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ADMISSIBILITY OF THE CONTESTATION REGARDING THE DURATION OF THE CRIMINAL TRIAL IN CASES WITH UNKNOWN AUTHORS
Abstract
In the regulation of the current Romanian Code of Criminal Procedure (Law no. 135/2010, entered into force on February 1, 2014), the contestation regarding the duration of the criminal trial was conceived as a procedural remedy in the case of the lack of celerity of the judicial bodies. The lack of promptness of the criminal investigation bodies can lead to the violation of the fundamental right to resolve the case within a reasonable term, as a component of the right to a fair trial, enshrined in the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (art. 6 par. 1). Starting from a recent decision of the supreme court in Romania (Decision of the High Court of Cassation and Justice no. 7/2022) pronounced in the resolution of a recourse in the interest of the law, the present work addresses the issue of the admissibility of the contestation regarding the duration of the criminal trial in the case of facts whose authors have not been identified. In this study, the following research methods are used: documentation, interpretation and scientific analysis (including the comparative analysis of some jurisprudential solutions). The study aims to contribute to the unified interpretation and application of the provisions relating to the special procedure of contestation regarding the duration of the criminal trial, as currently regulated in the Romanian Code of Criminal Procedure. The paper emphasizes the need to exercise the active role of the criminal investigation bodies in the administration of evidence, including in cases with unknown authors. The conclusion is that, considering the hierarchy of normative acts, the application of methodological norms (with lower legal force than the law) regarding the administrative organization of criminal investigation activities in cases with unidentified perpetrators cannot have the effect of diminishing the role of the contestation regarding the duration of the criminal trial, as a remedy in speeding up the procedure, when the judge of rights and freedoms finds that the reasonable duration of these activities has been exceeded.
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References12
European Convention on Human Rights, available on https://www.echr.coe.int/documents/convention_eng.pdf, accessed at 25.10.2022;
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