CRIMINAL ACT is defined by Section 13 of the Act N.40 / 2009 Coll. (Criminal Code): Criminal act is a an unlawful act which is described by the Criminal Code as punishable and which accomplishes elements of a criminal offense stated by such act. Criminal liability for crime requires intentional fault unless stated expressly by the criminal law that negligent fault qualifies as well.

The first stage of a pre-trial criminal proceeding is examination, when the police authority examines whether criminal offence was committed and who the person suspected of committing a crime is.

If the public prosecutor arrives at the conclusion that a criminal offence was committed and that enough evidence on such criminal offence has been gathered, they will bring a criminal charge against specific person to court. The charge will be describing the act which that the specific person committed, classification of the incurred criminal offence, and details of the evidence on which the public prosecutor based and justified such charge.

In case the public prosecutor brings a criminal charge to court, the court will hear the prosecution, either as part of the trial or it will issue a decision without hearing. Trial is always open to public (with the exception of cases of extraordinary nature, which are specified by law, and when the public may be excluded from the hearing of the case) and it is always conducted by a judge (the judges on the bench consists of a professional judge and two laymen).

In practise it is possible to come across several different decisions within criminal proceedings. These are the judgement, criminal order and the resolution.

It is possible to file an appeal against the first instance decision, i.e. against the court who made decision in the case as the first. This must be made no longer than eight days from the day the judgement was delivered into one’s own hands. 

Criminal order – accelerated proceedings In case of less serious criminal offences which are punishable by imprisonment up to five years maximum as set out by law the trial is only held by one professional judge, called single judge.