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ICCJ_198485 AI generated

Final acquittal sufficient for compensation under Art. 539 CPP despite lack of prior declaration of illegality

Case Number ICCJ_198485
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, in its complete for resolving questions of law, admitted a referral from the Civil Section I and established a binding legal interpretation regarding compensation for unlawful deprivation of liberty. The dispute concerned whether a final acquittal in criminal proceedings is sufficient to grant damages under Article 539 of the Code of Criminal Procedure when the unconstitutionality of the preventive measure was not previously established through the specific procedure defined by Decision No. 15/2017 of the Complete competent to judge appeal in the interest of the law. Relying on the effects of Constitutional Court Decision No. 136/2021, the court ruled that a final acquittal under Article 16(1)(a)-(d) of the Code of Criminal Procedure is, by itself, sufficient to trigger the right to compensation, as the "unjust/unfair character" of the restrictive measures and the "groundlessness of the accusation" are autonomous criteria that extend the scope of application of Article 539, thereby prevailing over procedural requirements for prior judicial declaration of illegality.

Legislator headnote

AI generated

art. 539 din Codul de procedură penală, art. 16 alin. (1) lit. a)-d) din Codul de procedură penală; Final acquittal sufficient for compensation under Art. 539 CPP despite lack of prior declaration of illegality: The dispute concerned whether a final acquittal in criminal proceedings is sufficient to grant damages under Article 539 of the Code of Criminal Procedure when the unconstitutionality of the preventive measure was not previously established through the specific procedure defined by Decision No. 15/2017 of the Complete competent to judge appeal in the interest of the law. Relying on the effects of Constitutional Court Decision No. 136/2021, the court ruled that a final acquittal under Article 16(1)(a)-(d) of the Code of Criminal Procedure is, by itself, sufficient to trigger the right to compensation, as the "unjust/unfair character" of the restrictive measures and the "groundlessness of the accusation" are autonomous criteria that extend the scope of application of Article 539, thereby prevailing over procedural requirements for prior judicial declaration of illegality.

Keywords

AI generated
code of criminal procedure judicial law unlawful deprivation of liberty presumption of innocence procedural rights established right

Cited Legislation

AI generated
art. 539 din Codul de procedură penală
Main ground for the ruling, as the court interprets this provision to establish that a final acquittal is sufficient for granting compensation for unlawful deprivation of liberty.
art. 16 alin. (1) lit. a)-d) din Codul de procedură penală
Procedural basis cited in the dispositive to define the specific types of final acquittal solutions that trigger the right to compensation under Article 539.
AI generated
Decizia nr. 561/2023
Compensation for unjust preventive detention: sufficiency of acquittal to trigger state liability without procedural illegality
Decizia nr. 1/2023
Eligibility for damages from criminal acquittals: autonomous criterion of unjust deprivation of liberty under criminal procedure code
Decizia nr. 699/2023
Right to compensation for unjust preventive detention following acquittal under extended interpretation of Article 539 Code of Criminal Procedure
Decizia nr. 526/2023
Compensation for penal detention: constitutional unconstitutionality of illegality requirement and sufficiency of acquittal to establish injustice under Article 539 C. proc. pen.
Decizia nr. 1397/2021
State liability for damages from deprivation of liberty following criminal acquittal under the constitutionally expanded scope of Article 539 of the Code of Criminal Procedure

Key legal questions extracted by Legislator

AI generated
art. 539 din Codul de procedură penală

Main ground for the ruling, as the court interprets this provision to establish that a final acquittal is sufficient for granting compensation for unlawful deprivation of liberty.

art. 16 alin. (1) lit. a)-d) din Codul de procedură penală

Procedural basis cited in the dispositive to define the specific types of final acquittal solutions that trigger the right to compensation under Article 539.

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Full text

ROMÂNIA

ÎNALTA CURTE DE CASAŢIE ŞI JUSTIŢIE

Completul pentru dezlegarea unor chestiuni de drept

Minuta deciziei nr. 1 Dosar nr. 2.149/1/2022

Şedinţa de la 16 ianuarie 2023

ÎN NUMELE LEGII

DECIDE:

Admite sesizarea formulată de Înalta Curte de Casație și Justiție – Secția I civilă, în Dosarul nr. 5.637/105/2019, şi, în consecinţă, stabileşte:

În interpretarea și aplicarea prevederilor art. 539 din Codul de procedură penală, față de efectele Deciziei Curții Constituționale nr. 136 din 3 martie 2021, în ipoteza unei privări de libertate în cursul unui proces penal finalizat prin soluție definitivă de achitare, fără ca nelegalitatea măsurii privative de libertate să fi fost stabilită în conformitate cu Decizia Înaltei Curți de Casație și Justiție – Completul competent să judece recursul în interesul legii nr. 15 din 18 septembrie 2017, soluția de achitare, conform art. 16 alin. (1) lit. a)-d) din Codul de procedură penală, este suficientă prin ea însăși pentru acordarea de despăgubiri persoanei private de libertate și, ulterior, achitate.

În acest context, „caracterul injust/nedrept al măsurilor privative de libertate”, respectiv „netemeinicia acuzației în materie penală”, constituie criterii autonome care dau dreptul persoanei în cauză la repararea pagubei și care extind sfera de aplicare a dispozițiilor art. 539 din Codul de procedură penală.

Obligatorie, potrivit art. 521 alin. (3) din Codul de procedură civilă.

Pronunţată în şedinţă publică astăzi, 16 ianuarie 2023.