Controversial Issues on the Requests and the Exceptions Invoked in the Preliminary Chamber Procedure - Jurisprudential Issues

AuthorSandra Gradinaru
Pages88-101
European Integration - Realities and Perspectives. Proceedings 2018
88
Controversial Issues on the Requests and the Exceptions Invoked in the
Preliminary Chamber Procedure - Jurisprudential Issues
Sandra Gradinaru1
Abstract: The present paper aims to analyze the stage of the preliminary chamber, phase of the criminal trial
introduced by the Romanian legislator with the adoption of the New Criminal Procedure Code. Preliminary
chamber procedure is an element of novelty in the criminal process so law practitioners have encountered
numerous difficulties in applying the new provisions.If some of these difficulties were remedied either by the
Constitutional Court or by the High Court of Cassation and Justice through the procedure for resolving issues
of law, a large part of the difficulty in interpreting the provisions governing the preliminary-ruling procedure
was left t o the national jurisprudence.Present study aims at revealing the most frequent controversial issues
encountered in the practice of the courts, but especially in highlighting the non-unitary interpretation
generated by their jurisprudence.The academic and practical interest lies in the fact that the present work can
be a useful legal instrument in unifying the non-unitary practice, all the more so as it analyzes the solutions
ordered by courts of any degree and on the whole territory of the country.
Keywords: preliminary chamber; exclusion of evidence; nullity; requests and exceptions
Introduction
The institution of the preliminary chamber procedure was introduced into the Romanian criminal
procedural system with the entry into force of the New Criminal Procedure Code.2
The explanatory memorandum to the draft of the new Criminal Procedure Code3 reveals that the
Romanian legislator, trough the preliminary chamber phase in the criminal trial, aimed to meet the
requirements of legality, celerity and fairness of the criminal trial.
Therefore, the preliminary chamber is a new, innovative institution that aims to create a modern
legislative framework that removes the excessive length of proceedings in the trial phase. By
regulating the procedure of the preliminary chamber, it is intended to resolve the issues of the
lawfulness of the indictment and of the lawfulness of the administration of evidence, ensuring the
premises for the prompt resolution of the cases. In this way, some of the deficiencies that led to the
conviction of Romania by the European Court of Human Rights for the violation of the excessive
duration of the criminal trial are eliminated.
1 Senior Lecturer, PhD, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania, Address: Address: Blvd. Carol I, n o. 22, Iasi,
Romania, Tel.: +40232201102, int. 2377, Fax: +40232217000, Corresponding author:
2 Criminal Pr ocedure Code adopted by Law no. 135 from 01.07.2010, published in the Official Monitor, Part I no. 486 of
15.07.2010, entered into force on 01.02.2014.
3 The explanatory memorandum to the draft of the new Criminal Procedure Code available online at:
http://www.cdep.ro/proiecte/2009/400/10/2/em412.pdf.

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