Crime in Romania is combated by the Romanian Police, Gendarmerie and other agencies.
Crime in Romania is combated by the Romanian Police, Gendarmerie and other agencies.
Romania differs from many countries in that violent crime is more likely to occur in rural areas than in cities, due to the socioeconomic problems of many parts of the countryside. [1] Such rural areas often suffer from poverty, low levels of education of the population, and unemployment. For instance, Romania's Nord-Est development region is one of the poorest areas of the EU. [2] By contrast, cities are very safe; in 2023 five Romanian cities, namely Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Brașov, Bucharest, and Iași, were ranked in the top 100 safest cities in the world. [3]
Another peculiarity of Romania is that gun violence is exceptionally rare [4] due to Romania having some of the strictest gun laws in the world. Most homicides are committed with sharp objects such as axes or knives. Among homicides in 2012, only 2% were by firearms, [4] and among suicides in 2015, only 1% were by firearms. [5] Violent crime was much higher in the 1990s. [5]
In 2016, Romania had a murder rate of 1.25 per 100,000 population. [6] There were a total of 247 murders in Romania in 2016. [6]
Due to Romania's entry into the EU, Romania has been forced to improve transparency and accountability in the public sector. However, citizens and businesses still consider the government's reform weak and slow due to poor implementation of laws on transparency of information and decision-making process. The EU Commission's latest Cooperation and Verification Mechanism report has however lauded the National Anticorruption Directorate and various other agencies in improving the fight against corruption, which has recently brought a number of high-profile convictions ranging from a former prime minister and parliamentarians to mayors and businessmen. [7]
The United States Department of State Bureau of Diplomatic Security stated in the Romania 2017 Crime & Safety Report that "Most crimes against visitors are limited to crimes of opportunity or scams." The report describes crimes such as individuals posing as plainclothes police officers, approaches of "quick friendship", pick-pocketing in crowded areas and public transportation, aggressive panhandlers, fraudulently charging exorbitant prices, and crimes against train passengers which cross rural areas. It also warned about avoiding areas with a higher frequency of crime such as the neighborhood of Ferentari in Bucharest. However, the report argued that it was driving which was "perhaps the biggest safety concern that visitors will encounter", due to disregard of driving laws. [8]
In the 2010 Eurobarometer poll on violence against women, 39% of Romanian respondents said that they thought DV in their country was "very common", 45% "fairly common", 8% "not very common", 0% "not at all common", and 8% did not know/did not answer. [9]
Victim blaming attitudes are common in Romania. In a 2013 Romanian survey, 30.9% of respondents agreed with the assertion that "women are sometimes beaten due to their own fault". [10] In the 2010 Eurobarometer survey, 58% of Romanians agreed that the "provocative behaviour of women" was a cause of violence against women. [9]
In 2016, Romania ratified the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention). [11]
Pick-pocketing and stealing bags often take place in crowded areas, near exchange shops and hotels, on public transportation, in railway stations and inside airport terminals; and such acts are a very serious problem in Romania. A group of people (often including children - see section below) surround a person that appears wealthy, distract their attention, while one or more members of the group attempt to snatch money, watches or jewellery from pockets or from around the neck and wrist. Some thieves take advantage of the lack of attention of the victims and snatch bags and quickly run away. Tourists can also fall victims to thieves who present themselves as plain-clothes policemen, flash a badge and ask to see passports and wallets, after which they steal money from the wallet. [12] [8]
Crimes committed by children peaked in the 1990s when the social context of the time (closing of many Romanian orphanages and economic insecurity due to the collapse of the planned communist economy after the Romanian Revolution) resulted in large numbers of street children. However, the situation has greatly improved since then. [13] Nevertheless, there are still children and teenagers committing petty crimes on the streets and engaging in aggressive begging. According to the US Romania 2017 Crime & Safety Report: "Panhandlers -- often groups of teenagers -- can be aggressive and have resorted to grabbing/tearing clothing to distract and steal from their target (...) Organized groups of thieves and pickpockets (including very young children and well-dressed young adults) operate in train stations and on public transportation." [8]
The Romanian Police (Romanian : Poliția Română) is the national police force and main law enforcement agency in Romania. It is subordinated to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. During the communist era it was called miliția . Following the fall of communism, it has undergone numerous changes and reorganizations, the most important of which took place in 2002, when the police was demilitarized, becoming a civilian police force. [14]
The Romanian Gendarmerie (Romanian : Jandarmeria Română) is a military police force of Romania tasked with high-risk and specialized law enforcement duties. It is one of the two main police forces in Romania (the other one being the Romanian Police), both having jurisdiction over the civilian population. Like the Romanian Police, the Gendarmerie is subordinated to the Ministry of Internal Affairs [15] and does not have responsibility for policing the Romanian Armed Forces (this duty lies with the Military Police subordinated to the Romanian Land Forces).
