Law no. 58/2024 for the completion of Law no. 143/2000 on preventing and combating the illicit traffic and use of drugs, for the amendment of Law no. 194/2011 on combating operations with products likely to have psychoactive effects, other than those provided for by normative acts in force, as well as for the completion of art. 91 para. (3) of Law no. 286/2009 on the Romanian Criminal Code was published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 243 of March 21, 2024 (Romanian text).
Law no. 58/2024 adds a new article (art. 15¹) into Law 143/2000, which prohibits the suspension of the execution of the sentence under supervision (i.e., the application of a suspended sentence) for the domestic/international trafficking of high-risk drugs.
Specifically, this concerns:
• Domestic drug trafficking – art. 2 para. (2) in conjunction with para. (1): The cultivation, production, manufacturing, experimenting, extraction, preparation, transformation, offering, putting up for sale, selling, distributing, delivering under any title, sending, transporting, procuring, buying, possessing, or other operations concerning the circulation of high-risk drugs, without right, are punishable by imprisonment from 5 to 15 years and the prohibition of certain rights.
• International drug trafficking – art. 3 para. (2) in conjunction with para. (1): The introduction into or removal from the country, as well as the import or export of high-risk drugs, without right, are punishable by imprisonment from 10 to 20 years and the prohibition of certain rights.
This law came into force on March 24, 2024, and applies to all indicated offenses committed after this date.
Legal Consequence:
Those prosecuted/indicted for acts of domestic/international trafficking of high-risk drugs committed on or after March 24, 2024, can no longer benefit from the suspension of the execution of the sentence under supervision. This means they will have to serve the prison sentence, even if the conditions for imposing a suspended sentence would have otherwise been met.
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