What We (Don't) Want When Amending Criminal Law. A Preliminary Analysis of Amendments to Offenses Against the Person Through the Law on Preventing and Combating Femicide and Preceding Violence

The article titled “What We (Don’t) Want When We Amend Criminal Law. A Preliminary Analysis of the Changes to Crimes Against the Person Introduced by the Law on Preventing and Combating Femicide and Preceding Acts of Violence,” written by Associate Professor Andra-Roxana Trandafir, Ph.D.
The article analyzes the changes made to crimes against the person by the Law on the Prevention and Combating of Femicide and Precursor Violence, adopted in March 2026 by the Romanian Parliament.
The new aggravating circumstances in the context of aggravated homicide—which do not distinguish based on whether the victim is a woman or a man—are presented in detail, along with guidance on interpreting the new concepts used by the legislature, such as “control” and “domination,” guidelines on interpreting the gender-based aggravating factor and the new form of murder committed in the context of ending a relationship. Similar aggravating factors regarding offenses of inciting or aiding suicide and those against bodily integrity or health are also analyzed.
The article also identifies legislative errors, inconsistencies, or problems in the application of certain legal provisions, as well as difficulties in legal classification and the application of penalties through the system of successive aggravating factors that result in sentence increases by fractions of a penalty unit.
Without disputing the usefulness of the other provisions of the new law, the article emphasizes that the preventive effect of the amendments to the Criminal Code is debatable, given studies that show no real progress in hyper-repressive systems, and calls for caution when amending criminal law.
The article also presents the new rules regarding the initiation of ex officio criminal proceedings for domestic violence offenses involving physical assault, rape, sexual assault, and aggravated home invasion, as well as some issues raised by these regulations.