Types of criminal punishments. Chapter VII. Criminal punishment. Criminal Code of the Republic of Moldova
Excerpt from the Criminal Code of the Republic of Moldova
Title VII. Criminal punishment
Article 61. The concept and purpose of criminal punishment
(1) Criminal punishment is a measure of state coercion and a means of correction and re-education of the convicted person, which is applied by the courts, in the name of the law, to persons who have committed crimes, causing certain deprivations and restrictions on their rights.
(2) Punishment aims to restore social equity, correct and resocialize the convicted person, as well as prevent the commission of new crimes by both convicted persons and other persons. The execution of the punishment must not cause physical suffering or degrade the dignity of the convicted person.
Article 62. Categories of punishments applied to natural persons
(1) The following punishments may be applied to natural persons who have committed crimes:
a) fine;
b) deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or to exercise a certain activity;
b1) deprivation of the right to drive means of transport or cancellation of this right;
c) withdrawal of military or special rank, special title, qualification (classification) degree and state distinctions;
d) unpaid community service;
f) imprisonment;
g) life imprisonment.
(2) Imprisonment and life imprisonment shall be applied only as principal punishments.
(3) Unpaid community service may be applied as a principal punishment or, in the case of a conviction with conditional suspension of the execution of the punishment - as an obligation for the probation period or, as the case may be, for the probationary period.
(4) A fine, deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or to exercise a certain activity shall be applied both as principal punishments and as complementary punishments.
(5) Withdrawal of a military or special rank, a special title, a qualification (classification) degree and state distinctions shall be applied only as complementary punishment.
(6) Deprivation of the right to drive means of transport or cancellation of this right may be applied only as a complementary punishment.
Article 63. Categories of punishments applied to legal persons
(1) The following punishments may be applied to legal persons:
a) fine;
b) deprivation of the right to exercise a certain activity;
c) liquidation.
(2) The fine shall be applied as the main punishment.
(3) Deprivation of the legal person of the right to exercise a certain activity and its liquidation shall be applied both as main punishments and as complementary punishments.
Article 64. Fine
(1) A fine is a pecuniary sanction imposed by the court in the cases and within the limits provided for by this Code.
(2) The fine shall be established in conventional units. The conventional unit of fine shall be equal to 50 lei.
(3) The amount of the fine for individuals shall be established within the limits of 500 to 3000 conventional units, and for offenses committed for material interest – up to 20000 conventional units, taking as a basis the amount of the conventional unit at the time of the offense. The amount of the fine shall be established depending on the gravity of the offense committed and the material situation of the guilty party and his family. Taking into account the circumstances of the case, the court may order the payment of the fine in installments for up to 5 years.
(31) In the case of minor or less serious offenses, the convicted person is entitled to pay half of the established fine if he pays it within 3 working days at the latest from the moment the decision becomes enforceable. In this case, the fine sanction is considered to be executed in full.
(4) In the cases provided for in art. 21 para. (3), the amount of the fine for legal entities is established within the limits of 1500 to 60000 conventional units, depending on the nature and gravity of the offense committed, the amount of the damage caused, taking into account the economic and financial situation of the legal entity. In case of malicious evasion of the legal entity from paying the fine set, the court may replace the unpaid amount of the fine with the seizure of the assets.
(5) In case of malicious evasion of the convicted person from paying the fine set as the main or complementary punishment, the court may replace the unpaid amount of the fine with imprisonment within the limits of the maximum penalty terms, provided for by the respective article of the Special Part of this Code. The amount of the fine shall be replaced with imprisonment, calculating one month of imprisonment for 100 conventional units.
(6) The fine as a complementary punishment may be applied only in cases where it is provided for as such for the corresponding crime.
(7) If the convicted person is unable to pay the fine established as a principal or complementary punishment, the court may, in accordance with the provisions of art. 67, replace the unpaid amount of the fine with unpaid community service, calculating 60 hours of unpaid community service for 100 conventional units of fine.
Article 65. Deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or to exercise a certain activity
(1) Deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or to exercise a certain activity consists of the prohibition to hold a position or to exercise an activity of the same nature as that used by the convicted person when committing the crime.
(2) Deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or to exercise a certain activity may be established by the court for a term of 1 to 5 years, and in cases expressly provided for in the Special Part of this Code – for a term of 1 to 15 years.
(3) Deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or to exercise a certain activity may be applied as a complementary punishment even in cases when it is not provided for as a punishment for the offenses in the Special Part of this Code, if, taking into account the nature of the offense committed by the guilty person while performing his/her official duties or while exercising a certain activity, the court considers it impossible for him/her to retain the right to hold certain positions or to exercise a certain activity.
(4) When applying the penalty of deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or to exercise a certain activity as a complementary penalty to a fine or unpaid community service, its term is calculated from the date of the finality of the judgment, and when applying it as a complementary penalty to imprisonment, its term is calculated from the moment of execution of the main penalty.
Article 651. Deprivation of the right to drive means of transport or cancellation of this right
(1) Deprivation of the right to drive means of transport or cancellation of this right consists of prohibiting the driving of any type of means of transport on public roads.
(2) Deprivation of the right to drive means of transport may be applied by the court for a term of 1 to 5 years.
