If someone has just been detained, call +40 742 833 784. Police detention lasts a maximum of 24 hours. Within that window it is decided whether preventive arrest will be sought — and within that same window the defence can be prepared.
Preventive measures are the harshest thing that can happen to you before anyone has established whether you are guilty. They are ordered on the basis of a reasonable suspicion, not a conviction. That is precisely why the law surrounds them with short deadlines and with the right to challenge them.
The four measures, from lightest to most severe
Police detention (reținerea)
Ordered by the criminal investigation body or the prosecutor, it lasts a maximum of 24 hours. Time runs from the moment the measure is communicated to you. At the end of it, the prosecutor either releases you or asks the judge of rights and liberties to order preventive arrest.
Judicial supervision (controlul judiciar)
You remain at liberty, but under obligations: to appear when summoned, to notify any change of address, sometimes not to leave a given area or contact certain people. It is the least restrictive of the preventive measures, and often the alternative I propose instead of arrest.
House arrest (arestul la domiciliu)
You may not leave the premises without judicial authorisation. Ordered for a maximum of 30 days, and extendable.
Preventive arrest (arestarea preventivă)
Ordered by the judge of rights and liberties, for a maximum of 30 days initially. Time spent in police detention is not deducted from it. The measure can be extended, but every extension must be justified afresh.
You have the right to appeal. Within 48 hours.
An appeal against the ruling ordering preventive arrest must be lodged within 48 hours of notification. An appeal lodged by the defendant is, under the law, decided within 5 days of registration.
The 48-hour deadline is short and unforgiving. It is one of the reasons why a delay in instructing a lawyer sometimes costs more than the fee.
What the defence is built on
- Whether a reasonable suspicion exists. Not every suspicion justifies deprivation of liberty. The evidence relied on must actually support the accusation.
- Whether the measure is necessary for one of the purposes expressly set out in the law — not as a matter of course.
- Proportionality. If the same purpose can be achieved through judicial supervision, arrest is not justified. In practice this is the most frequently successful argument.
- Personal circumstances. Settled address, employment, family, absence of a criminal record, conduct during proceedings.
- The lawfulness of what came before. If the evidence underpinning the request was unlawfully gathered, the request itself becomes unstable.
Specific points for foreign nationals
Not being resident in Romania is often used as an argument for the risk of absconding. It can be answered — with evidence of stable ties, an address in Romania where you can be reached, a willingness to surrender travel documents, and the alternative measures available.
You also have the right to have your consular office notified of your detention, and the right to an interpreter throughout the proceedings.
What you can do in the first hours
If you are the person detained: ask for a lawyer and exercise your right to silence until you have spoken to one. Silence cannot be interpreted against you.
If it concerns someone close to you: call immediately and gather, if you can, the documents evidencing their personal situation — employment contract, proof of address, children’s birth certificates, medical records. Those are exactly the documents that carry weight in the proportionality argument.
Availability
For urgent matters call +40 742 833 784 directly. A meeting outside office hours can be arranged. In the area of preventive measures that is not a courtesy — it is a practical necessity.