Legal Nature of Criminal Proceedings Regarding the Length of the Appeal

• Author: Constantin Tanase
• Pages: 55-61

Legal Sciences in the New Millennium

55

Legal Nature of Criminal Proceedings

Regarding the Length of the Appeal

Constantin Tanase1

Abstract: The appeal regarding length of criminal pro ceedings represents a new institution of Romanian

criminal procedure system, born from the need to align th e procedural rules to the constitutional requirements

and other internal rules, but especially from the need for harmonization with European Community rules,

namely the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. To the same extent,

it was aimed at forming a legal institution in line with the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human

Rights. The new institution has its registered matter in art. 4881-4886 Criminal Procedure Code., Introduced

by Law implementing the Code under Title IV – “Special Procedures” which recommends it from the

beginning as a d erogation from the common procedure. Nevertheless, given the position of remedy for

excessive and un justified extension of the criminal proceedings, as well as the judicial review, which it

triggers in this regard, it raises the question o f the legal nature of the appeal regarding the length of cri minal

proceedings. The answer to this question may affect the correct application of the institution and the

improvement of judicial practice.

Keywords: n ew institutions of the criminal proceedings; appeal; Convention for the Protection of Human

Rights and Fundamental Freedoms

1. Introduction

The celerity of the criminal proceedings, reducing the length of the case settlement and streamlining

the procedures of criminal judicial trial were the core elements of the objectives taken into account by

the authors of the Criminal Procedure Code. (Explanatory memorandum …) In achieving this, there

have been introduced new institutions and new guarantees, while the ones kept from the old regulatory

were redefined, reshaped, upgraded and adapted to new realities.

In this regard we must note the provisions of art. 8 Criminal Procedure Code, which have value of

principle, regarding the need for criminal proceedings within a reasonable time limit. (Neagu &

Damaschin, 2015, p. 493)The introduction of this new principle has been driven by the need to align

the procedural rules to the constitutional requirements and to other internal regulations targeting the

issue of criminal proceedings within a reasonable time limit, and especially the need for harmonization

with the European Community legislation and the jurisprudence of the Court of Strasbourg. Therefore,

art. 21 paragraph (3) of the Constitution provides that the parties are entitled to a fair trial and to

settlement of cases within a reasonable period. The same regulation is found in art. 10 of Law no.

1 Senior Lecturer, PhD, Faculty of Law, Danubius University of Galati, Romania, Address: 3 Galati Blvd., Galati 800654,

Romania, Tel.: +40372361102, Corresponding author: constantin.tanase@univ-danubius.ro.