Using New Means of Technology during the Penal Proceedings in Romania

Abstract

The new legal framework created since 2014 while the new Code of penal procedure entered into force in Romania has opened a different way of approaching the justice in criminal matters. In such a legal context the judicial bodies are more accustomed with the idea of using the new means of technology in such a way not to infringe the parties' procedural rights during the penal trial knowing the fact that using illegal protocols signed by the prosecutor offices with the Romanian Intelligence Service was prohibited by the Constitutional Court of Romania. In the current paper, a qualitative research has been carried out on both legislative and jurisprudence items regarding the new means of technologies currently used in the penal justice. The main purpose of the paper is to analyze the effect of the new means of technology including the use of digital evidence which occur in the penal trial in Romania as well as to discuss the legal consequences they produce in practice. Some practical points of view have been highlighted taking into account the new means of technologies' efficiency. Moreover, in order to improve the penal procedure into force certain proposals of de lege ferenda have been provided.