CRIMINAL LAW
DEFINITION
Criminal law as a branch of law is
a set of legal rules, which establish
what acts constitute crimes, the
conditions of criminal liability,
punishments and other measures to
be applied or taken by the courts
in the case of persons who have
committed crimes in order to
defend those most important social
values.
The purpose of criminal law
According to art. 2 of the Criminal
Code of the Republic of Moldova the
purpose of the criminal law is to defend
against crimes the person, his rights and
freedoms, property, environment,
constitutional order, sovereignty,
independence and territorial integrity of
the Republic of Moldova. , peace and
security of mankind, as well as the
entire legal order.
The criminal law also aims to prevent the
commission of new crimes.
In order to achieve its purpose, criminal law must fulfill
certain functions:
1) Establishing the facts that represent crimes and preventing
them.
2) The provision in the law of the dangerous facts for the
social values but also of the sanctions that the state can apply
in case of committing the deeds provided as prohibited.
3) The right to punish, a right that must be established for the
judicial bodies, specifying at the same time the conditions
under which this right can be exercised.
Principles of criminal law
1) The principle of legality expresses the rule that the entire activity
of criminal law is carried out on the basis of the law and in accordance
with it (art. 3. Criminal Code of the Republic of Moldova).
2) The principle of democracy presupposes that persons who have
committed crimes are equal before the law and are subject to criminal
liability regardless of sex, race, color, language, religion, political or
other opinion, national or social origin, membership in a national
minority, wealth . , birth or other situation. (art.5 Penal Code in the
R.M).
3) The principle of personal character of criminal liability
presupposes that the person is subject to criminal liability and criminal
punishment only for deeds committed with guilt. Only the person who
intentionally or recklessly committed an act provided by the criminal
law is subject to criminal liability and criminal punishment. (art.6
Penal Code in the R.M).
4) The principle of individualization of criminal liability and criminal
punishment presupposes that in the application of the criminal law the
nature and prejudicial degree of the crimes, the person of the offender
and the circumstances of the case that attenuate or aggravate the
criminal liability are taken into account. No one may be prosecuted
and punished twice for the same act. (art. 7 of the Criminal Code in
R.M).
Criminal punishment
Punishment is a measure of state coercion,
and a means of correcting and re-educating
the convict, which is applied by the court in
the name of the law to those who have
committed crimes, thus causing them
restrictions on their rights.
The purposes of the criminal punishment
are the correction of the convict, the
prevention of the commission of new
crimes by the convict.
Fine, Unpaid work for the benefit of the community
• According to article 64, Penal Code, the fine
is a monetary sanction, which is applied by
the court in the cases and limits provided by
law. The fine is established in conventional
units. The fine is the mildest criminal
sanction
• Unpaid work for the benefit of the
community consists, according to art. 67,
para. 1, of the Criminal Code, in the training
of the convicted person, outside the basic
service or studies, for indefinite work, by the
local public administration authorities.
Prison, Life imprisonment
• According to art. 70, para. 1, prison implies the deprivation of liberty of the
convict by his imposed isolation from the normal living environment and
his punishment based on the decision of the court, for a certain term, in a
penitentiary
According to art. 72 of the Penal Code, imprisonment is executed in the
following categories of penitentiaries:
1) Open type penitentiary. Here, people sentenced to prison for light, less
serious and serious crimes, committed recklessly, serve their sentences.
2) Semi-closed penitentiary. Here, the convicted persons for minor, less
serious and serious crimes, committed with intent, execute the
punishment.
3) Closed type penitentiary. Here, the persons are convicted for particularly
and exceptionally serious crimes, as well as the revidivist persons.
• According to art. 71, para. 1 of the Penal Code, life imprisonment consists
in the deprivation of liberty of the convict for the rest of his life.
