The holders of the admission of guilt agreement and its limits

• Author: M.M. Bârsan/M.M. Cardis
• Position: Law Department, Transilvania University of Brasov/Student at Law Faculty, Transilvania University of Brasov
• Pages: 173-180

Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov

Series VII: Social Sciences • Law • Vol. 8 (57) No. 2 - 2015

THE HOLDERS OF THE ADMISSION OF

GUILT AGREEMENT AND ITS LIMITS

M.M. BÂRSAN1 M.M. CARDIŞ2

Abstract: The admission of guilt agreement is a special procedure, a

novelty for the Romanian criminal law, regulated in title IV of the Special

Part of the Criminal Procedure Code, article 478-488. According to the

motivation of the Criminal Procedure Code, by regulating this procedure,

several aims were achieved: shortening the trial, simplifying the prosecution,

saving human and financial resources. In order to regulate this institution,

the Romanian lawmaker was inspired by the law of other European states, by

assuming provisions from the French and the German system of law. The

novelty of this institution created confusion and some inaccuracies, but, in

our opinion, judicial practice will clarify certain aspects which are now

considered confusing.

Key words: admission of guilt agreement, Criminal Procedure Code, the

defendant, the prosecutor.

1 Law Department, Transilvania University of Braşov.

2 Student at Law Faculty, Transilvania University of Braşov.

1. Introduction

Human contemporary society is in a

continuous evolution, which inevitably

influences the law of a state, because it

must be adapted by considering the factors

which determine the appearance of a

certain social phenomenon.

In this context, the lack of expedience of

the criminal procedures in general became

obvious, as well as the fact that the degree

of confidence in the act of justice is falling,

thus calling for the necessity of increasing

the degree of transparency of the

procedure. As a consequence, considering

that national law must correspond to the

standards imposed by the principle of the

right to an equitable trial, as stated in the

European Convention on Human Rights,

Law no 135/2010 regarding the Criminal

Procedure Code was published in the

Official Bulletin of Romania on July 15th,

2010 [8]. It came into force February 1st,

2014. By this law, several changes were

made in regard to the procedures which

can occur within a criminal trial, changes

which have restructured the current

procedural logic, by attenuating the

inquisitorial nature of the Romanian

criminal procedure system and by

introducing new elements of the

adversarial system. This is the situation of

the admission of guilt agreement, an

element of negotiated justice, an institution

which is a novelty for the procedural

system, as it represents a typical element of

the adversarial system, in which the

prosecutor and the defendant can reach an

agreement when the latter admits the

crimes he is charged with. Given the