National frameworks to address hate crime in Romania

This page provides information on the national frameworks to address hate crime in Romania. The information provided here should be viewed alongside data presented on Romania's hate crime report page.

Hate crime recording and data collection

The Romanian Police records all criminal offences in a dedicated database. Romanian investigative police officers have a duty to highlight all aggravating circumstances when registering criminal files that are under investigation.

The Judicial Records, Statistics and Operational Records Directorate of the Ministry of Interior is the specialized unit of the Romanian Police that carries out statistical production processes. Statistical data are gathered by each county police inspectorate for their own activities and transmitted to the Judicial Records, Statistics and Operational Records Directorate for validation and centralization.

The General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police collects statistical data on offences for which the aggravating circumstance (Article 77h of the Penal Code) has been established in the legal classification of the crime, and for which a bias motive has been identified. Statistical data have been available since 1 January 2022.

Statistical data are include information on each of the protected grounds, with distinct statistical indicators corresponding to each basis for committing the offence, namely: "race", nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, gender, sexual orientation, opinion, political affiliation, wealth, social origin, age, disability, chronic and non-communicable disease, HIV/AIDS infection, or other similar circumstances considered by the perpetrator as signifying a person's inferiority in relation to others.

Indicators for offences committed on ethnic grounds have the following sub-indicators:

Offences committed against ethnic Hungarian individuals;
Offences committed against persons of Roma ethnicity;
Offences committed on anti-Semitic grounds; and
Offences committed on other ethnic grounds.

Indicators for offences committed on religious grounds have the following sub-indicators:

Offences committed against Muslims;
Offences committed against Christians; and
Offences committed against other religious groups.

The data and information in the statistical system of the Romanian Police reflect the trends in bias-motivated crimes, the number of suspects and victims (detailed by their gender and age group), the number of individuals subject to preventive measures, as well as the bias motivations behind the committed crimes. No statistical data and information are collected regarding contraventional acts committed on grounds of bias.

Statistical data can be provided, upon request, to any interested natural or legal person.

Prosecution files and court files include information about aggravating circumstances. This information is replicated and centralized in the judicial statistics application used by the Ministry of Justice. This data has been collected since 2014.

At the start of 2018, the authorities established a statistical data collection mechanism, which introduced two new forms through which additional data on hate crimes are collected. The new mechanism provides for the monitoring of the use of the aggravating circumstance described in article 77h of the Criminal Code. It also allows for the monitoring of criminal offences listed under Government Emergency Ordinance no. 31/2002, as well as for the tracking of hate crimes in the ECRIS judicial statistical system.

Prosecutors and the judiciary record and collect data on hate crimes at two levels:

Via the statistical forms in use by the Public Ministry, approved by the Decision of the Plenum of the Superior Council of Magistracy No. 69 of 16 January 2014 together with the single nomenclature for criminal cases and the guide for filling in the statistical forms.
By Annexes No. 19 and No. 20 (Order No. 213/2015 of the Prosecutor General) on the organization and functioning of the information system of the Public Ministry, as subsequently amended and supplemented

Hate crime victim support

Support to hate crime victims is provided as part of the general victim support system in Romania. While hate crime victims are not explicitly defined in legislation and victims of hate crimes do not have a different status from victims of other crimes, when identified by police they are automatically presumed to be vulnerable.

The system of providing support for victims of hate crimes is regulated by Law No. 211/2004 on measures to ensure that crime victims receive the necessary information, support and protection, as well as by the Code of Criminal Procedure, which represents the general legal framework for the protection and support of crime victims. According to this law, the Services for Supporting Victims of Crimes (SSVCs), together with the General Directorates of Social Assistance and Child Protection (47 in total at the national level), offer support and protection to victims of crime. Social services can also be offered by private providers and city halls. There are no public organizations providing specialist support specifically to hate crime victims.

