Challenges of the Knowledge Society (May 2019)
ASPECTS REGARDING THE APPLICATION OF THE PRINCIPLE OF CONTINUITY IN THE JUDGING STAGE IN THE LIGHT OF THE EUROPEAN CONVENTIONALITY BLOCK
Abstract
The principle of continuity, as a result of the principle of immediacy in the criminal trial, is one of the important principles of the Romanian criminal trial, the content of which is given by the rule of the uniqueness of the panel of judges, which must remain the same. The continuity of the court panel is a guarantee of a fair trial, since the trial at the trial stage provides the parties with the faith that before the same panel of judges, composed of the appropriate number of judges, provided under the law, for the cases deducted from the judgment, fulfilling the requirements of immutability , independence, impartiality, responsibility and professional competence, the hearing of the parties, administration of evidence, discussion of applications, and then debates take place, giving expression to the lawfulness of criminal proceedings. The European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, subject to art. 6 § 1, as well as the case-law of the European Contentious Court has established concrete criteria for the application of the principle of continuity of the panel of judges, as a result of the principle of immediacy. In our study we aim to make a brief analysis of the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights on how to apply the continuity of the panel of judges as well as the limitations in the cases concerning Romania and other member states of the Council of Europe in report to the national regulatory standards, namely the Romanian Criminal Procedure Code and Art. 11 of Law no. 304/2004 republished, on judicial organization. We consider that the observance of the principle of continuity of the panel of judges in the court stage gives it content, and on its violations only the courts have the power to decide, since sanctioning the violation of the provisions regarding the composition of the panel of judges is absolute nullity.