According to the US Romania 2017 Crime & Safety Report: "Romanian police do have the capability to conduct complex criminal investigations but are heavily burdened with petty crimes". [8] One crucial aspect of Romanian system of dealing with victims - at all levels of investigating and punishing crimes - is the "medico-legal certificate" (Romanian : certificat medico-legal) which is obtained from a medical doctor specialized in medical jurisprudence (Romanian : medic legist). It is also called "certificat de la IML". This certificate is used as proof for violent crimes.
Crime is prosecuted in accordance to the law. The current Romanian Penal Code came into effect on 1 February 2014. The current criminal code was preceded by The Penal Code of 1969 (in force from 1 January 1969), which in turn was preceded by The Penal Code of 1936.
The 1936 penal code was the first criminal code to apply nationwide, providing for the first time a unitary legislation on the territory of Romania, replacing the Hungarian Penal Code (known as The Csemegi Code) which had been in force in Transylvania since 1880, the Austrian Penal Code (promulgated under Emperor Franz Josef I) which had been in force in Bukovina since 1852, and the Penal Code of 1865 (known as The Cuza Code) which applied in the rest of the territory since 1865. [16] When the communists came into power after World War II, they made several changes to the 1936 Code, in accordance with communist ideology, but the Code remained in force until January 1, 1969, when the new Ceaușescu Penal Code replaced it. Similarly, after the 1989 Revolution, many changes were made to the 1969 code, but the code remained in force until 1 February 2014, when it was replaced by the new criminal code.
Perhaps the most notorious criminal in Romania was Ion Rîmaru, a serial killer who in 1970-1971 murdered and attacked several women in Bucharest. He was sentenced to death and executed in May 1971. In Transylvania, in the 1970s, Romulus Vereș, known as "the man with the hammer", murdered and attempted to murder several women; he was charged with five murders and several attempted murders, but was never imprisoned due to grounds of insanity having been diagnosed with schizophrenia, blaming the devil for his actions - instead, he was institutionalised in the Ștei psychiatric facility in 1976. In 1977, in Bucharest, the Anca case (Cazul Anca) would later prove to be one of the worst miscarriages of justice of Romania. A taxi driver was forced, under torture inflicted on him by militsiya officers and prosecutors, to admit to a murder that he did not commit, after communist authorities ordered the case to be quickly solved. In 1981, the real murderer, Romca Cozmici, was caught: he admitted to the crime for which the taxi driver was convicted - a gruesome murder of an 18-year-old woman, and the dismembering of her body, and also admitted to a second similar murder. He was sentenced to death and executed. [17] [18]
A hate crime is crime where a perpetrator targets a victim because of their physical appearance or perceived membership of a certain social group.
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. This state of mind may, depending upon the jurisdiction, distinguish murder from other forms of unlawful homicide, such as manslaughter. Manslaughter is killing committed in the absence of malice, such as in the case of voluntary manslaughter brought about by reasonable provocation, or diminished capacity. Involuntary manslaughter, where it is recognized, is a killing that lacks all but the most attenuated guilty intent, recklessness.
A violent crime, violent felony, crime of violence or crime of a violent nature is a crime in which an offender or perpetrator uses or threatens to use harmful force upon a victim. This entails both crimes in which the violent act is the objective, such as murder, assault, rape and assassination, as well as crimes in which violence is used as a method of coercion or show of force, such as robbery, extortion and terrorism. Violent crimes may, or may not, be committed with weapons. Depending on the jurisdiction, violent crimes may be regarded with varying severities from homicide to harassment. There have been many theories regarding heat being the cause of an increase in violent crime. Theorists claim that violent crime is persistent during the summer due to the heat, further causing people to become aggressive and commit more violent crime.
Crime in Sweden is defined by the Swedish Penal Code and in other Swedish laws and statutory instruments.
