The Principle of Legality and General Crimes – the Particular Case of Abuse in Service of Public Officer

Abstract

The principle of legality is a fundamental part of the criminal law system and a rule that is a part of the positive legislation in most of the countries. One of its components – the law – should state clearly, in a predictive and comprehensible manner, what actions or inaction constitute crimes. Many countries including Romania attempt to regulate and penalize, as precisely as possible in accordance with this principle, by the means stipulated in criminal law, the actions of public officers who fulfil their duties improperly, or fail to fulfil them, with the intention to cause damage to others. The current article considers the crime of abuse of office, – an incrimination that aims to define all types of conduct of a public officer that are not regulated by law as more specific crimes. However, such a general incrimination invariably is on the edge of the principle of legality. The aim of this article is to analyse the ways how the crime of abuse of office has been regarded in Romania in the latest years, in connection with the principle of legality.