Civil society organizations (CSOs) offer support to victims either independently or in co-operation with public authorities. Law No. 211/2004 requires co-operation among the central and local public administration authorities, public institutions, CSOs and courts recognized by law to ensure crime victims' access to the necessary support and protection services. CSOs may organize a range of services for crime victims, such as psychological and financial support, shelter or legal assistance. According to the law, CSOs may benefit from subsidies from the state budget. There is, however, no quality control system for victim support service providers. The referral system relies on informal co-operation between CSOs and law enforcement.

Support and protection services are provided at the request of the victim, free of charge and are not dependent on the active procedural involvement of the victim. Such services include the following: information on victims' rights; psychological counselling, and counselling on the risks of secondary and repeated victimization or intimidation and revenge; advice on the financial and practical aspects subsequent to the crime; social integration/reintegration services; emotional and social support for the purpose of social reintegration; information and counselling on the role of the victim in criminal proceedings, including preparation for participation in the trial.

Further general measures to accommodate victims' needs include the following: interpretation services; legal aid; the use of audio-visual equipment when interviewing; information for victims on the release of the perpetrator; interviews in specially adapted rooms and in the presence of a psychologist or specialist in victim counselling; interviews conducted by the same person; and the provision of home security measures, a police escort and/or personal data protection. These measures can be applied by prosecutors ex officio or on request. All vulnerable victims are entitled to the medical care and psychological support provided by the state.

There is an individual needs assessment procedure in place for police. The assessment is based on the following criteria: the type of offence and circumstances of its commission, where available; the physical and mental impact of the offence on the victim; the personal characteristics of the victim; data on the offender, where available; the victim's relationship with or dependence on the offender; any communication difficulties of the victim; the criminal history and, where appropriate, information on the perpetrator's membership in criminal groups; and any other relevant matters. During the criminal proceedings, the court or the criminal prosecution body may request additional expertise, including a relevant medical opinion.

As part of the procedure, victims must be informed of the available support services and referred to relevant victim support service providers. The victim may also be referred to other specialized social services, based on the individual assessment carried out by the SSVCs. Urgent medical care and/or assistance is granted free of charge in all cases. There are no policies or guidelines for criminal justice institutions on responding to the needs of hate crime victims.

Hate crime victims benefit from the same procedural rights as all other crime victims in Romania. As such, hate crime victims have the right to participate in the entire criminal investigation, prosecution and judgement of the case, as well as the right to appeal the judgment. Once the victim becomes a party in a criminal trial, the following rights apply: the right to be informed of their rights; the right to make any other requests related to the settlement of the criminal side of the case; the right to be informed, within a reasonable time, about the status of the criminal investigation; the right to consult the file, according to the law; the right to be heard; the right to put questions to the defendant, witnesses and experts; the right to benefit, free of charge, from an interpreter when they do not understand/express themselves well or cannot communicate in Romanian; the right to be served with the translation (into a language that they understand) of any decision of non-referral to the court; the right to be assisted or represented by a lawyer; the right to file the complaint in a language they understand and to request a translated copy of the subpoena if the victim is called to participate in court proceedings.

Victims have access to the criminal investigation file throughout the proceedings. Decisions to end the investigation must be communicated to the victims, and the victims can propose filing a written testimony. Victims can also launch a civil action to obtain compensation.

Plea bargaining is available in accordance with Romanian law, as is a mediation procedure in criminal cases concerning crimes for which, according to the law, withdrawal of the prior complaint or reconciliation of the parties removes criminal liability, provided that the injured person and the perpetrator voluntarily accept this alternative to resolve the conflict, without any coercion.

Hate crime capacity building

Police receive occasional training on hate crimes, including on sensitive and respectful treatment, which are organized in co-operation with CSOs or international organizations.

The National Institute of Magistracy offers training courses to representatives of judiciary, including sessions on non-discrimination, diversity, and hate crimes as part of the initial training, as well as continuous training. The latter co-operates with the National Council for Combating Discrimination (CNCD).

In 2016, Romania implemented ODIHR's Training Against Hate Crimes for Law Enforcement (TAHCLE) Programme.