Independence of Judges and Their Duty Only to Uphold the Law
While dispensing justice in criminal cases, judges shall be independent and committed only to
upholding the law. Judges hear criminal cases based on the law and in conditions excluding any
pressure exerted upon them.
A judge hears criminal cases in line with the law and his/her own views and based on evidence
examined under the respective judicial procedure.
A judge shall not be predisposed to accept conclusions presented by the criminal investigative
body against the defendant or to begin a trial with the preconceived idea that the defendant
committed the crime that constitutes the object of the charges against him/her. The submission of
evidence for the prosecution shall be the duty of the prosecutor.
Criminal justice shall be dispensed without interference. A judge shall oppose to any attempt to
exert pressure on him/her. Exerting pressure on a judge while hearing a criminal case in order to
influence a judgment shall imply criminal liability in line with the law.
An investigative judge shall be independent in his/her relationship with other law enforcement
bodies and courts and shall exercise his/her duties based only on the law and within its limits.
Free Assessment of Evidence
The judge and the person carrying out a criminal investigation shall assess evidence according to
their own convictions formed after examining all the evidence managed.
No evidence shall have a pre-established force of argument.
Official Nature of a Criminal Proceeding
The prosecutor and the criminal investigative body shall, within the limits of their competence,
initiate a criminal investigation if they are informed in the manner set forth in this Code about
the commission of a crime and shall undertake the actions necessary to determine the criminal
act and the guilty person.
The court shall undertake procedural actions upon its own initiative within the limits of its
competence unless the law provides for such actions to be undertaken upon the request of the
parties involved.
Change in the Panel of Judges
The panel of judges setup in line with art. 30 shall remain the same for the entire duration of the
case hearing except for the case set forth in para. (3). If this is not possible, the panel may be
changed prior to the beginning of the judicial inquiry.
After the beginning of the judicial inquiry, any change in the panel of judges shall imply a
resumption of the judicial inquiry.
If the case is heard in the first instance by a panel of three judges and one of them cannot further
participate in the case hearing due to a lingering disease, death or dismissal under the law, this
judge shall be replaced by another judge and the case shall be further tried. The new judge shall
be offered time to look through all case materials including those examined by the court and to
prepare for subsequent participation in the proceeding. The replacement of the judge under this
paragraph does not imply a resumption of the case hearing. The judge shall
be entitled to solicit the repetition of previous procedural actions carried out during the hearing
in his/her absence if additional issues need to be specified.
The authority of transferred, temporarily dismissed, removed, suspended or dismissed judges
during the final stage of a criminal case hearing shall be preserved according to the decision of
the Superior Council of Magistracy, until the end of the respective case hearing.
The Place for Hearing of Criminal Materials and Cases
Criminal materials and cases shall be heard at a court premises. In a justified ruling, a court may
decide to hear a case in a different place provided there are justifiable reasons to do so.
Incompatibility of a Judge
Judges who are married or related to each other cannot be members of the same panel.
A judge cannot participate in a case hearing and shall be recused:
if he/she personally, his/her spouse, their descendants, brothers or sisters and their
children, their in-laws and persons who by adoption have become relatives according to law, and
other relatives of the judge are directly or indirectly interested in the proceeding;
if he/she is an injured party or its representative, a civil party, a civilly liable party, the
spouse or relative of one of these persons or their representative or the spouse or relative of the
accused/defendant in the proceeding or his/her defense counsel;
if he/she participated in the trial as a witness, expert, specialist, interpreter, court
secretary, person who carried out the criminal investigation, prosecutor, investigative judge,
defense counsel, legal representative of the accused/defendant or representative of the injured,
civil, or civilly liable party;
if he/she performed an investigation or an administrative control of the case
circumstances or participated in the adoption of the decision on this case in any public or state
body;
if he/she issued decisions on this case prior to the hearing in which he/she expressed
his/her opinion on the guilt or innocence of the defendant;
if there are other circumstances that cast a reasonable doubt on the judge’s impartiality.
The judge may not participate in a new hearing of a case either in the first instance or in an
ordinary or extraordinary court of appeals and shall be also recused if he/she previously
participated as a judge in the hearing of the same case in the first instance or in a court of appeals
or cassation or as an investigative judge. This provision shall not apply to members of the
Plenum of the Supreme Court of Justice and to the judges of the Supreme Court of Justice
rehearing cases based on a decision of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of Justice.
Provisions on cases of incompatibility set forth in para. (2) point 5) and para. (3) shall not apply
to investigative judges and to judges of the court of cassation who hear cassation requests against
a judgment on preventive measures.
Procedure for Ruling on a Request for Recusal or on Self-Recusal
Requests for recusal or self-recusals shall be settled by a judge or, as the case may be, by a panel
of judges not involved in the proceeding. When ruling on requests for recusal or the self-recusal
of judges who are members of a panel of three or five judges, the judges of this panel who are
not recused may be included on the new panel of judges.
Requests for recusal or self-recusals shall be examined on the same day they are filed, and the
parties and the person whose recusal is requested shall be heard. If a new panel of judges cannot
be created in the same court, the recusal shall be settled not more than 10 days from the date of
receipt of the case file by a higher court which, upon accepting the request for recusal or self-
recusal, shall appoint a court of the same level as the court where the recusal was initiated to hear
the case.
