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Law No. 285 From 14 August 1947

Original Language Title:  LEGE nr. 285 din 14 august 1947

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LEGE no. 285 285 of 14 August 1947 to amend and supplement some provisions of the law for the trade of estimates of 1 Octomvrie 1932 and other laws for the regulation of exchanges with abroad
ISSUER PARLIAMENT
Published in OFFICIAL MONITOR no. 186 186 of 15 August 1947



MIHAI I, Through the grace of God and the national will, King of Romania, To all present and future, health: The Assembly of Deputies voted and adopted, and We sanction what follows: LEGE to amend and supplement some provisions of the law for the trade of estimates of 1 Octomvrie 1932 and other laws for the regulation of exchanges with abroad + Article I Article 5, 6 and 7 of the law for the trade of estimates of 1 Octomvrie 1932, shall be amended as follows: Article 5. -Those who will do operations with foreign means of payment without prior authorization will be sanctioned according to the provisions provided in this article. 1. The foreign means of payment shall be understood: a) metal or paper monets, as well as bank tickets of any kind, beaten and issued abroad; b) payment orders, letters of credit, warrants, cheques, promissory notes, bills, and any other commercial effects expressed in the foreign currency; c) shares, bonds, securities, annuals, treasury bills, simple or circular letters of credit, as well as any other securities and securities, including their coupons expressed in foreign currency paid abroad; d) the availability of accounts and receivables in foreign currencies at home and abroad; e) the amounts in lei due to abroad in any form and in any way, as well as the claims in lei on the foreigner; f) the banknotes of the National Bank of Romania and the values set out in points b and c above expressed in lei, in so far as they are the subject of an operation with abroad. 2. By "operations with foreign means of payment", it is understood any act or fact of sale-purchase, exchange, deposit or receipt in the pledge, leaving or receiving in storage, transport and in general any change, with any title, onerous or free of charge property or possession of foreign means of payment, as well as the contracting of bonds in foreign payment means or with reference to foreign means of payment. Transport is understood both transport as a legal act and transport as a material act, made, either by the owner or by other persons, regardless of the existence of any legal act on the basis of which material transport would be made. 3. Foreign means of payment, from exports will be ceded in full to the National Bank of Romania, as a legal mandate of the Romanian State, within the period provided by the legal provisions in force. 4. Also means of foreign payment obtained from credits obtained abroad from services or obtained by any other way, with the title onerous or free of charge, whether civil or commercial, will be ceded to the National Bank of Romania as a legal mandate of the State, within a maximum period of 15 days from the date of their realization in estimates. The provisions of this paragraph interpret art. 12 of the law enforcement regulation for the trade of devises became law on April 15, 1937. 5. The export and import of any foreign payment means, Romanian monet or any Romanian securities, as well as Romanian or foreign postage stamps, without prior authorization, shall be prohibited. It exempts Romanian or foreign citizens who will be able to enter into the country the means of foreign payment, provided in al. 1, letter a, as well as payment orders, letters of credit, simple or circular letters of credit, mandates and cheques expressed in foreign currency, without prior authorization, if they declare their customs bodies upon entry into the country. The customs will pass these values in the passport. 6. Foreign citizens may export without prior authorization means of foreign payment entered in the passport by the customs authorities upon entering the country, if they leave the country in thirty (30) days from the date of entry. They will not be able to change these means of foreign payment only to the National Bank of Romania or to those authorized by it. 7. Romanian citizens are obliged within 15 days from the date of entry into the country, to cede to the National Bank of Romania the means of foreign payment passed in the passport. Foreign citizens residing in the country, have the same bonds of disposal of foreign means of payment as Romanian citizens. 8. Foreign means, Romanian monet or any Romanian or foreign securities, declared to the customs bodies by foreign citizens, at the entrance or exit of the country, for which they do not possess the prior authorization or are not exempted according to the provisions of paragraph 5, para. 2 and paragraph 6, will be retained by the customs bodies, issuing the receipt, and then they will be submitted to the National Bank of Romania, which will proceed for each case according to the legal provisions in force. 9. Exporters or importers who, either personally or through intermediaries will make untrue statements, will present inaccurate or fictitious documents, in order to obtain export or import permits or will not comply with the obligations that have taken on the occasion of obtaining these authorisations, the provisions of point (a) shall be punished. 14. 10. Anyone, personally or through interposed persons, makes untrue statements, presents inaccurate or fictitious documents, to obtain any kind of prior authorization, or to use such authorization relating to means of payment. foreign, will be punished according to the provisions of paragraph 14. 