The ordinary means of appeal in criminal law, from the perspective of the provisions of Law no. 202/2010 ('the small reform') and of the new Code of Criminal Procedure

• Author: Anca-Lelia Lorincz
• Position: Police Academy 'Alexandru Ioan Cuza
• Pages: 40-49

40 Volume 2, Issue 1, December 2011 Juridical Tribune

The ordinary means of appeal in criminal law, from the perspective

of the provisions of Law no. 202/2010 (“the small reform”)

and of the new Code of Criminal Procedure

Professor Ph.D. Anca-Lelia LORINCZ1

Abstract

Aiming to ensure the celerity of the Romanian cr iminal tria l, the legisla tive

changes of the present Cod e of Criminal P rocedure through Law no. 202/2010 have

impacted also the matter of appea ls, leading to fewer degr ees of jurisdiction in most

criminal ca ses.

The a ctual Romanian Code of Criminal Procedur e governs, as a genera l rule,

the triple level of jurisdiction in criminal matters, dedica ting two ordina ry means of a ttack:

the appea l and the recour se; consequently to the legisla tive changes o f the present Code of

Criminal Procedure (through Law no.202/2010), only the cases tha t are first tr ialed in a

court ca n still undergo both ordinar y means of attack.

Also, Law no.135/2010 regar ding the new Code of Cr iminal Procedur e brings

changes with rega rd to or dinary means of a ttack, and, implicitly, with r egard to the levels

of jurisdiction.

Thus, with the purpose of ensuring the celerity of the cr iminal tria l a nd th e

accelera tion of the settlement of the cr iminal ca ses, under the circumstances in which there

will be an increa se of guarantees in the criminal prosecution phase a nd in the first instance

trial, in the matter of means of atta ck the new code stipulates the ordina ry means of atta ck

of appeal, fully devolutive. Regarding the recourse, this will become an extraordinar y

means of attack (under the name of r ecourse in cassation), exercised only in exceptional

cases an d only for reasons o f illegality.

Keywords: celer ity; ordinary means of attack; criminal case; legislative changes; the new

Code of Criminal Pr ocedure.

JEL Classification: K14, K41

Since it is not expressly regulated in our criminal proceedings legislation,

the celerity (efficacy or rapidity) is required, as fundamental principle of the

criminal trial, because it assumes the desire that the conduct of the criminal trial

and implicitly, the settlement of the criminal cases, should take place as soon as

possible, in a moment as closest to the one when the offence was committed.

Although it is not legally consecrated together with other fundamental

principles of the criminal trial, the principle of efficacy results from other

proceedings provisions, first of all even from the content of Art. 1 paragraph 1 of

the Criminal Procedure Code (the aim of the criminal trial): „The aim of the

criminal trial is to acknowledge in due time and completely the deeds that represent

1 Anca-Lelia Lorincz - Police Academy „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, lelia.lorincz@gmail.com