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ICCJ_175879 AI generated

Possession of illegally obtained private-life recordings is autonomous crime, High Court clarifies in binding ruling

Case Number ICCJ_175879
Court / Authority
Jurisdiction Romania (RO)
Decision Date
Outcome Allowed / Granted
Open official source Machine-readable Markdown (.md)

Legislator summary

AI generated

The High Court of Cassation and Justice admitted the referral from the Oradea Court of Appeal and ruled, in a preliminary ruling for the interpretation of criminal law, that the offense of violation of private life under Article 226(2) of the Romanian Criminal Code does not require the possession of sounds, conversations, or images illegally obtained through photographing, capturing, recording, listening with technical means, or audio recording of a person in a dwelling, room, or annex, or of a private conversation. The decision, binding from publication in the Official Gazette under Article 477(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code, resolved the question of whether possession of such unlawfully obtained materials is a constitutive element of the offense, answering in the negative. The dispute arose in a criminal case challenging the interpretation of the offense's typicity, and the Court reasoned that the provision criminalizes the act of possessing such materials without requiring proof of their prior unlawful creation, thereby clarifying the scope of the offense as an independent possession-based crime.

Legislator headnote

AI generated

art. 226 alin. (2) din Codul penal, art. 477 alin. (3) din Codul de procedură penală; Possession of illegally obtained private-life recordings is autonomous crime, High Court clarifies in binding ruling: The decision, binding from publication in the Official Gazette under Article 477(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code, resolved the question of whether possession of such unlawfully obtained materials is a constitutive element of the offense, answering in the negative. The dispute arose in a criminal case challenging the interpretation of the offense's typicity, and the Court reasoned that the provision criminalizes the act of possessing such materials without requiring proof of their prior unlawful creation, thereby clarifying the scope of the offense as an independent possession-based crime.

Keywords

AI generated
code of criminal procedure criminal offense record unauthorized sound recording offences against privacy possession of child pornography private personal use

Cited Legislation

AI generated
art. 226 alin. (2) din Codul penal
Main ground for the ruling: the court interpreted this provision to establish that its typicality is not conditioned by the possession of illegally obtained sounds, conversations, or images.
art. 477 alin. (3) din Codul de procedură penală
Procedural provision applied in the dispositive to declare that the decision is mandatory from the date of publication in the Official Gazette.
AI generated
Decizia nr. 51/2021
Criminal tipicity of unauthorized disclosure of private recordings: necessity of prior unlawful acquisition under Penal Code Art. 226(2)
ICCJ_202438
Violation of private life via unauthorized audio recording in professional setting upheld despite statute of limitations
Decizia nr. 367/RC/2022
Defendant's cassation appeal rejected; conviction for unauthorized dissemination of intimate recording and increased moral damages upheld.
Decizia nr. 1141/2012
Admissibility of audio-video recordings conducted prior to the initiation of criminal proceedings for influence peddling
Decizia nr. 3319/2009
Criminality of continuous unauthorized reproduction and distribution of pirated software and media versus administrative infraction.

Key legal questions extracted by Legislator

AI generated
art. 226 alin. (2) din Codul penal

Main ground for the ruling: the court interpreted this provision to establish that its typicality is not conditioned by the possession of illegally obtained sounds, conversations, or images.

art. 477 alin. (3) din Codul de procedură penală

Procedural provision applied in the dispositive to declare that the decision is mandatory from the date of publication in the Official Gazette.

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Full text

R O M Â N I A

ÎNALTA CURTE DE CASAŢIE ŞI JUSTIŢIE

COMPLETUL PENTRU DEZLEGAREA UNOR CHESTIUNI DE DREPT ÎN MATERIE PENALĂ

Minuta deciziei nr. 51 Dosar nr. 1321/1/2021

Şedinţa din data de 24 iunie 2021

ÎN NUMELE LEGII

D E C I D E:

Admite sesizarea formulată de Curtea de Apel Oradea - Secția penală și pentru cauze cu minori, în Dosarul nr. 11575/271/2019, prin care se solicită pronunţarea unei hotărâri prealabile pentru dezlegarea următoarei chestiuni de drept:

„Tipicitatea infracțiunii de violare a vieții private în modalitatea incriminată de art. 226 alin. (2) din Codul penal este condiționată de deținerea unor sunete, convorbiri ori imagini realizate fără drept, prin fotografierea, captarea sau înregistrarea de imagini, ascultarea cu mijloace tehnice sau înregistrarea audio a unei persoane aflate într-o locuință sau încăpere ori dependință ținând de acestea sau a unei convorbiri private?”

Stabileşte că tipicitatea infracțiunii de violare a vieții private în modalitatea incriminată de art. 226 alin. (2) din Codul penal nu este condiționată de deținerea unor sunete, convorbiri ori imagini realizate fără drept, prin fotografierea, captarea sau înregistrarea de imagini, ascultarea cu mijloace tehnice sau înregistrarea audio a unei persoane aflate într-o locuință sau încăpere ori dependință ținând de acestea sau a unei convorbiri private.

Obligatorie de la data publicării în Monitorul Oficial al României, Partea I, potrivit art. 477 alin. (3) din Codul de procedură penală.

Pronunţată în şedinţă publică, astăzi, 24 iunie 2021.