11. In order to avoid the evasions of estimates, the contracts of representation with the foreigner will have to be approved in advance by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce regarding the clauses regarding the rights due to the representatives of country. Those who, at the time of publication in the Official Gazette of this law have contracts concluded with abroad, are obliged to present for the visa, within 15 days, the representative contracts. The extension of the contracts in force at the date of the present law will not be possible without the authorization of the Ministry 12. The transport companies and the expeditions are obliged to submit for approval to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the Direction of the Regulation of Payments with Strainity, within 15 days from the publication in the Official Gazette of the present law, contracts that have concluded with the foreigner. In the future, no transport company and expeditions will be able to conclude international transport and expeditions contracts without obtaining the prior authorization of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the Payment Regulation Direction with Stranger. 13. In order to obtain the transfer approvals from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of the amounts due to the foreigners, the transport companies and the expeditions are obliged to obtain in advance the approval of the records in the foreign accounts of the National Bank of Romania. Compensation of amounts, in foreign accounts cannot be made without the prior approval of the National Bank of Romania. 14. Those who will do operations with foreign means of payment, listed in paragraph 2 above, as well as the violation of the provisions set out in points 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 above, shall be punished with imprisonment from 3-10 years and with a fine of lei 5.000.000-10,000,000, without being able to grant mitigating circumstances. The values constituting the object of the offence will be confiscated for the benefit of the State, and if these values were not found in the possession of the offenders, or cannot be confiscated, no matter what cause, the offenders will be sentenced to pay for the benefit of the State, with the same title, an amount of five times the equivalent in lei of the object of the In order to establish the value in lei of the values constituting the object of the crime, the court will use the official exchange rate of the means of payment, foreign, plus the premiums and supplements in force at the National Bank of Romania, for the monet of the respective country, at the time of the crime 15. Those who will contravene any other provisions of the present law, the law enforcement regulation of the devises, became law on April 15, 1937, with subsequent amendments and D.L. No. 668 of March 2, 1940, regarding the establishment of the regimes exchanges with abroad, will be punished with imprisonment from 6 months to two years and with a fine of lei 5,000,000 to lei 10,000,000,000, applying the provisions of art. 5 5, point 14 14 above, without being able to grant mitigating circumstances. 16. The attempt is punishable as the crime savirsita. The crimes under this law are continuous crimes. 17. The maximum penalties provided for in the present law shall be applied, if: a) the offender is a repeat offender for such offences or for offences against the law of the circulation of precious metals; b) by committing or evading the disposal to the National Bank of Romania of foreign means of payment, amounting to at least lei 1 billion at the official rate, including premiums and supplements. Article 6. -Individuals, empowered by virtue of any title, with the management, administration or representation of an enterprise, as well as any preposed or officials of the enterprise, who commit an offence to the present law in the interest of the enterprise, will be liable to the penalties provided in art. 5 5, point 14. The enterprise in favor of which the crime was committed, will be condemned by the same decision to a civil fine of lei 50,000,000 to lei 10,000,000,000. Accomplices, instigators, concealers and those who favor such crimes, are punishable by the same punishments as criminals. Those who denounce the perpetrators of the crimes before any prosecution are defended. Banks, transport, forwarding or customs undertakings, which will not fully meet their obligations arising from the guarantees given for the export or import operation, the governing bodies and the subordinate staff of these enterprises, which have failed to take the necessary measures to ensure the fulfillment of these bonds or in any way have activated for the non-fulfillment of these bonds, will be punished according to the provisions of art. 5 5, point 15. At the request of the National Bank of Romania, holders in any form of foreign payment means, in the country or abroad, are obliged to justify the lawful title of their possession; the justification must be made within 15 days from the request of the Bank National of Romania. Article 7. -The complaints and denunciations, regarding the crimes governing the regime of devises and exchanges with abroad, are investigated, instructed and judged according to the provisions of the code of criminal procedure, with the derogations below: 1. These crimes are also found by minutes, trained by judicial police officers, even apart from their constituency, by the staff delegated for this purpose by the National Bank of Romania, by any other authorized bodies such crimes, as well as customs and police bodies, which are indebted to give their contest to the bodies of the National Bank of Romania. 