IMPARȚIALITATE·INTEGRITATE·EFICIENȚĂ
The Parliament of Romania
LAW No. 78
of May 8th, 2000
on preventing, discovering and sanctioning corruption offences
The Parliament of Romania adopts the current Law.
Chapter I
General Provisions
Art. 1 - (1) The present law sets up measures for preventing, discovering and sanctioning corruption offences and it applies to the following:
a) people who exercise a public position, regardless of the manner applied to invest them within public authorities or public institutions;
b) people who fill, permanently or temporarily, according to the law, a position or a task, to the extent to which they participate in decisions-making process, or they can influence the decisions, within public services, autonomous administrations, trading companies, national companies, national societies, cooperative units or other economic agents;
c) people who carry out control tasks according to the law;
d) people who grant specialized assistance to the units stipulated in letter a) and b), to the extent to which they participate in the decisions-making process or can influence the decisions;
e) people who, regardless of their position, carry out, control or grant specialized assistance, to the extent to which they participate in the decision-making process or can influence the decisions, with regard to operations that involve the movement of capital, bank transactions, foreign exchange or credit operations, investment operations in stock exchanges, in insurance, mutual investment or transactions involving bank accounts and the like, domestic and international trade transactions;
f) people who hold a management position within a political party or formation, within a trade union, an employer's organization or a non-profit society or foundation;
g) other individuals than those stipulated in letters a) - f), under the terms provided by law.
Chapter II
Special Rules of Conduct for Certain Categories of People, for the Purpose of Preventing Corruption Offences
Art. 2 - It is mandatory for the people provided by art. 1 to carry on the duties they are charged with in exercising their functions, duties or tasks assigned to them, abiding strictly by the laws and the rules of professional conduct, and to ensure the protection and the carrying out of citizens’ legal rights and interests, without using the positions, duties or tasks assigned to them, for obtaining money, goods or other undue benefits for themselves or for other people.
Art. 3 - (1) The people provided by art. 1 letter a), as well as those who hold a management position, higher than and including that of a director within autonomous administrations, national companies, national firms, trading companies in which the state or an authority of the local public administration is a shareholder, within the public institutions involved in carrying out the privatization process, within the National Bank of Romania, or the banks in which the state is the controlling stockholder, have the obligation to state their assets, according to the Law no. 115/1996 on stating and controlling the assets of the dignitaries, magistrates, officials and of certain people with management positions.
(2) Not submitting the statement of assets by the people provided by paragraph (1) brings about the ex officio opening of the control procedure of the assets under the terms of the Law no. 115/1996.
Art. 4 - (1) The people provided by art. 1 let. a) and c) have the obligation to state, within a period of 30 days from receipt, any direct or indirect donation or physical gifts received in connection with the exercising of their functions or duties, with the exception of those which have a symbolic value.
(2) The provisions of the Law no. 115/1996 referring to the modality of submitting the statement of assets apply accordingly also to the case provided by paragraph (1).
Chapter III
Offences
Section 1
Categories of offences
Art. 5 - (1) According to the present law, corruption offences are those offences provided by art. 289 - 292 of the Criminal Code, including when they are committed by the people referred to in art. 308 of the Criminal Code.
(2) According to the present law, offences assimilated to those of corruption are the offences provided by art. 10 - 13.
(3) The provisions of the present law are also applied to the offences against the financial interests of the European Union provided by art. 181 - 185, thus, by sanctioning them, the protection of the funds and resources of the European Union is ensured.
Section 2
Corruption offences
Art. 6 - The offences of taking bribe - provided by art. 289 of the Criminal Code, of giving bribe - provided by art. 290 of the Criminal Code, of traffic of influence provided by art. 291 of the Criminal Code and of buying of influence - provided by art. 292 of the Criminal Code are punished according to those texts of law. The provisions of article 308 of the Criminal Code are enforced accordingly.
Art. 61 - was introduced by the Law no. 161/2003 and it was repealed by the Law no. 187/2012.
Art. 7 - The offence of taking bribe or traffic of influence committed by a person who:
a) exercises a position of public dignity;
b) is a judge or a prosecutor;
c) is a criminal investigation body or is in charge with ascertaining or sanctioning contraventions;
d) is one of the people provided by article 293 of the Criminal Code
is punished according to art. 289 or 291 of the Criminal Code, whose limits are increased by a third.
Art. 8 - was repealed by the Law no. 187/2012
Art. 81 - was introduced by the Law no. 161/2003 and it was repealed by the Law no. 187/2012.
Art. 82 - was introduced by the Law no. 161/2003 and it was repealed by the Law no. 187/2012.
