The Universality and Personality Principles in the Romanian New Criminal Code from the Perspective of Universalization of the Protection of Human Rights

摘要

The changes brought to the principles of universality and personality of the criminal law by the new Criminal Code of Romania should also be regarded from the perspective of the universatization tendencies of the protection of human rights, especially since even the lawmaker, in the explanatory memorandum, establishes the general objective of adapting to the requirements deriving from the treaties regarding fundamental human rights to which Romania is a party. The extra-territorial application of criminal law is a sensitive and current subject. The latest discussions were generated by the case-law relating to the United States of America's Alien Tort Statute, with regard to the exercise of universal jurisdiction and holding accountable multinational corporations for serious human rights violations outside the territory where the offence was committed and of the state whose nationality they bear. By reference to the spirit of the age, the regulation of the extra-territorial application of the Romanian criminal law gives evidence of cautiousness, especially in the exclusion of foreign legal entities from the application of the principle of universality, but a caution warranted by the geopolitical position of Romania, which does not allow for pioneering in such sensitive areas.