2. For the finding of crimes, the finding bodies can take the interrogators of the alleged offenders and hear the witnesses, asking them for this purpose. 3. The bodies that find a crime under this law are obliged, under the sanction of the refusal of service legally due, to report them, within 24 hours from the finding, to the headquarters of the National Bank of Romania to the nearest one, to whom it will be remits at the same time from the minutes of finding and the statements given, as well as the means of foreign payment, with a borderou in which the elements necessary to identify them will be specified thoroughly. 4. Foreign means, found on criminals, will be passed in the minutes of finding, specifying as thoroughly as possible the elements necessary to identify them, as: the way, quality, number and series of foreign banknotes, given the issue, etc., and then will be submitted to the National Bank of Romania with a copy of the minutes trained in question, constituting the deposit until the final completion of the process. 5. The bodies of the National Bank of Romania, delegated with the control of the application of the provisions of this law, in the exercise of their duties, shall be officers of the judicial police 6. Research in this matter can also be done on public holidays. 7. The minutes of crimes to the present law are believed until the registration in false, when they find blatant material facts, and in the other cases until proven guilty. They will not be able to be annulled by the courts for vices of form. On their basis, the public ministry will open public action. By derogation from art. 144 144 Code. pr. pen., the statements of the offenders, given before the finding bodies, make full proof against them, until proven otherwise. 8. The competent court to judge the offences provided for in the present law in the first and last instance is the Court of Appeal It will judge urgently and in particular, without right of opposition, as a court of first and last resort, with the right of appeal to the High Court of Cassation. In the processes born under the present law, the courts cannot give without special motivation deadlines of more than 30 days. They are judged by courts and courts, even during court holidays. The absence of witnesses cannot prevent the prosecution of the crime, if the court finds that it has enough elements of conviction. These processes are subject to the provisions of the law for the defense of public patrimony, insofar as they are not contrary to the present law. 9. In all the trials that are judged according to the present law, the National Bank of Romania, will be quoted ex officio as a civil party, both in its own name and as a mandate of the Romanian State, and can also support the criminal side before the courts and this even if it was not a civil party. 10. In all processes born under the law of estimates of 1 Octomvrie 1932, with its subsequent amendments, as well as on the basis of D.L. No. 668 of 2 March 1940, regarding the establishment of the regime of exchanges with abroad, pending at the date of this law, The National Bank of Romania, will be introduced in the place of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, as legal mandate of the State. Provisions of art. 47 of D.L. No. 668 of March 2, 1940, is repealed, reinstating the provisions of judicial police attribution conferred on the National Bank of Romania by the law of 1 Octomvrie 1932, as amended, as well as the status of trustee of the Romanian State, granted to the National Bank of Romania, by law of 15 April 1937. 11. In the cases sent for research to the investigating judge, the instruction will have to be completed in no more than 30 days. In exceptional cases, the House of Impeachment may authorize an extension. The trial deadline will be fixed within 15 days from the receipt of the file at the Registry of the Court of Appeal. The files will be sent to the High Court of Cassation, in case of appeal, no later than 20 days from the ruling. 12. When the instruction or judgment would need the opinion of some experts, they can be quoted with the procedure provided by art. 338 of pr. pen. for witnesses. Both the investigating and the judgment bodies can ask the expert, whenever the case allows, and in order to accelerate the judgment, only a report, which will be recorded by the respective clerk, after the procedure used at the hearing. witnesses. 13. In the trials that are judged according to the present law, once the procedure has been complete to the defendant to some of the court terms, it will be considered as such and at all the following deadlines, except when the defendant was arrested. 14. For the lack of defense, the process can only be postponed once before a court. 15. As long as the defendant has not been taken questioning, he will be issued against him, in addition to the subpoena, and a warrant for bringing, without the eventual non-issuance or failure of the warrant to be considered as a vice of procedure. 