The Institution of 'Waiver of Criminal Prosecution' - Some Controversies

The "waiver of criminal prosecution" institution was introduced into Romanian criminal procedural legislation by Law no. 135/2010 on the Code of Criminal Procedure. It appears as an exception to the principle of the legality of the criminal process - regulated by the Romanian legislator in favor of the principle of expediency. The legislator opted for the introduction of this institution in the legislation, considering the costs involved in the activity of criminal investigation and trial in the case of certain crimes. The appearance of this institution "justifies", to some extent, the non-taking over by the legislator in the new provisions of the content provided by art. 181 of the former Criminal Code (1969). The provisions included in the content of art. 181 of the previous Criminal Code (1969) allowed the judicial bodies to find that some acts provided for by the criminal law did not present the social danger of a crime, which allowed the application to the perpetrator of an administrative measure provided for in Article 91 of the previous Criminal Code (1969).