The Chamber of Deputies adopted on Wednesday by a vote of 180 to 81 and two abstentions the bill amending the Criminal Code in the version approved by the Senate.
Representatives of the National Liberal Party and the Save Romania Union announced that they will once again challenge the bill at the Constitutional Court.
Several provisions have been removed from the initial version of the piece of legislation, as they had been declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court of Romania. Also, several articles that drew the opposition's criticism were maintained because they had not been challenged or declared unconstitutional.
One of these provisions refers to shorter statutes of limitation: thus the time limit for criminal liability will be of 8 years, compared to 10 years as per the law in force, when the law provides for a sentence longer than 10 years in prison, but not exceeding 20 years; and 6 years, instead of 8 years, when the law provides for more than 5 years in prison, but not exceeding 10 years.
Another provision concerns the repeal of the article on negligence in office.
Another change provides for a one-year term where a denunciation can be filed. "The briber shall not be punished if he denounces the deed before the criminal investigative body has been notified of it, yet no later than one year since the date of the crime," the text reads.
The Chamber of Deputies is the decision-making body for this bill.