Art. 9 - was repealed by the Law no. 187/2012
Section 3
Offences assimilated to those of corruption
Art. 10 - The following offences shall be punished with imprisonment from 3 to 10 years and the interdiction of certain rights, if committed for the purpose of obtaining money, goods or other undue benefits for himself/herself, or for someone else:
a) establishing, deliberately, a diminished value, compared to the real market value, of the goods belonging to the economic agents to which the state or an authority of the local public administration is a shareholder, committed during the privatization process, the enforcing of a court decision, the judicial reorganization or liquidation or on the occasion of a commercial transaction or when selling the goods belonging to public authorities or public institutions, or during the enforcement of the court decision, committed by those people holding management, leading or administrative tasks or by the people with tasks of enforcing court decisions, of judicial reorganization or of liquidation;
b) granting subsidies by infringing the law or not supervising, according to the law, the contracted destinations of the subsidies;
c) using subsidies for other purposes than those they had been granted for, as well as using the credits guaranteed from public funds or which are to be reimbursed from the public funds, for other purposes.
Art. 11 - (1) The offence of a person who has the obligation to supervise, to control, to reorganize or to liquidate a private economic agent, and carries out any task, mediates or facilitates for it the carrying on of certain commercial or financial operations or participates with capital to such economic agent, if the deed is of such nature as to bring him/her directly or indirectly undue benefits, then, it is an offence and it shall be punished with imprisonment from 1 to 5 years and the interdiction of certain rights.
(2) If the offence stipulated in paragraph (1) has been committed within a period of 5 years from the cessation of the task, it shall be punished with imprisonment from 6 months to 3 years or a fine.
Art. 12 (1) - The following offences shall be punished with imprisonment from 1 to 5 years, if committed for the purpose of obtaining for himself/herself or for other person, money, goods or other undue benefits:
a) performing financial operations as trade activities, incompatible with the position, duty or task which is carried out by a person or contracting financial transactions using the information obtained by virtue of the position, duty or task;
b) using, in any way, directly or indirectly, the information that is not meant for publicity or allowing the access of unauthorized people to such information.
For the purposes of this law, the financial operations consist of operations involving the movement of capital, bank transactions, foreign exchange or credit operations, investment operations in stock exchanges, in insurance, mutual investment or transactions involving bank accounts and the like, domestic and international trade transactions. In order to be carried out as trade activities, the financial operations must constitute an action of intermediation in the circulation of goods made in an organized and systematic way, with a view to obtaining profit.
Art. 13 - The offence of the person who has a leadership position in a party or in a political formation, in a trade union or in an employer's organization or a foundation who uses his/her influence or authority for the purpose of obtaining for himself/herself or for somebody else money, goods or other undue benefits, shall be punished with imprisonment from 1 to 5 years.
Art. 131 - Regarding the offence of blackmail provided by art. 207 of the Criminal Code, if it involves one of the people provided by art. 1, the special limits of the punishments are increased by a third.
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Article 131 - was introduced by the Law no. 161/2003 from April 21st 2003.
Art. 132 - Regarding the offences of abuse of office**) or usurping the position, if the civil servant obtained for himself/herself or for somebody else money, goods or other undue benefits, the special limits of the punishments are increased by a third.
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*) Article 132 was introduced by the Law no. 521/2004 from December 2nd 2004..
**) The legal provisions on the attempt to commit the offence of abuse of office were declared unconstitutional by the Decision no. 458/2017..
Art. 14 - Repealed by the Law no. 187/2012
Art. 15*) - The attempt to commit the offences provided by the present section shall be punished.
*) By its Decision no. 458/2017, the Constitutional Court ascertained that the provisions of art. 15 related to art. 132, regarding the offence of abuse of office, are unconstitutional. According to art. 147 para. (1) of the Constitution, "The provisions of the in force laws and ordinances, as well as those of the regulations that are found to be unconstitutional, shall cease to have legal effect 45 days after the publication of the decision issued by the Constitutional Court if, within this period, the Parliament or the Government, as the case may be, do not reconcile the unconstitutional provisions with the provisions of the Constitution. During this period, the provisions found to be unconstitutional are suspended by law.".
Art. 16 - If the offences provided by the present section constitute more severe offences, according to the Criminal Code or to other special laws, these are punished under the terms and with the sanctions established by those laws.
Section 4
Repealed by the Law no. 187/2012
Art. 17 - Repealed by the Law no. 187/2012
Art. 18 - Repealed by the Law no. 187/2012
Section 41- a*)
Offences against the financial interests of the European Union
Section 41-a was introduced by the Law no. 161/2003 from April 21st 2003.
Art. 181 - (1) Using or presenting false, inaccurate or incomplete documents or statements, if the deed results in the unfair obtaining or withholding of funds or assets from the budget of the European Union or the budgets administered by it or on its behalf, shall be punished with imprisonment from 2 to 7 years and the interdiction of exercising certain rights.
(2) The punishment provided by paragraph (1) is also applied for knowingly omitting to provide the data required by law for obtaining or withholding of funds or assets from the budget of the European Union or the budgets administered by it or on its behalf, if the deed results in the unfair obtaining or withholding of funds or assets.
(3) If the deeds provided by paragraphs (1) and (2) produce particularly serious consequences, the special limits of the punishment shall be increased by half.
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*) Art. 181 was introduced by the Law no. 161/2003 on April 21st 2003.
Art. 182 - (1) Changing, without observing the legal provisions, the destination of the funds or assets obtained or withheld from the budget of the European Union or the budgets administered by it or on its behalf, shall be punished with imprisonment from 1 to 5 years and the interdiction of exercising certain rights.
