A new amendment to the Penal Code

A recent amendment to the Penal Code has entered into force, which complements the regulations on sexual harassment and introduces harsher penalties for teachers who ask sexual favours from pupils or students.

The law, adopted with broad support in Parliament, was promulgated at the end of last year and published in the Official Gazette the other day. Catalin Purcaru has details.

The law stipulates that the special punishment limits provided by law for sexual misuse of office are increased by one third for pre-university or university teachers who sexually harass pupils or students.

In practice, they risk imprisonment of eight months to four years and a ban on returning to teaching for one to five years. In addition, such a conviction will be entered not only in the criminal record but also in the automated register of people who have committed sexual, exploitative or juvenile offences.

Until now, in the Penal Code, sexual harassment was restricted to situations where there was an employment or similar relationship between the victim and the perpetrator, which meant that it could not be punished as a crime in the school environment.

The cross-party amendment to the penal code was recently adopted unanimously in parliament.

Translated by: Radu Matei