The Principle of Continuity of the Trial Panel in Criminal Proceedings

Abstract

The trial of criminal cases is conducted before the court established according to the law and is conducted directly, through the direct perception of evidence. In order to ensure the principle of directness, the fundamental principle of the continuity of the trial panel is regulated, according to which the trial, with all its stages, is conducted before the same panel. By exception, according to art. 354 of the Criminal Procedure Code, its change can be made until the start of the debates, after this moment, any change implies the resumption of the debates, under the sanction of absolute nullity.

In this regard, art. 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, as interpreted in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, also enshrines the principles of continuity of the panel and of immediacy. In the judgments delivered against Romania, these aspects were analyzed with regard to our criminal procedural legislation, from the perspective of compliance with the requirements of a fair trial.

In this context, in judicial practice there have been discussions regarding the respect of the right to a fair trial as a whole, in the case of a change of the panel before the debates, without re-doing the procedural documents, but also situations in which the resumption of the judicial investigation may lead to the extension of the term for resolving the cases, given the need to respect reasonable deadlines.