Preliminary ruling referral on economic offense sentencing question held inadmissible.

The High Court of Cassation and Justice dismissed as inadmissible the referral by the Pitești Court of Appeal seeking a preliminary ruling on whether the offense under Article 181(1) of Law No. 78/2000 is an economic offense subject to Article 74¹ of the 1968 Criminal Code. The referral was rejected because it did not meet the admissibility conditions for a preliminary ruling, leaving the lower court’s pending decision in the underlying case unaffected. The dispute involved a criminal matter where the appellate court sought interpretative guidance on the sentencing reduction provisions applicable to the specific offense. The court based its decision on procedural admissibility requirements under the Criminal Procedure Code, specifically the conditions for referring a question of law for a preliminary ruling, and held that the referral was inadmissible.