(en)

mes (war crimes against individuals, war crimes against property and other rights, war crimes against humanitarian operations and insignia, use of forbidden methods in combat operations, use of forbidden means in combat operations). The latter are incriminated both in the context of an international and non-international armed conflict. The attempt to commit these crimes is also punishable (Art. 445). A detailed description of the above-mentioned provisions is set out in Annex no. II. According to Art. 153 par. (2) letter a) of the Criminal Code, the statute of limitation does not remove the criminal liability in case of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, irrespective of the date when they were perpetrated. The breaches of IHL are subject to the principle of universality of the criminal law. Thus, according to Art. 11 of the Criminal Code, the Romanian criminal law also applies to other violations than those stipulated in Art. 106 (which provides for the principle of reality of the criminal law), if they were the committed outside the Romanian territory by a foreign citizen or a stateless person who is located voluntarily on the Romanian territory, in the following cases: a) an offense was committed that the Romanian State has undertaken to repress on the basis of an international treaty, irrespective of whether it is incriminated by the criminal law of the State on whose territory it was committed; b) extradition or surrender of the perpetrator has been requested and denied. 3. Institutions in place for the prosecution of breaches of international humanitarian law For violations of IHL, it is mandatory that the criminal investigation be conducted by a prosecutor, according to Art. 56 par. (3) letter a) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC)7, with subsequent amendments and additions. The Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Court of Appeal is competent to conduct the criminal investigation in cases of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The Military Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Military Court of Appeal in Bucharest carries out the criminal investigation for violations of IHL committed by the Armed Forces service members. 6 Offences committed outside the Romanian territory by a foreign citizen or a stateless person against the Romanian State, a Romanian citizen or a Romanian legal person. 7 Published in the Official Journal no. 486 of 15 July 2010, in force since 1 February 2014, according to Art. 103 of Law no. 255 of 19 July 2013 for the application of Law no. 135/2010 on the Criminal procedure code and for amending and supplementing some normative acts that comprise criminal procedure provisions, published in the Official Journal no. 515 of 14 August 2013, with the subsequent amendments and additions. 24 As regards the courts’ competences, the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) provides, in Art. 38 par. (1) letter a), that the court of appeal examines in first instance the crimes set out by the Criminal Code under Art. 438 – 445. Moreover, according to Art. 39 par. (1) letter a) of the CPC, the military court of appeal is competent to examine in the first instance the crimes set out by the Criminal Code under Art. 438 – 445, committed by Armed Forces service members. The prosecutors’ offices initiated a series of investigations into alleged crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, which are described in Annex no. III. 4. Extradition to other States or surrender to the International Criminal Court of persons charged with war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide As a principle matter, the domestic law allows for the extradition of persons charged with war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide to another state, as well as for the surrender of these persons to an international criminal court. However, there is no practice in the implementation of these provisions up to now. Thus, according to Art. 19 of the Constitution: - no Romanian citizen shall be extradited or expelled from Romania; - by exemption from the provisions of paragraph (1), Romanian citizens may be extradited based on the international agreements Romania is a party to, according to the law and on a mutual basis; - aliens and stateless persons may be extradited only in compliance with an international convention or on the basis of reciprocity; - expulsion or extradition shall be ruled by the court. Furthermore, according to Art. 14 of the Criminal Code: - extradition may be granted or requested on the basis of an international treaty to which Romania is a party or on the basis of reciprocity, under the conditions set out by law; - as regards the member states of the European Union, the surrender or extradition of a person is granted or requested under the conditions set out by law; - the surrender of a person to an international criminal court is granted under the conditions set out by law. As mentioned above, the competent national authorities have prepared a draft law on cooperation with the International Criminal Court (ICC) and initiated the formal approval procedure. In accordance with the Rome Statute, the ICC is complementary to the national criminal jurisdiction, meaning that the Court may exercise jurisdiction where the state is unable or unwilling genuinely to carry out the investigations or prosecutions. 