Self-defense in the Penal Code

Day after day (or several times a week), as part of what we generically call self-defense training, we prepare ourselves to cope with unforeseen situations — to know how to defend ourselves or protect a loved one who is in danger and unable to defend themselves. But it is equally important to know the legal limits within which we are permitted to do so. The existence of provisions for legitimate defense is rooted in the reality of life and in the existence of extreme situations, when order is disrupted as a result of aggression by one person against another and when, only through an immediate response, is it possible to repel the attack. On the other hand, in conflict situations — even those provoked or accompanied by unlawful behavior — no one is permitted to take the law into their own hands, to resort to acts or procedures incompatible with the rule of law in order to defend their legitimate interests against persons with whom they may be in conflict.1

Self-defense law in the new Penal Code

The new Penal Code and new Code of Criminal Procedure entered into force on 1 February 2014. The new Penal Code regulates legitimate defense in Article 19 of the general part. (corresponding provision in the old Penal Code — Article 44). According to this article: (1) An act provided for by criminal law committed in legitimate defense is justified. (2) A person who commits an act in order to repel a material, direct, imminent, and unjust attack that endangers their person, another person, their rights, or a general interest, is acting in legitimate defense, provided that the defense is proportionate to the seriousness of the attack. (3) It is presumed to constitute legitimate defense, under the conditions of paragraph (2), when a person commits the act to repel the entry of another person into a dwelling, room, outbuilding, or enclosed area belonging to it, without right, by violence, deception, breaking and entering, or other similar unlawful means, or during the night. A detailed article about what these provisions mean, very well structured, can be found on the website politisti.ro photo credit: emo 1 via photopin (license) [1] HĂRĂTĂU LAMYA – DIANA , DOCTORAL THESIS