Criminal Lawyer in Cluj

I know a phone call from the police or a summons in a criminal case is frightening. Don’t go alone, and don’t give a statement until we’ve talked; I’ll take it from there. First, I check in what capacity you’re being called: as a witness (martor), a suspect or a defendant (inculpat). Your rights, and what you have to do, depend on it. Then I check what act is being investigated and its legal classification (încadrare juridică). As a suspect, you have the right to be told both before you’re questioned (art. 10(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, Codul de procedură penală). Finally, I look at the date of the questioning, so I can read what I can of the file and come with you. I’m a lawyer in Cluj-Napoca and I assist you in criminal cases at the police station, at the prosecutor’s office and in court.

What can I help you with?

• Criminal investigation: I come with you to questioning and to the other steps of the criminal investigation (urmărire penală), from the first summons to the indictment (rechizitoriu) or the decision to close the case (clasare).
• Preliminary chamber (camera preliminară): once the case has been sent to trial, I check jurisdiction, the referral of the case to the court and the lawfulness of the evidence.
• Trial: I represent you at every hearing, including when the witnesses are heard and in the closing arguments on the merits.
• Appeals: the appeal (apel) against the judgment and the challenges (contestații) provided by law.
• Injured parties and civil parties (persoane vătămate, părți civile): the complaint, joining the case as a civil party and the claim for compensation in the criminal case.
• Preventive measures: police custody (reținere), judicial supervision (control judiciar), house arrest (arest la domiciliu), pre-trial detention (arestare preventivă) and how to challenge them.
• Criminal driving offences: drink-driving, driving without a licence, refusing to give a biological sample or leaving the scene of an accident, from the moment your licence is taken to the outcome.
• Criminal complaint: how to start a criminal case when you’ve been harmed, the 3-month deadline and the complaint against a decision to close the case.

What to do in the first few days

If you’re a suspect or a defendant

• Don’t give a statement without a lawyer. Before you’re questioned, you must be told that you have the right not to make any statement (art. 10(4)). If you refuse to make a statement, the law says you suffer no consequence for it. If you do speak, what you say can be used as evidence against you (art. 83(a)).
• Ask for your lawyer. You have the right to one or more lawyers throughout the proceedings, and the police, the prosecutor (procuror) and the court must tell you so (art. 89(1)). If you waive this right, you can change your mind at any time (art. 89(1^1)).
• Find out what you’re accused of. Before your first questioning, you’re told that you’re a suspect, what the act is, its legal classification and your rights, and a report (proces-verbal) is drawn up (art. 307). As a defendant, you can ask for a copy of the order (ordonanță) bringing criminal action against you (art. 309(3)).
• Ask to see the file. You have the right to consult the case file (art. 83(b)). During the criminal investigation, the prosecutor sets the date for consulting it and can restrict access, giving reasons. Once criminal action has been brought, the restriction can last no more than 10 days (art. 94(3) and (4)). Your lawyer’s access to your own statements can never be restricted (art. 94(6)).
• If you’re taken into police custody. Police custody lasts no more than 24 hours (art. 209(3)). It can only be ordered after you’ve been questioned in the presence of a lawyer (art. 209(5)), one you’ve chosen or a court-appointed lawyer (avocat din oficiu). You can let your lawyer know yourself (art. 209(7)), and they have no more than two hours to arrive (art. 209(8)). I’ve written separately about preventive measures.
• If pre-trial detention is requested. The judge for rights and liberties (judecător de drepturi și libertăți) decides, for no more than 30 days (art. 226(2)). It requires a reasonable suspicion based on evidence, plus one of the grounds in art. 223. A challenge is filed within 48 hours of the ruling being pronounced or communicated (art. 204(1)).
• Keep your address up to date. Report any change of address in writing, within 3 days. Otherwise, summonses sent to your old address remain valid (art. 108(2)(b)).

If you’re an injured party

• The complaint has a deadline. For offences where the law requires a prior complaint (plângere prealabilă), you have 3 months from the day you found out about the act (art. 296(1)).
• Use your rights. You can propose evidence, consult the file and be assisted by a lawyer. If you ask for it, and give an address in Romania or an email address, you’ll be told what stage the criminal investigation has reached (art. 81(1)).
• Claim compensation in the criminal case. You join the case as a civil party, in writing or orally, before the court starts examining the evidence (începerea cercetării judecătorești). You state what you’re claiming, how much, why and with what evidence (art. 20(1) and (2)). If you miss that point, your only option is a civil lawsuit (art. 20(4)).
• If the case is closed. You have 20 days from the date the order is communicated to you to file a complaint with the prosecutor’s office (art. 339(4)). If that complaint is rejected, you have another 20 days (art. 340(1)) to go to the preliminary chamber judge (judecător de cameră preliminară).

If you’re a victim of domestic violence, you may also need a protection order.

If you’re called as a witness

You have the right not to say anything that would incriminate you, and the judicial body must tell you so before each questioning (art. 118(1)). You can come to the questioning with a lawyer (art. 118(4)). If you later become a suspect in the same case, your witness statement can’t be used against you (art. 118(3)).

How I work on a criminal case

I read everything you’ve received: the summons, the order, the search report or the police custody report. I come with you to the questioning and tell you beforehand what you can refuse and what you can’t. I ask to see the file as soon as possible and explain what evidence it contains, including the evidence that doesn’t help you. I propose evidence, make requests and file complaints against investigative acts that harm your interests (art. 336(1)).

Once the case has been sent to trial, in the preliminary chamber I check jurisdiction, the lawfulness of the referral to the court and the lawfulness of the evidence (art. 342). At trial I represent you at every hearing, question the witnesses and present the closing arguments. The deadline for an appeal is 10 days from the date the judgment or, depending on the case, the minute of the ruling (minuta) is communicated (art. 410(1)). You can check the last day with the court deadline calculator.

I don’t promise you an outcome. I tell you what I see in the file, what risks you face and what your options are, and the decision is yours. Honestly, I’d rather you hear from me what’s difficult in the file than find out in the courtroom. If what you’re being investigated for is actually a minor offence (contravenție), see challenging fines.

Which courts hear criminal cases in Cluj?

• The Cluj-Napoca District Court (Judecătoria Cluj-Napoca) tries at first instance all offences that the law doesn’t assign to other courts (art. 35(1)).
• The Cluj Tribunal (Tribunalul Cluj) tries at first instance the offences listed in art. 36(1). These usually include cases investigated by the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) or the Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), money laundering and the tax evasion offences in art. 9 of Law no. 241/2005. It also hears challenges against the District Court’s decisions, in the cases provided by law (art. 36(2)).
• The Cluj Court of Appeal (Curtea de Apel Cluj) hears appeals against criminal judgments given at first instance by district courts and tribunals (art. 38(2)).

Send me the summons, order or report you’ve received through the form, with the date you received it, and I’ll tell you what happens next.