16. Making the expertise constituted for experts appointed a mandatory public office. The party to which an expertise has been admitted is obliged under penalty of forfeiture, to submit the fixed fee within 5 days of admission. When the trial is postponed due to an untimely expertise, or from the non-submission of witnesses or experts called for explanations, without justification by petitions and evidence filed before the court date, the court will apply. the maximum of fines provided by art. 160 160 and 165 of the pr code. pen. and the other measures provided there will be taken, both witnesses and experts will also be sentenced to expenses caused by the postponement of the trial. The justification will also be possible later, conf. art 160, final paragraph, of the code pr. pen., only if the stumbling block was such that it could not be justified before the trial deadline. In the case when it was applied to the experts of the measure provided for in the first paragraph of this article, the tribunal may either change the experts or give a short time limit for the submission of the expertise. At this new deadline, if the expertise is not submitted, a fine of lei 500,000 to lei 10,000,000 will be pronounced against the expert. 17. If the trial cannot be judged for lack of procedure or any other cause and it is found that this postponement is due to an official, the court will apply to this official a fine of lei 100,000 to lei 1,000,000, also condemning him to the payment of the expenses occasioned to the parties or the State of this postponement. 18. If one or more witnesses or experts present themselves and the trial is postponed from other causes, but the procedure is complete, witnesses or experts will be heard even in the absence of the parties. The court will postpone the trial for hearing the other witnesses or experts, only if it finds that its settlement cannot be given only on the basis of the hearing made. 19. When the defendant is in a state of freedom, the court that pronounces a custodial sentence of more than 6 months orders by the same decision the preventive arrest of the convicted defendant. 20. The civil party will also be able to appeal for punishment. National Bank of Romania, as a civil party, by way of derogation from the provisions of art. 448 pr. pen, may exercise in all cases the remedies provided for by this article. The remedies exercised by the National Bank of Romania invest the court with the right to be able to rule on the punishment, even if the public ministry did not attack the decision. Also, by way of derogation from art. 224, para. 4 of code pr. pen., in the case when it was trained in the case of a crime report to this law the public ministry if it does not send the case directly to the competent court for trial, will send it to the investigating judge with the introductory indictment, not being able Decide for yourself. In order against the final ordinance, given by the investigating judge, the National Bank of Romania, can wear out all the remedies provided by Fr. pen., both for the civil party and for the public ministry. 21. In all crimes to the present law, the provisional seizure provided by art. 120 and 121 of the code pr. pen., will be ordered by the public ministry, the investigating judge or the courts, at the request of the civil party. For the expenses of control and tracking of the application of the provisions of the present law, a fund of the Police of the estimates will be constituted at the National Bank of Romania, a) Of the quotas assigned to the National Bank of Romania, provided in paragraph 23 of this Article; b) Dintr'a quota of 2 0/00, calculated on the amounts made from the sale of the estimates. From this background, the commission provided in the present law will be able to propose the granting of rewards to those who are distinguished by the discovery and finding of crimes, to stimulate the zeal and vigilance of these organs, Police of the devises. The Governor of the National Bank of Romania or a member of the board of directors of the National Bank of Romania, designated by it, will decide to award the rewards 23. Foreign means, confiscated for the benefit of the State, according to art. 5 5, point 14, will be liquidated for the State at the official rate, plus the first and supplements in force at the time of liquidation. The National Bank of Romania will retain, from the value in lei of foreign means of payment, 25% for its tracking expenses and 20% to be distributed as premiums, of which: 10% to the whistleblower and 10% to the ascertaining, except when The ascertaining agents are officials of the National Bank of Romania or members of the judicial body, in which case their first due will be paid to the fund for the Devaluation Police of the National Bank of Romania. When there is no whistleblower, the 10 percent rate is held by the National Bank of Romania to cover the expenses caused by the prosecution of crimes to the present law. If the findings are noticed by a covered whistleblower, they are obliged to conclude a report provided by art. 186 of the criminal procedure, in which the whistleblower will show the circumstances in which he became aware of the facts stated. This minutes will not be joined by the research papers, but will be sent within 24 hours from the conclusion of-confidential-to the Devises Police of the National Bank of Romania, which will make the payment of the first due to the whistleblower, based on this minutes, at the liquidation of the confiscated foreign means of payment. It cannot have the status of whistleblower that, by its function or the attributions it has, it is obliged to inform the authorities in law the calms of the provisions of this law, nor those who make the denunciation during a research criminal to which they are subject. 24. Denuncators whose quality results from a written and signed denunciation or from any precise indications leading to the discovery of crimes, will also receive a share of 10 percent of the amounts from the collection of fines as well as from those results from civil damages handed down by the courts. 