Materiale asemănătoare

Autor: Maria-Magdalena Bârsan, Mălina-Alexandra Șerban

Publicat în: Revista Universul Juridic nr. 10/2020

Articol disponibil online: aici.

Abstract: The special procedure of the admission of guilt agreement is an actual issue which entails a radical change of the Romanian criminal trial; it is regulated with the purpose of reducing the duration of criminal trials, simplifying the activity of criminal prosecution and reducing the costs for all parties of the trial and the Romanian state.
Thus, according to article 480 second alignment of the Criminal Procedure Code, the agreement can only be concluded when there is enough proof to suggest that the a crime was committed and the defendant is guilty of committing that crime. Although this conditions seems to be rather subjective, as the prosecutor has the exclusive possibility to appreciate on the sufficiency of evidence regarding the deed and the guilt of the defendant, along with favorable notice from the superior prosecutor and the legal verification provided by the court, we believe that social order is protected from any abusive enforcement of this institution.
The article aims to clarify the extent to which the sufficiency of evidence is enough so as the superior prosecutor can legally conclude an admission of guilt agreement. The double role of the legal character of the agreement is beneficial in order to avoid the situation in which this procedure can be applied in lack of sufficient evidence on file or evidence which the prosecutor might consider sufficient although, in reality, the existing evidence is not sufficient, pertinent and conclusive in a traditional procedure. On the other hand, the condition of the sufficiency of information does not entail that all available evidence was collected so as to prove the defendant is guilty, as, in this case, there are no longer reasons to conclude an admission of guilt agreement.

Keywords: admission of guilt agreement, standard of sufficient, prosecutor.