OBIECTUL JURIDIC AL INFRACŢIUNII DE PORNOGRAFIE INFANTILĂ – ÎNTRE PROTECŢIA PERSOANEI ŞI OCROTIREA ORDINII PUBLICE
THE PROTECTED LEGAL INTEREST IN THE OFFENCE OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY: BETWEEN THE PROTECTION OF THE PERSON AND THE SAFEGUARDING OF PUBLIC ORDER

Summary/Abstract: This study examines the protected legal interest underlying the offence of child pornography, as regulated by Article 374 of the Romanian Criminal Code, in light of the tension between the protection of the minor as a victim of sexual exploitation and the systematic placement of the offence within the category of offences against public order and public peace. In our view, Article 374 of the Romanian Criminal Code is, in essence, an offence aimed at protecting the person, since the principal social value at stake is the minor’s freedom, sexual integrity, and dignity, rather than public morality or social order in the abstract. However, this conclusion does not automatically require the provision to be relocated to the category of offences against the person. On the contrary, the structural features of the provision, the variety of situations it encompasses, the difficulties involved in identifying victims in certain cases, and the requirements of procedural functionality justify, at least under the current legislative framework, retaining Article 374 within Title VIII of the Criminal Code as a matter of legislative technique. The study seeks to clarify the meaning of the provision currently in force by highlighting its orientation toward the protection of the minor and by placing the minor at the centre of criminal-law protection, without disregarding the systematic constraints of the existing normative framework.

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