25  V. PROTECTIONS 1. Protection of schools and educational facilities Continued access to safe education can help protect children and youth from the impact of armed conflict and contribute to building stronger, more resilient communities. The 2015 Safe Schools Declaration is a non-legally binding intergovernmental document that allows states to reiterate support for the protection and continuation of education in wartime. The Declaration describes the immediate and long-term consequences of attacks on education and military use of schools and universities for students, teachers, and communities living in situations of armed conflict, highlighting the importance of putting in place key mechanisms, instruments, and initiatives that contribute to protecting education. By joining the Declaration, States commit to use the Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict, which offer practical guidance to deter the military use of schools and universities and to mitigate the impact of this practice on students’ safety and education. These Guidelines, the result of several years of consultations with governments, armed forces, and international organizations, do not create new international legal obligations, drawing on existing practice to better safeguard the civilian character of educational facilities. By endorsing this document on 24 May 2017, Romania reconfirmed the importance attached to the continuation of education in emergencies and to the integration of the IHL obligations on which the Declaration and the corresponding Guidelines are based into relevant domestic policies, military doctrines and manuals. Moreover, Romania became part of the core group of countries led by Argentina and Norway that work to promote the endorsement of the Declaration worldwide and encourage governments to put their commitments into practice. More than half of the United Nations members have now joined the Safe Schools Declaration, which represents an important milestone in the global movement to protect learning at all levels during armed conflict. 2. Protection of the environment The right of every person to a healthy environment is recognized in Art. 35 of the Romanian Constitution, whilst the exercise of this right is regulated by the relevant national legislation. Moreover, as an EU Member State, Romania transposes and implements the European Union’s environmental law and policies. 26 Based on the premise that a healthy environment makes an essential contribution to maintaining human health and the quality of life, environmental requirements must be integrated into all other sectoral policies. Armed conflicts can cause severe and long-lasting damage to the environment. The obligations regarding the protection of the environment in the context of armed conflicts are set out in the conventions and protocols in the field of IHL to which Romania is a party8. While the domestic legislation does not contain additional provisions with explicit reference to the situation of environmental protection during armed conflicts, several normative acts in the field of environmental protection, including specific legislation on environmental damage9, can be applied to a wide range of exceptional situations with impact on the health of the population10. Furthermore, the status of forces agreements to which Romania is a party11 include provisions with regard to the protection of the environment. 8 Art. 35 (3) and Art. 55 (1&2) of the Additional Protocol (Protocol I) to the 1949 Geneva Conventions relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts, June 8, 1977; Art 23 of Convention (IV) respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land and its annex: Regulations concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land, the Hague, October 18, 1907; Art. 147 of the 1949 Geneva Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in time of War; Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons which may be deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to have Indiscriminate Effects, Geneva, October 10, 1980; Art. I and II of the Convention on the Prohibition of Military or any other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques/ ENMOD (Geneva, May 18, 1977). 9 Government Emergency Ordinance no. 68/2007 on environmental liability with reference to the pre- vention and remedy of environmental damage, with subsequent amendments and additions; Law no. 101/2011 for the prevention and sanctioning of certain facts regarding environmental degradation. 10 Government Emergency Ordinance no. 195/2005 on environmental protection, with subsequent amendments and additions; Water Law no. 107/1996, updated; Forest Code, updated; Law no. 59/2016 on the control of major accident hazards involving dangerous substances; Law no. 211/2011 on the waste regime; Law no. 360/2003 on the regime of dangerous chemical substances and preparations; 11 For example, Art. VIII (2) of the Agreement between Romania and the United States of America on the deployment of the United States Ballistic Missile Defense System in Romania (Washington, 2011) states that “The parties shall pursue a preventive approach to environmental protection. To this end, all problems that may arise shall be dealt with expeditiously in order to prevent any lasting damage to the environment or endangerment of human health and safety. The United States shall provide Romania information concerning the impact of the electromagnetic spectrum on human safety.” 