Minority as a Cause of Non-Imputability and the Limits of Criminal Liability under Romanian Criminal Law

Abstract

This study examines minority as a cause of non-imputability in Romanian criminal law, reading Articles 27 and 113 of the Criminal Code together to separate the legal consequence — the absence of imputability — from the criteria that determine it. It sets out the graduated, age-based regime of liability and the pivotal role of mental capacity for the 14-to-16 bracket, where the forensic psychiatric examination becomes decisive and where law and forensic psychology meet. Against this framework, the paper weighs the recurring proposal to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility in response to serious offending by very young children. Drawing on comparative European solutions and on recent empirical research from Denmark and Sweden, it argues that a lower threshold does not deliver the deterrence its supporters expect and harms the developmental prospects of the children concerned. The more coherent answer lies in strengthening child protection, enforcing educational measures effectively, and holding accountable the adults who recruit minors into crime.