25. At the National Bank of Romania shall be established by a decision of the board of directors B.N.R., within 10 days from the date of publication in the Official Gazette of this law, a permanent commission, which will deal with the organization, coordination and enforcement of measures with the object of combating the crimes provided by this law, as well as other attributions given by other laws and regulations. Upon its complaint by the National Bank of Romania or by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, or ex officio, the commission will give decision to interpret the provisions of the present law, interpretation having power of regulation. These decisions shall enter into force from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette. The commission will develop technical and collaboration instructions, for the application of the provisions and in particular, for the finding and repression of the crimes provided by this law. The instructions are mandatory for all public bodies with attributions in application of this law. The non-execution with bad faith of the instructions will be sanctioned with the punishment provided by the criminal code for the crime of refusal of service legally due, independently of the application of any disciplinary sanction to the guilty official. At the request of the commission, the Ministry of Interior will establish special police stations of devises, which will work in close collaboration with the bodies of the National Bank of Romania. Also, at the request of the commission, the Ministry of Finance will establish in the customs offices police stations of estimates, which will work in close collaboration with the bodies of the General Directorate of the Economic Control of M.I.C., and the bodies of the National Bank of Romania. The commission will give its opinion on all matters that will be subject to it by the M.I.C., in connection with those provided for in the present law. The commission will consist of 7 members: a) A magistrate member of the Bucharest Court of Appeal, appointed by the Ministry of Justice, as president; b) A delegate of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (senior official); c) A delegate of the Ministry of Finance, senior official of the General Directorate of Customs; d) A delegate of the Ministry of Interior, senior official of the General Directorate of Police; e) Head of the Devises Control Service of the National Bank of Romania; f) Head of the Gold Service of the National Bank of Romania; g) A lawyer from the Contencios Service of the National Bank of Romania. The commission will work valid, regardless of the number of members present, provided that its decisions or opinions are given by a majority of four votes. The commission will have a secretariat led by a secretary and the helpful staff, who will be appointed from the employees of the National Bank of Romania. The members of the commission, the secretary and the staff of the secretariat will receive a monthly fixed allowance, established by the decision of the Board of Directors of the National Bank of Romania and which will be paid by the National Bank of Romania from the To the Devises Police created by the provisions of art. 7 7, point 31, by way of derogation from the laws and provisions in force. Alternates for each member of the commission will also be provided for in the appointment decision. + Article II 1.-Provisions of Law No. 1.061, published in M.O. No. 298 of December 31, 1946, shall also apply to exporting and importing firms, autonomous regions, county prefectures, county economic offices, mayoralties, cooperatives and all those who have carried out exports in the grouped operations (compensation). by Min. Industry and Commerce in the period from 1 January 1942-31 Decemvrie 1946, if they did not satisfy until the date of publication of the present law in the Official Gazette, the obligation to justify to this department the corresponding import in counter-party according to the quantitative exchange ratio fixed in the respective approvals. 2. Statements, provided by art. 1 and 2 of the law mentioned in the previous paragraph will be submitted within 30 days from the publication in the Official Gazette of this law and must include besides the elements mentioned in art. 1, points a-f, (law No. 1.061), the following: a) Quantity expressed in kilograms, meters, etc.; b) The reason why the import was not made. 3. Banks and forwarding and transport houses that have guaranteed the Ministry of Industry and Trade the execution of the exchange of goods within the operations specified in par. 1 of this article, are obliged to submit, also within 30 days, the same statements. 4. In the case of autonomous regions, county prefectures, county economic offices, municipalities, cooperatives, responsible for the execution of the provisions of this law are the leaders and competent officials of the respective institutions. + Article III The present law applies to Romanian citizens and legal entities based in Romania, for any operations enjoyed in Romania or in connection with their activity in Romania. + Article IV All provisions contrary to this law are also repealed. This law was voted by the Assembly of Deputies, at its meeting on August 14, 1947 and unanimously approved two hundred five votes. Vice President, D. Pop Secretary, Stelian Moraru (L.S.A.D.). We promulgate this law and order that it be invested with the seal of the State and published in the Official Gazette. Date in Bucharest, on 14 August 1947. MICHAEL I Minister of Industry and Commerce, Gh. Gheorghiu-Dej Justice Minister, Lucretiu Patrascanu _______________