27  3. Protection of cultural property Cultural property (historical monuments, archaeological sites and mobile heritage) is protected by the national law12. At the same time, Romania is party to the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its two Protocols of 1954 and 1999, which focus on the protection of cultural property both in peacetime and wartime. As mentioned above, the Commission also took the role of the national advisory body with competences in the field of protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict, as prescribed by the 1954 Hague Convention. Consequently, Romania has adopted a number of preparatory measures in order to protect cultural property in the event of armed conflict, such as:  the elaboration of the inventory of the cultural property;  the planning of emergency measures for the protection of cultural property in case of fire or destruction of structures, which covers situations such as natural calamities or armed conflicts. At the same time, by Decision no. 1222/2005, the Government established a centralized procedure for carrying out and organizing the evacuation, including of cultural and patrimonial goods, in case of imminent armed conflict. In support of implementing this Decision, the authorities elaborated the Methodology for organizing and carrying out the evacuation activities of persons, goods, documents and materials containing classified information in situations of armed conflict. According to the Methodology, the main evacuation actions of the population and of important material goods during military operations are established by plans prepared during peacetime, while the coordination of such actions at the central level is ensured by the National Center for Management and Coordination of an Armed Conflict Evacuation, led by a State Secretary from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, under the guidance of the Minister of Internal Affairs, and composed of representatives of the institutions with responsibilities in the field. Moreover, one of the specific objectives of the Romanian National Strategy on the Application of International Humanitarian Law refers to the adoption of measures in order to protect cultural property in the event of armed conflict, such as:  the elaboration and adoption of certain normative acts in application of the provisions of relevant international treaties; 12 Law no. 422/2001 on the protection of historical monuments; Government Ordinance no. 43/2000 on the protection of the archaeological heritage and declaring certain archaeological sites as national interest areas; Law no. 182/2000 regarding the protection of the movable national heritage. 28  the training of qualified personnel to ensure the application of treaties concerning the cultural property13 ;  the involvement of local authorities in administering the measures regarding the protection of cultural property;  carring out an inventory on the cultural property in order to have it labeled with the corresponding protection symbol. According to the legislation in force, the main institutions responsible for the protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict are the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of National Defence. These institutions must ensure, through a program of coordinated actions, the protection and integrity of classified movable cultural property in specialized and non-specialized institutions, cult units, as well as in private collections, against the risks arising from natural disasters, public disturbances or armed conflicts. In this respect, the Ministry of Culture endorses the regulations and methodologies developed by the competent public authorities and institutions regarding the special protection measures for historical monuments in case of armed conflict, acts of terrorism and emergency situations. The Ministry of Culture also establishes and controls the placement of the distinctive emblem attesting the regime of the historical monument in order to ensure its protection both in time of peace and armed conflict. Equally, the Ministry of Culture, in collaboration with the Ministry of National Defence, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other public administration authorities with responsibilities in the field, establishes special measures to protect the museum heritage in case of armed conflict, civil unrest and natural disasters. The intangible heritage is also protected by law14, given its importance for the preservation of cultural identity. As a state party, since 2006, to the UNESCO Convention on the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, Romania has been making progress in enhancing the implementation of its provisions, primarily in relation to issues such as community participation, elaboration of safeguarding activities, bottom- up inventorying, clarifying roles of different types of stakeholders and coordination between them. The National Inventory and Registry are two complementary instruments of identification of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, which have been elaborated by experts in the field of ethnology and folklore research, in close cooperation with representatives of the Ministry of Culture, as well as of communities concerned. 13 The curriculum of the “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” Police Academy in Bucharest contains topic studies such as “IHL Protection of Cultural Property during Armed Conflict”; similarly, the instruction of the personnel belonging to the Romanian Gendarmerie includes a subject entitled “Implementation of the rules of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its two Protocols of 1954 and 1999”. 14 Law no. 26/2008 regarding the safeguarding of the immaterial heritage. 29  The marking of cultural property is a preparatory measure taken during peacetime to protect cultural property against the foreseeable effects of an armed conflict. In accordance with Art. 6 of the 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection and Conservation of the Cultural Heritage, cultural property may bear a distinct