CRITICAL OBSERVATIONS REGARDING SOME AMENDMENTS TO THE PENAL CODE BY LAW 217/2020
CRITICAL OBSERVATIONS REGARDING SOME AMENDMENTS TO THE PENAL CODE BY LAW 217/2020

Summary/Abstract: Crimes against sexual freedom and integrity are some of the most severe crimes against the person, consisting of a severe and direct violation of sexual freedom, an essential attribute of human personality, with profound antisocial implications. From the data provided by the prosecutor's offices - and included in a report of the Judicial Inspection - it results that between February 1, 2014 - July 29, 2020, 18,549 notifications of sexual crimes with minor victims were registered. By Law no. 217 of October 29, 2020, for the amendment and completion of Law no. 286/2009 regarding the Penal Code published in the Official Gazette no. 1012 of October 30, 2020, the Romanian penal legislature made essential changes in the prescription of criminal liability, by extending the scope of non-prescriptive crimes, but also in the sphere of crimes related to trafficking and exploitation of vulnerable persons and crimes against sexual freedom and integrity. The legislator thus responded to pressure from society to punish acts of sexual abuse, especially of minors more severely, and to eliminate the possibility of suspending the execution of the sentence under supervision. This article aims to analyze some of these legislative changes critically and to highlight certain omissions, inconsistencies, and ambiguities of the legislator, who seems to have acted hastily, finally formulating proposals of ferenda law.

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