Romania's new Amnesty Law sets new rules for pardoning criminals, but Parliament yet to cast vote

The new Amnesty Law, which should have been voted in the Romanian Parliament on Tuesday, December 10, was taken out of the day's voting schedule, after several disagreements between the two ruling parties, the National Liberal Party (PNL) and the Social Democrat Party (PSD). PNL was against the law, which had been secretly voted in the Judicial Commission one day ahead of the Parliament vote. Their stand coincided with that of the Romanian President Traian Basescu, who had asked the Parliament to reject it, saying the law would hamper the country's progress in the battle with corruption. The draft law, as approved by the Judicial Commission, allows for the pardoning of crimes for which the Criminal Code or other laws require jail time of up to 7 years, or fines. If given, amnesty would cancel any criminal responsibility for the crime. If given after a court issues a sentence, the proposed amnesty would allow the criminal not to serve the sentence, along with any other repercussion the sentence would have had. If a fine is involved, the state would not repay the fine after the criminal was pardoned. Amnesty would not apply, however, to crimes such as bribery, embezzling funds, homicide, torture and procuring, among others. Minors who serve time in juvenile detention and re-education centers could not be pardoned either, even if their sentence is below 7 years. Those who are old offenders cannot be pardoned either. According to the new law, those who are pardoned but go on to commit another crime within the next three years will serve both the time for the crime they had already been pardoned for and their sentence for the new crime. The law was rejected in May in the Senate, but when given, the Chamber of Deputies vote will be decisive. editor@romania-insider.com