The Place and the Role of the Prosecutor in the Criminal Trial according to the New Code of Criminal Procedure

Abstract

The paper outlines and critically approaches the changes in the new Code of Criminal Procedure with regards to the functional competence of the prosecutor and the court after the introduction in the criminal trial of some new principles such as the principle of separation of judicial functions, of opportunity in the exercise of a criminal action, of the right to a fair trial within a reasonable time, of the diminished exercise of the active role of the court and after the introduction in the criminal trial of the adversarial type elements. The changes with regards to the competence of the prosecutor emerge from the modifications of the basic principles of the criminal trial, which, along with the classical ones are meant to provide Romania with a new model of criminal proceedings in accordance with: the Romanian Constitution, the founding treaties of the European Union, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, of all the other European Union regulations along with covenants and treaties on fundamental human rights to which Romania is a member. We refer to the principle of the separation of judicial functions in the criminal trial (art. 3 of the new Code of Criminal Procedure); the opportunity in the exercise of the criminal action [art. 7 paragraph. (2) of the new Code of Criminal Procedure); the right to a fair trial within a reasonable time (Art. 8 of the new Code of Criminal Procedure); the right to liberty and security (Article 9 of the new Code of Criminal Procedure); ne bis in idem (art. 6 of the new Code of Criminal Procedure); and the loyalty in obtaining evidence (art. 101 of the new Code of Criminal Procedure).