Article 132 of the Law No 78/2000 are not precise, predictable, they bring arguments in support of the thesis of the susceptibility of unconstitutionality thereof.
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This study concerns the manner in which the abuse of office provided by Article 297 (1) of the Criminal Code is presented in the Draft law drawn up by the Ministry of Justice, appreciating that the offence is defined simplistically and formally, without clarity, precision and predictability. According to the Draft law, any act of breach of the law, of a Government Ordinance or of a Government Emergency Ordinance by a civil servant is considered to be offence of abuse of service, regardless of its severity and consequences, because the legal content thereof is not circumscribed. In order not to confuse the offence of abuse of service with the other forms of civil, disciplinary, administrative, fiscal, material or contraventional legal liability, we have introduced in its definition the condition that the act be committed for material interests, and that the damage cause particularly serious consequences. In this way, the abuses in the interpretation and application of Article 297 (1) of the Criminal Code will be completely removed.
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In this article the author intends to debate, from the perspective of the constitutional texts, developed in the Law No 303/2004, the complex problems of the status of prosecutors, especially since the legal nature of the Public Ministry is not definitively clarified, the legal texts, including the norms written down in the new Criminal Procedure Code, failing to configure the position of the prosecutor’s offices between the executive power and the judicial power. If, from the point of view of the constitutional role, the prosecutor is closer to the Executive (he permanently defends the general interests of society, the rule of law, as well as citizens’ rights and freedoms), from the point of view of the involvement of prosecutors in the activity of administration of justice of the courts of law, they share similarities with the judicial power, without being, however, part of it. From this perspective, the author analyzes, among others, the constitutional grounds of the status of prosecutors and their independence, shows why the prosecutors can not benefit from irremovability, presents the content and character of the authority of the minister of justice over the prosecutors, as well as the issue of incompatibility of the members of the Public Ministry.
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This paper proposes an approach of the evolution in time of the Paulian action, from the origins to the current regulation. Underlining the historical reference points of this action contributes to a better understanding of the current form of legal regulation, which knows changes of substance as compared to the one we find in the Roman law.
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The study presented by the author is a subject matter of acute timeliness, especially from the perspective of the fact that the immovable assets do not fall within the scope of some unique rules on their sale, since there are specific legal provisions in relation to different categories of immovable assets and the place where these are located. The paper analyzes the contract of sale of different categories of real estates, such as the lands, the buildings and related land, the lands located inside built-up area, the agricultural land located outside built-up area, as well as the forestry lands, emphasizing the particularities of each type of sale. A special place within the study is occupied by the examination of the legal rules applicable to the sale of the lands located outside built-up area, the conditions in which such real estates can be acquired through sale, the persons who may act as buyers, including the foreigners, the stateless persons and the legal persons of the nationality of other state than Romania. Likewise, there are emphasized the specific phases of exercising the pre-emption right of the co-owners, lessees, neighbouring owners and of the state in case of the sale of the types of real estates analyzed, as well as the sanctions applicable in case of the violation of the rules for the exercise of the pre-emption right in this matter. The study outlines the field of action of the future research, based on the legal doctrinal opinions expressed in the researched space and on the personal views of the author, wishing to form a bridgehead for further developments.
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In this study we intend to make an analysis of the contestation to the insolvency condition, namely the processual means that may be used by the debtor against whom an application for opening the insolvency procedure has been filed. In the light of a rich judicial practice in this area, we consider it appropriate to compare the legal provisions found in Article 72 of the Law No 85/2014, as amended and supplemented, with the jurisprudential interpretations, in order to better understand this means of defence made available to the debtor by the legislator. Thus, we will observe the nature and the conditions in which the debtor’s right to contestation may be exercised, the reasons which can be invoked and the evidence that he can use to demonstrate the lawfulness of his contestation, as well as the legal effects and consequences determined by this procedure.
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Rațiunea vulgară ne spune că judecătorul espus electivităței timpurare nu poate avea principala sa însușire, aceea a independenției, garanția imparțialităției sale. Temerea și dorința, aceste două mobile cari au o înrâurire atât de mare asupra acțiunilor noastre, vor aduce o egală atingere libertăței morale a judecătorului, vor fi o piedică stăruitoare a îndeplinirii misiunei sale sociale.