Monica Luisa Macovei is a Romanian politician, lawyer and former prosecutor, and former Member of the European Parliament from the European Conservatives and Reformists and formerly a member of the Romanian Democratic Liberal Party (PDL). She was the Minister of Justice of Romania in the first cabinet of Prime Minister Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu. In this position she was credited with implementing the justice reforms required for Romania to become a member state of the European Union. Macovei was also an independent candidate in Romania's 2014 presidential elections.
Human rights in Romania are generally respected by the government. However, there have been concerns regarding allegations of police brutality, mistreatment of the Romani minority, government corruption, poor prison conditions, and compromised judicial independence. Romania was ranked 59th out of 167 countries in the 2015 Democracy Index and is described as a "flawed democracy", similar to other countries in Central or Eastern Europe.
The Romanian Police Force is the national police force and main civil law enforcement agency in Romania. It is subordinated to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and it is led by a General Inspector with the rank of Secretary of State.
Rape is a type of sexual assault initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, under threat or manipulation, by impersonation, or with a person who is incapable of giving valid consent.
The Chinese of Romania are one of the smallest minorities of Romania.
The National Anticorruption Directorate, formerly National Anticorruption Prosecution Office, is the Romanian agency tasked with preventing, investigating and prosecuting corruption-related offenses that caused a material damage to the Romanian state. The institution deals with the fight against high corruption offences, which have caused damage greater than €200,000 or if the object of the crime is property or sums of money amounting to over €10,000.
An honor killing, honour killing, or shame killing is the murder of an individual, either an outsider or a member of a family, by someone seeking to protect what they see as the dignity and honor of themselves or their family when they think that the individual has violated their or their family's reputation. Honor killings are often connected to religion, caste, other forms of hierarchical social stratification, or sexuality. Most often, it involves the murder of a woman or girl by male family members, due to the perpetrators' belief that the victim has brought dishonor or shame upon the family name, reputation or prestige. Honor killings are believed to have originated from tribal customs. They are prevalent in various parts of the world, especially in MENA countries, the Philippines, and the Indian subcontinent especially in India, Pakistan and Nepal, as well as in immigrant communities in countries which do not otherwise have societal norms that encourage honor killings. Honor killings are often associated with rural and tribal areas, but they occur in urban areas as well.
Abortion in Romania is currently legal as an elective procedure during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, and for medical reasons at later stages of pregnancy. In the year 2004, there were 216,261 live births and 191,000 reported abortions, meaning that 46% of the 407,261 reported pregnancies that year ended in abortion.
Prostitution in Romania is not itself criminalized, although associated activities, such as procuring, are criminal offenses, and solicitation is a contravention punishable by fines.
Capital punishment in Romania was abolished in 1990, and has been prohibited by the Constitution of Romania since 1991.
Crime in Bulgaria is combated by the Bulgarian police and other agencies. The UK Government ranks Bulgaria as a low crime area and crime there has significantly decreased in recent years.
The Romanian mafia or Romanian organized crime is the category of organized crime groups whose members are citizens of Romania or living abroad in the Romanian diaspora. In recent years they have expanded their criminal activities in the European Union, reads a Europol report on EU organized crime, being active mostly in Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. The Romanian Mafia is composed of several major organized groups, which in turn have wider networks throughout Europe and have even reached as far as North and Central America.
The Penal Code of Romania is a document providing the legal basis regarding criminal law in Romania. The Code contains 446 articles. The articles mention aspects such as the national boundaries of law and the crimes that fall under the incidence of penal law. Judicial discretion is granted by the Code through the use of minimum and maximum sentences. The most recent version of the Romanian Penal Code has come into effect on 1 February 2014.
Domestic violence in Romania constitutes a social issue.
Homosexual acts in Romania were decriminalized on September 6, 2001.
There were numerous protests against the Romanian Government between 2017 and 2019. In January 2017, days after the government of the Grindeanu Cabinet was sworn into office in Romania, protests took place throughout the country against ordinance bills that were proposed by the Romanian Ministry of Justice regarding the pardoning of certain committed crimes, and the amendment of the Penal Code of Romania. At the heart of these protests is the community Corruption Kills, founded by Florin Bădiță, who alongside other civic groups organized what proved to be the largest protests since 1989, thus realizing the "Revolution of our generation".
