Everything about Romania’s National Drug Offenders Registry

UPDATE August 2025: I have identified multiple cases where individuals, convicted in Romania or other EU countries for possession of drugs for personal use, were mistakenly registered. In most cases, the deletion was carried out shortly after the police were notified of the person’s specific legal situation.

UPDATE July 2025: To understand the true scale of these measures, I requested official data from the authorities. According to the response received from the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police, over 26,600 individuals have been registered in the Registry.

As of June 1, 2025, a new surveillance tool has become operational in Romania, commonly known as the “Drug Trafficker Registry” (“the Registry”).

The Registry represents one of the most recent tightenings of drug legislation in Romania. Furthermore, the Registry is a purely Romanian creation, not found in any other European Union member state.

In essence, the most important aspects are:

• Long-term surveillance: Involves the long-term surveillance of over 26,600 individuals, who are registered for a period of 10 or 20 years.
• Severe obligations: The imposed obligations are severe and involve serious intrusions into private life: periodic reporting to the police to provide information, home checks, the need to pre-notify travel longer than 7 days, and the forced collection of biometric data (DNA, fingerprints, photos).
• Risk of a new conviction: Failure to comply with these obligations constitutes a new criminal offense, punishable by imprisonment or a criminal fine.
• There is a solution: Inclusion in this registry can be challenged in court.

In this article, I will explain the practical implications of this new law. I have also presented these arguments in the following interview (English-dub available), highlighting why I consider this measure to be a second punishment for tens of thousands of Romanians:

Who Ends Up In This Registry?

The Registry became operational on June 1, 2025. This means that, starting from this date, police authorities automatically registered individuals who committed the following offenses:

• All forms of trafficking in drugs or products with psychoactive effects:
  • Domestic drug trafficking (Art. 2 of Law 143/2000).
  • International drug trafficking (Art. 3 of Law 143/2000).
  • Unauthorized operations with “legal highs” / “ethnobotanicals” (products susceptible to psychoactive effects – Art. 16-17 of Law 194/2011).
• Related offenses:
  • Making a location available for drug use (Art. 5 of Law 143/2000); Intentionally prescribing or dispensing high-risk drugs without medical necessity or with forged prescriptions (Art. 6 of Law 143/2000); Unlawfully administering high-risk drugs (Art. 7 of Law 143/2000); Supplying toxic inhalants to minors (Art. 8 of Law 143/2000); Financing drug trafficking or use (Art. 9 of Law 143/2000); Inciting drug use (Art. 10 of Law 143/2000); Offenses from Art. 2, 6-8, and 10 of Law 143/2000 resulting in the victim’s death (Art. 11 of Law 143/2000); Attempted offenses from Art. 2, 3, 4(2), 6(2)-(3), 7, and 9 of Law 143/2000 (Art. 12 of Law 143/2000).

It is essential to note that police authorities have abusively registered individuals in the Registry who NO longer had a criminal record, contrary to the provisions of Law 61/2024.

It is also important to state that the Registry includes individuals sentenced to a suspended sentence. In fact, the record is kept for a broad category of people who have committed the offenses above, namely:

• Individuals sentenced to imprisonment (either served or suspended), as well as those for whom a waiver of penalty application or a deferral of sentencing was ordered.
• Individuals subject to security measures, such as mandatory medical treatment, in connection with one of the offenses listed above.

Regarding Romanian citizens convicted abroad, they are registered following communications between states concerning the commission of offenses of the types listed above. There have been multiple situations where notifications were misinterpreted by the Romanian Police, leading to the wrongful registration of individuals, including those who were merely fined abroad for possession of drugs for personal use.

Individuals who were minors at the time of the offense are not entered into the Registry, except in cases where a court explicitly orders it during criminal proceedings.

How Do You Get Notified About Being Registered?

Starting from June 2025, the targeted individuals began to be notified (by phone or written summons) of their obligation to report to the police station in their locality of residence within 5 working days. Failure to appear constitutes a criminal offense and is punishable by 3 months to 2 years in prison or a criminal fine.

During this visit, the individuals are subject to being photographed, fingerprinted, and having biological samples collected for inclusion in the National Forensic DNA Database. If biological samples have already been collected from the individuals, police authorities are NOT required to collect them again (Art. 15(1) of Law 61/2024).

Obligations of Persons in the Registry

Following notification, individuals are subjected to a drastic and invasive surveillance regime.

Thus, if the person resides in Romania, they have:

• The obligation to report periodically to the police, at least once every 3 months, to provide information regarding:
  • their profession, trade, or current activity;
  • their means of subsistence;
  • the persons with whom they live or have come into direct and systematic contact;
  • pre-university/university educational institutions, school camps, clubs, festivals, or any place they frequently visit;
  • their residential address;
  • their method of communication with the police.
• The obligation to notify the police in advance of any intention to travel outside their locality for more than 7 days, including details about the destination, purpose, duration, and means of transport.
• The obligation to report to the police in the new area of residence within 3 days of moving to be registered in that jurisdiction.

Failure to comply with these obligations is a criminal offense, punishable by 3 months to 2 years in prison or a fine.

For individuals who do not reside in Romania, they remain registered in the Registry but are NOT subject to the obligations listed above, which apply only to residents of Romania. In this regard, they must prove to the Police that they live in another country through supporting documents (e.g., a rental agreement, employment contract, etc.).

How Long Does a Person Stay in the Registry?

According to the law, individuals are removed from the Registry’s records in the following situations:

• The acts they committed are no longer classified as criminal offenses by law.
• 5 years have passed since a final decision for a waiver or deferral of penalty was issued, and it was not revoked.
• 10 years have passed since their registration if the sentence was a fine or imprisonment of up to 5 years.
• 20 years have passed since their registration if the sentence was imprisonment of more than 5 years.
• They have passed away.
• They reach the age of 85, if the sentence was for more than 5 years.

Registered individuals can also request removal from the Registry through legal proceedings in court, for reasons related to the illegal registration or human rights infringements.

Conclusion

Law 61/2024 creates a post-conviction surveillance system that is far more intrusive and long-lasting than the standard criminal record.

Given the severity of the imposed obligations and their extreme duration, there are solid legal arguments to challenge the legality and constitutionality of this law, both by reference to national standards and to the European ones.

If you are a person affected by the Drug Traffickers Register and wish to explore the possibility of having your data deleted from it, I invite you to contact me via email at: ciprian@pozderie.ro.