Two Legal Orders for One Mental Disorder – Addressing the Legislative Parallelism in Romania’s Mental Health Framework
Two Legal Orders for One Mental Disorder – Addressing the Legislative Parallelism in Romania’s Mental Health Framework

Summary/Abstract: This article analyzes the conditions under which medical security measures regulated by the Romanian Criminal Code and measures regulated by the Law on Mental Health and the Protection of Persons with Mental Disorders No. 487/2002 may be ordered and enforced, together with the corresponding guarantees of fundamental rights afforded in each procedure. The study examines the coexistence of these two different legal frameworks - criminal and medical -, essentially based on the same criteria - the perceived social dangerousness of mentally ill person -, which lead to the same outcome: the involuntary deprivation of liberty on mental health grounds. This paper seeks to assess the constitutional stability and human rights compliance of regulating similar institutions with distinct legal foundations - one grounded in the commission of an act provided for by criminal law, and the other in the mental health status of the person concerned. We argue that this legislative parallelism generates inconsistencies in protection and procedure, undermining legal certainty, equality before the law, and respect for fundamental rights.

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