The Parliament must intervene urgently to remedy a toxic law, which has recently come into force to safeguard public safety, given that the construction or demolition of a bridge or dam has become a mere contravention.
Through the legislative amendments that entered into force in mid-August 2020, the state encourages the execution of construction works in vital areas to the general interest, such as roads (highways, roads, etc.), infrastructure facilities (bridges, etc.), production, distribution or transport electricity, land improvements or hydro technical works (dams, etc.) which are no longer considered crimes, but have become simple contraventions.
As mentioned in a previous article, recently published, the execution of construction works in the absence of the permit issued according to law, constitues a contravention and is sanctioned with a fine ranging from 1,000 to 100,000 lei, while non-compliance with the construction permit is sanctioned with a fine ranging from 5,000 to 20,000 lei.
However, until recently, the unauthorized execution (construction or demolition) or non-compliance with certain categories of works that are of particular general importance for the public interest was considered a crime, precisely to emphasize the importance of complience with the law in areas of special importance, such as those listed above.
A toxic legislative initiative from 2018, which received a negative opinion from the Government and was sent by the President of Romania for re-examination, entered into force recently, encouraging the execution whitout authorization or with its non-compliance, of such works that may put in danger the lives of citizens.
In the opinion of the initiators of the law, who in the explanatory memorandum make a series of phantasmagoric and unproven statements unrelated to reality, for example, the construction or demolition of a bridge or dam whitout a building or demolition permit, must be a simple contravention, and not a crime, although obviously the public interest is seriously endangered.
In its original form, the new Law even provided for the criminal decriminalising of the execution without authorization of construction or demolition, or with its non-compliance, of historical monuments. Fortunately, in the version that came into force, it escaped this alteration. In the context in which the real estate patrimony with the character of historical monument in Romania is systematically destroyed, the initiators of the law considered that the potential criminal sanction of those who, for example, demolish a historical monument without authorization is much too drastic.
