Preliminary ruling referral by Court of Appeal rejected as inadmissible; no binding ruling on appellate nullity and retrial powers.

The High Court of Cassation and Justice (Înalta Curte de Casaţie şi Justiţie) rejected as inadmissible the referral by the Bacău Court of Appeal regarding a preliminary ruling on the legal question of whether, given the solutions under art. 488 para. 4 (a, b, c), art. 488 para. 2, and art. 47 para. 1 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the appellate court could examine the absolute nullity case under art. 281 para. 1 (b) and order the annulment of the challenged decision and retrial by the competent court under art. 421 para. 2 (b), second thesis, of the same code. The High Court held that the referral was inadmissible, as the question did not meet the statutory requirements for a preliminary ruling, and deemed it obligatory from publication in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, per art. 477 para. 3 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The dispute concerned the interpretation of procedural rules on appeal court powers regarding nullity and remittal, with the court declining to issue a binding principle, leaving the prior appellate proceedings unchanged.