(3) The cancellation of the right to drive means of transport may be applied by the court, with the subsequent re-acquisition of the driving license, in the manner established by law.
Article 66. Withdrawal of military or special rank, special title, qualification (classification) degree and state distinctions
In case of conviction for a serious, especially serious or exceptionally serious crime, the court, taking into account the circumstances of the crime, may withdraw the convicted person's military or special rank, special title, qualification (classification) degree and state distinctions.
Article 67. Unpaid community service
(1) Unpaid community service consists of engaging the convicted person, outside of the time of basic service or studies, in work, determined by the local public administration authorities.
(11) In the case of military personnel serving a term and military personnel serving a reduced term, unpaid community service consists of engaging the convicted persons in their free time from sessions, established in accordance with the requirements of military regulations, in work determined by the commander of the military unit.
(2) Unpaid community service is established for a period of 60 to 240 hours and is performed for 2 to 4 hours per day, and in the case of the convicted person who is not engaged in basic activities or studies, at his request or with his consent – up to 8 hours per day.
(21) After the court decision is pronounced, the president of the court session explains the essence of the punishment of unpaid community service, which is recorded in the minutes of the court session.
(22) The person sentenced to unpaid community service shall sign an undertaking in court by which he or she undertakes to appear, within 5 days from the moment the court decision becomes final, at the probation agency in whose territorial jurisdiction he or she resides or, as the case may be, at the commander of the military unit.
(3) In case of malicious evasion of the convicted person from unpaid community service, it shall be replaced by imprisonment, calculating one day of imprisonment for 4 hours of unpaid community service. In this case, the term of imprisonment may be less than 3 months.
(4) Unpaid community service may not be applied to military personnel under contract and persons who have not reached the age of 16.
(5) Unpaid community service shall be performed for a maximum of 18 months, calculated from the date of the final judgment.
(6) Servicemen serving in service and servicemen serving a reduced term sentenced to unpaid community service shall serve this sentence in the military unit.
Article 70. Imprisonment
(1) Imprisonment consists of the deprivation of liberty of a person guilty of committing a crime by imposing isolation from the normal living environment and placing him, based on the court decision, for a certain term, in a penitentiary.
(2) Imprisonment is established for a term of 3 months to 20 years.
(3) When determining the prison sentence for a person who, at the time of committing the crime, was not 18 years old, the term of imprisonment shall be determined from the maximum sentence provided for by the criminal law for the crime committed, reduced by half.
(31) When determining the sentence for persons who have reached the age of 18 but not the age of 21, who committed the crime between the ages of 18 and 21, the maximum sentence shall be reduced by one third. If the court, taking into account the personality of the offender, concludes that only by applying the sentence within the general limits will the purpose of the criminal sentence be achieved, it may order a sentence within the limits provided for by the criminal law for the crime committed. The necessity of applying the punishment within the general limits shall be argued by the court.
(4) When establishing the final punishment in case of concurrent offenses, the prison sentence may not exceed 25 years for adults, 20 years for persons who have reached the age of 18 but have not reached the age of 21, and 12 years and 6 months for minors, and in case of cumulative sentences - 30 years for adults, 25 years for persons who have reached the age of 18 but have not reached the age of 21, and 15 years for minors.
(5) In the case of replacing the life imprisonment sentence with a milder sentence, by way of pardon, imprisonment for a term of 30 years shall be applied.
Article 71. Life imprisonment
(1) Life imprisonment consists of the deprivation of liberty of the convicted person for the rest of his life.
(2) Life imprisonment shall be established only for exceptionally serious crimes.
(3) Life imprisonment may not be applied to women and minors.
Article 72. Categories of penitentiaries in which the prison sentence is served
(1) The prison sentence shall be served in the following penitentiaries:
a) open type;
b) semi-closed type;
c) closed type.
(2) In open-type penitentiaries, persons sentenced to imprisonment for crimes committed out of imprudence shall serve their sentence.
(3) In semi-closed-type penitentiaries, persons sentenced to imprisonment for minor, less serious and serious crimes committed with intent shall serve their sentence.
(4) In closed-type penitentiaries, persons sentenced to imprisonment for particularly serious and exceptionally serious crimes shall serve their sentence.
(5) Persons who have not reached the age of 18 shall serve their sentence of imprisonment in detention centers for minors and young people, taking into account the personality of the convicted person, the criminal record and the harmful degree of the crime committed.
(6) Convicted women shall serve their sentence of imprisonment in penitentiaries for women.
(7) The change of the category of the penitentiary shall be carried out by the court in accordance with the legislation.
Article 73. Deprivation of a legal entity of the right to exercise a certain activity
(1) Deprivation of a legal entity of the right to exercise a certain activity consists in establishing the prohibition to conclude certain transactions, to issue shares or other securities, to receive subsidies, facilities and other advantages from the state or to exercise other activities.
(2) Deprivation of the right to exercise a certain activity may be limited to a certain territory or to a certain period of the year and shall be established for a term of up to 5 years or for an unlimited term.
Article 74. Liquidation of a legal entity
(1) The liquidation of a legal entity consists of its dissolution, with the occurrence of the consequences provided for by civil legislation.
(2) The liquidation of a legal entity is established if the court finds that the seriousness of the crime committed makes it impossible to maintain such a legal entity and extend its activity.