(2) Changing, without observing the legal provisions, the destination of an obtained legal benefit if the deed results in the illegal reduction of the resources from the budget of the European Union or the budgets administered by it or on its behalf, shall be sanctioned with the punishment provided by paragraph (1).
(3) If the deeds provided by paragraphs (1) and (2) produce particularly serious consequences, the special limits of the punishment shall be increased by half.
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*) Art. 182 was introduced by the Law no. 161/2003 on April 21st 2003.
Art. 183 - (1) Using or presenting false, inaccurate or incomplete documents or statements, thus illegally reducing the resources that should be transferred to the budget of the European Union or the budgets administered by it or on its behalf, shall be punished with imprisonment from 2 to 7 years and the interdiction of exercising certain rights.
(2) The punishment provided by paragraph (1) is also applied for knowingly omitting to provide the data required by law if the deed results in the illegal reduction of the resources that should be transferred to the budget of the European Union or the budgets administered by it or on its behalf.
(3) If the deeds provided by paragraphs (1) and (2) produce particularly serious consequences, the special limits of the punishment shall be increased by half.
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*) Article 183 was introduced by the Law no. 161/2003 on April 21st 2003
Art. 184 - The attempt to commit the offences provided by art. 181 - 183 shall be punished.
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*) Article 184 was introduced by the Law no. 161/2003 from April 21st 2003
Art. 185 - Willingly not observing an office duty, as a result of non-performing it or deficiently performing it, by a director, administrator or the person with decisional or control tasks within an economic agent, if it had as result the perpetration of one of the offences provided by art. 181 - 183 or the perpetration of a corruption or money laundering offence in connection with the funds of the European Union, by a person subordinated to him/her and who acted on behalf of that specific economic agent, is punished with imprisonment from 6 months to 3 years or a fine.
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*) Article 185 was introduced by the Law no. 161/2003 April 21st 2003.
Section 5
Common provisions
Art. 19 - Repealed by the Law no. 187/2012
Art. 20 - If one of the offences provided by the present article was committed, it is mandatory to take the ensuring measures.
Chapter IV
Procedural Provisions
Section 1
General provisions
Art. 21 - Repealed by the Law no. 255/2013
Art. 22 - In the case of the offences provided by the present law, the criminal investigation shall be mandatorily carried out by the prosecutor.
Section 2
Special provisions on discovering and investigating the offences
Art. 23 - (1) The people with control tasks shall be obliged to notify the criminal investigation body or, as the case may be, the body for ascertaining the perpetration of offences, authorized by law, with regard to any information from which grounds result that an operation or an illicit act, that could draw criminal liability according to the present law, has been performed.
(2) During the performing of the control act, the people with control tasks must proceed to ensuring and preserving the traces of the offence, of the material evidence and of any means of proof that might assist the criminal investigation body.
Art. 24 - The people provided by art. 1 let. e), who are aware of operations that involve the movement of capital or other activities, provided by art. 1, regarding amounts of money, goods or other values that are supposed to originate from corruption offences, offences assimilated to corruption or offences in connection with corruption, have the obligation to notify the criminal investigation bodies or, as the case may be, the bodies for ascertaining the perpetration of the offence or the control bodies authorized by law.
Art. 25 - (1) The performing in good faith of the obligations provided by art. 23 and 24 shall not constitute a violation of the professional or banking secret and shall not draw criminal, civil or disciplinary liability.
(2) The provisions stipulated in paragraph. (1) shall apply even if the investigation or the trial of the notified offences led to not starting or cessation of the criminal investigation or to acquittal.
(3) Repealed by the Law no. 161/2003.
(4) Not fulfilling in bad faith the obligations provided by art. 23 and 24 constitutes an offence and shall be punished with imprisonment from 6 months to 5 years, if the deed does not constitute a more serious offence.
(5) If the deed provided by paragraph (4) was committed by fault, the punishment shall be imprisonment from 3 months to 2 years or a fine.
Art. 26 - The banking and the professional secrets, except for the professional secret of lawyers exercised according to the law, are not opposable either to the prosecutor, after the start of criminal investigations, or to the courts.
Art. 261 - was introduced by the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 124/2005 and it was repealed by the Law no. 255/2013
Art. 27 - Repealed by the Law no. 255/2013
Art. 28 - Repealed by the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 43/2000
Art. 29 - (1) Specialized panels of judges shall be set up for the trial in the first instance of the offences provided by the present law.
(2) - Repealed by the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 50/2006
Section 3
Common provisions
Art. 30 - 31 - Repealed by the Law no. 255/2013
Chapter V
Final Provisions
Art. 32 - Repealed by the Law no. 161/2003.
Art. 33 - Any provision contrary to the present law shall be repealed.
The current law was adopted by the Chamber of Deputies and by the Senate in the common session from April 12th 2000, in compliance with the provisions of article 74 paragraph (1) and article 76 paragraph (2) of the Romanian Constitution.
PRESIDENT OF THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES
ION DIACONESCU
for the PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE,
ULM NICOLAE SPINEANU