Procedural Guarantees for Minor Participants in the Criminal Process

Abstract

The accentuation of the criminal phenomenon in which minors are involved gives us the opportunity to discuss some procedural aspects regarding the guarantees provided by Romanian legislation, compared to European regulations, to protect the rights of these minors in the event of a criminal process. In this context, the present study aims to address the issue of regulated procedural guarantees for minors, regardless of the status (procedural quality) in which they may appear before the judicial bodies: either injured persons/civil parties, or witnesses, or suspects or defendants. Using, as research methods, documentation, scientific analysis, including comparative, as well as interpretation, the present work also presents the most recent legislative changes brought to the Romanian Criminal Procedure Code in the matter of procedural guarantees provided to minors participating in criminal cases. Finally, the study emphasizes the importance of these procedural guarantees from the perspective of ensuring both the respect of the fundamental right to a fair trial and the just resolution of criminal cases by finding out the truth and exercising the educational role of the criminal process, also advancing a ferenda law proposal for a better systematization of the provisions of the Romanian Code of Criminal Procedure.