In addition to protection measures, courts in Romania can order that aggressors be obliged to psychological counselling, psychotherapy or, as the case may be, voluntary/involuntary hospitalisation under a bill passed on Wednesday by the Chamber of Deputies by a majority of votes.
The bill amends and supplements Law 217/2003 for preventing and combatting domestic violence and Law 26/2024 on the protection order and concerns a series of regulations. Thus, an express obligation is introduced for the local public administration authorities to contact the victim within 3 days of the issuance of the protection order and at least 14 days before the expiry of the order, in order to inform him or her about the right to request its extension.
It also introduces the obligation of the court to order, in addition to the protection measures, the aggressor to undergo psychological counselling, psychotherapy or, as the case may be, voluntary/involuntary hospitalisation. If the aggressor is a consumer of psychoactive drugs, the court will be able to order, with consent, the integration of drug users into an assistance program.
At the same time, the obligation for the aggressor to give information to the police once a month regarding the conduct of psychological counselling and/or psychotherapy sessions is introduced, with the aggressor to be penalised for non-compliance with the measure to undergo psychological counselling and/or psychotherapy, and to give information to the police body regarding the performance of these sessions. There is also a proposal that in the event of issuing a new protection order against an aggressor already sanctioned previously (more precisely in the last 5 years), the court can establish a duration of up to 24 months.
It is also proposed that the victim can request the issuance of the protection order either at the court of his/her domicile or at the court in the district where the acts of violence were committed, and at the same time it is proposed to introduce the obligation to communicate the decision to issue the protection order within a maximum of 5 hours of its issuance to the local public administration authorities dealing with victim protection.
According to an amendment, in addition to any of the measures ordered, the court also orders the aggressor to undergo psychological counselling, psychotherapy or, as the case may be, may recommend voluntary hospitalization or may request involuntary hospitalization, under the provisions of Law on Mental Health and Protection of Persons with Mental Disorders 487/2002, republished, with subsequent amendments and supplements. If the aggressor is a consumer of alcohol and/or psychoactive drugs, the court may order, with consent, signing up for a programme of counselling, treatment, detoxification, alcohol treatment or special assistance, according to the law. In the case of the consumption of psychoactive drugs, the provisions of Article 22 of Law 143/2000 on the prevention and combatting of illicit drug trafficking and consumption, republished, as subsequently amended and supplemented will apply.
The Chamber of Deputies is the decision-making body in the case of this bill .
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