Study on the Interference Area Between the Criminal Law and the Labour Law

• Author: Radu Razvan Popescu, PhD
• Position: Senior Lecturer S.N.S.P.A.
• Pages: 1-5

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1. The place of the penal labour law in the juridical system

1.1. The law does not exist only as an accidental apposition of a number, greater or lesser, of juridical norms. A structural analysis of the law leads to the conclusion that its structure involves a network of relationships and their organization and hierarchy make up, finally, a system. Thus, the system of law proves to be an organized and logical whole, an ensemble with related parts and being structured by branches, sub-branches and juridical institutions (N. Popa, 2002, p.7)

Characteristic to this system is the mandatory existence of a common structure, which incorporates the related elements within a complex and relatively stable body which acts as a whole, with its own properties and functions which are distinct and qualitatively different from those of the elements that formed it.

The basic element of the system of law is the juridical norm.

Organization of the law as a system entails the grouping of the juridical norms by branches, sub-branches and juridical institutions. The largest grouping of juridical norms is the law branch. The law branch is the collection of juridical norms regulating the social relationships in a particular sphere of social life, on the basis of specific regulation methods and common principles. The criteria which underlie the structuring of the branches of this system are:

- the object of the juridic regulation, which represent the social relationships under the incidence of juridical norms, considered as being the prevalent premise;

- the common principles of the corresponding law branch;

- the regulation method, as a way to establish the type of social conduct, by preponderantly using the norms, either imperative or having a character of disposition.

1.2. Not all social relationships have a corresponding law branch. A law branch is constituted on the basis of the qualitative specificity of a group of social relationships which require a system of norms with congruous characters butPage 2each having characteristic elements.

Within the law branches, the identification of the characteristic elements of a group of social relationships leads to outlining the law sub-branches¹. The law sub-branch is made up by a system of juridic institutions, which by their structure belong to the same law branch and have in common a number of specific characteristics giving them a certain autonomy.

The juridic institution is a group of juridical norms with a lesser extent than the law sub-branch. The juridical institution is defined as the body of juridical norms that are systematically interrelated and belong to the same law branch. These norms regulate connected social relationships using the regulation method specific to the respective branch.

Thus we theoretically find a juridic triptych: law branch, law sub-branch and juridic institution.

The existence of the law branch, law sub-branch and juridic institutions is governed by the complexity of the social relationships that are juridically regulated. The social relationships exist in close correlation and this imposes certain mandatory links between the law branches as well as some juridic institutions (as, for instance, the institution of property) that belong to several law branches (mainly to the civil law but also to the commercial law, administrative law a.s.o.).

In these conditions, there is also another consequence: between the law branches result interference zones that generate some difficulties in reckoning which sub-branch a juridic institution belongs to or which law branch a sub-branch belongs to.

The theory of law does not make a clear-cut clarification if one can accept, in the present stage in Romania, the existence of some sub-branches of law that, at least formally, as denomination, are similar to the law branches (e.g. transportation law, intellectual property law, companies law). Also, there is no firm opinion on some disciplines which represent a juxtaposition of some concepts belonging to several law branches as, for instance, the penal law of business (O. Predescu, 2000, p.112).

2. The scope of the penal labour law

2.1. The scope of the penal labour law, a sub-branch or the penal law, there are several options:

1. The penal labour law would be represented by the entirety of penal acts specified in the Labour Code and in the...