Harassment

Legal defence in harassment cases

Harassment (Article 208 of the Criminal Code) may consist of repeatedly following a person without entitlement or a legitimate interest, or watching places they frequent, causing fear: 3–6 months or a fine. For telephone calls and remote communications, the law requires the frequency or content to cause fear; the penalty is 1–3 months or a fine unless a more serious offence is involved. The same repetition requirement is not imposed in all communication cases. If the victim is a minor, the limits increase by one third. A lawyer can examine the boundary between legitimate contact and criminal conduct without minimising the injured person’s circumstances.

Elements of the statutory offence and defence strategies

The defence is built on the chronology of contact, message contents, existence of fear and, for paragraph (1), absence of entitlement or legitimate interest. A debt or family relationship does not justify every method of contact. We can check the integrity of screenshots, the full history and statements to challenge interpretations taken out of context. Criminal proceedings are initiated upon a prior complaint; its withdrawal, not reconciliation, is examined under Article 158 and takes effect only with the prosecutor’s endorsement. Mediation and compensation for harm may be useful, but do not replace the legal conditions for terminating proceedings.

Urgent legal assistance in Romania

Harassment cases routinely rely on screenshots, call histories or messages on online platforms, evidence requiring careful technical verification to establish its full context and integrity. The office of Lawyer Basuc Cosmin offers comprehensive legal representation and assistance before criminal investigation authorities and prosecutor’s offices in Romania. We assist during interviews, rebut exaggerated interpretations of complaints motivated by personal revenge and provide a dynamic defence before competent district courts, seeking closure of the case or, where circumstances permit, managing amicable mediation to protect your criminal record.