On Wednesday, President Klaus Iohannis announced the law on amendments and additions to Art. 226 of Law No. 286/2009 on the Criminal Code. According to the regulatory act, the distribution of intimate images of a person without his consent is a crime and is punishable by imprisonment for up to three years. Romania thus joined countries that have criminalized revenge porn, including France, Germany, the UK, the US, Australia and Japan.

The law supplements the Criminal Code in the sense of criminal responsibility for the disclosure, distribution, presentation or transmission by any means of an intimate image of a person identified or identified according to the information provided, without the consent of the person shown, which may cause him/her mental suffering or change his/her image.

The sanction of the article provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of 6 months to 3 years or a fine.

What the normative act provides:

• “Disclosing, distributing, presenting or transmitting in any way an intimate image of a person identified or identified according to the information provided, without the consent of the depicted person, which may cause him mental suffering or affect his image, is punishable by imprisonment for a term of 6 months to 3 years or a fine.
• Intimate image means any reproduction, regardless of support, of a nude person who fully or partially exposes their genitals, anus or pubic area or, in the case of women, breasts, or who is engaged in sexual intercourse. or intercourse.”

The committed act does not constitute a crime:

• a) a person who participated in a meeting with an injured person, during which sounds, conversations or images were recorded, if this is justified by a legitimate interest;
• b) if the victim acted clearly with the intention to be seen or heard by the criminal;
• c) if the guilty party is a witness to the commission of a crime or contributes to proving the commission of a crime;
• d) if he records facts of public interest, which are of significant importance for the life of the community and the disclosure of which brings greater public benefit than the harm caused to the affected person.

The law was initiated after discussions with non-governmental organizations that protect women’s rights, representatives of the police, DIICOT and the Institute of Criminology.

The draft amendments to the Criminal Code were submitted to the USR in 2019 and adopted in May 2023 by the Chamber of Deputies.