Chapter VII. Criminal punishment. Criminal Code of the Republic of Moldova
Excerpt from the Criminal Code of the Republic of Moldova
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 of 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 a 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 crimes committed for material interest – up to 20000 conventional units, taking as a basis the amount of the conventional unit at the time of the crime. The amount of the fine shall be established depending on the gravity of the crime 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 crimes, 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 paragraph. (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 crime 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) A fine as an additional punishment may be imposed only in cases where it is provided for as such for the corresponding crimes.
(7) If the convicted person is unable to pay the fine established as a principal or additional 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 the 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 where it is not provided for as a punishment for the crimes in the Special Part of this Code, if, taking into account the nature of the crime committed by the guilty party 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, unpaid community service, a conviction with conditional suspension of the execution of the penalty or postponement of the execution of the penalty for pregnant women and persons with children under 8 years of age, its term is calculated from the date the decision becomes final, and when applying it as a complementary penalty to conditional release from punishment before the term or to replace the unserved part of the penalty with a milder penalty, its term is calculated from the moment of the effective execution in prison of the term established by the court, under the conditions of art. 91 and 92.
(5) In the case of a conviction with partial suspension of the execution of the prison sentence, the term of the penalty of deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or to exercise a certain activity as a complementary penalty shall be calculated from the moment of execution of the first part of the penalty in prison, and when the penalty of deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or to exercise a certain activity as a complementary penalty is applied to prison, its term shall be 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 the prohibition of driving any type of means of transport on public roads.
(2) Deprivation of the right to drive means of transport may be imposed by the court for a term of 1 to 5 years.
(3) Cancellation of the right to drive means of transport may be imposed by the court, with subsequent re-acquisition of the driving licence, in the manner established by law.
(4) When imposing the penalty of deprivation of the right to drive means of transport or the cancellation of this right as a complementary penalty to a fine or unpaid community service, its term shall be calculated from the date the judgment becomes final, and when applying it as a complementary penalty to imprisonment, its term shall be calculated from the moment of execution of the main penalty.
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 the time of basic service or studies, in work, determined by the local public administration authorities.
(11) In the case of military personnel serving in the military service 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 from 2 to 4 hours per day, and in the case of a 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 presiding judge of the court session explains the essence of the punishment of unpaid community service, which fact 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 report, within 5 days from the moment the court decision becomes final, to the probation body in whose territorial jurisdiction he or she resides or, as the case may be, to 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, one day of imprisonment being calculated 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 the court decision becomes final.
(6) Military personnel serving a term and military personnel serving a reduced term sentenced to unpaid community service shall serve this sentence in the military unit.
Article 70. Prison
(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 period, in a penitentiary.
(2) Imprisonment is established for a period of 3 months to 20 years.
(3) When determining the prison sentence for a person who, at the time of committing the crime, has not reached the age of 18, 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 applying the sentence to persons who have reached the age of 18 but have not reached the age of 21, who committed the crime between the ages of 18 and 21, the maximum sentence shall be reduced by one third, and in the case of a life sentence, it shall be commuted to imprisonment for a term of 30 years. If the court, taking into account the personality of the criminal person, concludes that only by applying the punishment within the general limits will the purpose of the criminal punishment be achieved, it may order a punishment within the limits provided for by the criminal law for the committed crime. The necessity of applying the punishment within the general limits shall be argued by the court.
(5) In the case of replacing the life imprisonment sentence with a milder punishment, by way of pardon, imprisonment for a term of 25 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 imposed on minors.
Article 72. Categories of prisons in which imprisonment is served
(1) Imprisonment is served in the following prisons:
a) open-type;
b) semi-closed-type;
c) closed-type.
(2) In open-type prisons, persons sentenced to imprisonment for crimes committed out of imprudence and for minor crimes committed with intent shall serve their sentence.
(3) In semi-closed-type prisons, persons sentenced to imprisonment for less serious and serious crimes committed with intent shall serve their sentence.
(4) In closed-type prisons, persons sentenced to imprisonment for particularly serious and exceptionally serious crimes shall serve their sentence.
(5) Minors shall serve their prison sentence 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 prison sentence 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 shall consist in its dissolution, with the occurrence of the consequences provided for by civil legislation.
(2) The liquidation of a legal entity shall be established if the court finds that the seriousness of the committed crime makes it impossible to maintain such a legal entity and extend its activity.
