Two Legal Orders for One Mental Disorder – Addressing the Legislative Parallelism in Romania’s Mental Health Framework

The article titled “Two Legal Orders for One Mental Disorder – Addressing the Legislative Parallelism in Romania’s Mental Health Framework,” written by Cătălin-Șerban Apătean, a doctoral candidate at the Faculty of Law, University of Bucharest, was published in A.U.B.D. – Legal Forum No. 1/2026. This article analyzes the conditions under which medical safety measures regulated by the Romanian Criminal Code and measures regulated by Law No. 487/2002 on mental health and the protection of persons with mental disorders may be ordered and enforced, along with the corresponding safeguards for fundamental rights existing in each procedure. The study examines the coexistence of these two distinct legal frameworks—criminal and medical—which are essentially based on the same criterion—the perceived social danger posed by a person with mental disorders—and lead to the same result: involuntary deprivation of liberty on grounds of mental health. This paper aims to assess the constitutional stability and respect for human rights in the regulation of similar institutions with distinct legal bases—one based on the commission of an act provided for by criminal law, and the other on the mental health status of the person in question. We argue that this legislative parallelism creates inconsistencies in terms of protection and procedure, undermining legal certainty, equality before the law, and respect for fundamental rights.