Scurte consideraþii privind art. 85 din O.U.G. nr. 195/2002 privind circulaþia pe drumurile publice
Brief assessments regarding the offences provided by the 85th article of the Government’s Ordinance no. 195/2002 on road traffic

Summary/Abstract: Although the present conditions of the modern society require the existence of road traffic as an undeniable necessity, the inherent risk attached to it imposes detailed safety measures. Therefore, the legislator has enforced thorough rules to be complied with when using public highways and has established penalties applicable to infringements of these standards of conduct. Even though the administrative liability represents the rule in this field, in some particular cases, due to the importance of the potentially endangered social value, it was considered to be appropriate a protection by means of criminal law. Throughout this study there have been analyzed the provisions of the 85th article of the Government’s Ordinance no. 195/2002, which provides four distinct offences. Thus, in accordance with the first of them, the one set out by the 1st paragraph, the act of driving an unregistered automobile or tramway on public roads or the release into circulation of such a vehicle constitutes an offence. The registration of a vehicle, being preceded by a series of preliminary examinations (certification of authenticity – which attests that the origin is not unlawful –, appropriate technical condition for admission into circulation, existence of tort liability insurance), aims to prevent the endangering of traffic safety by conveyances which do not meet de legal requirements for admission into road traffic. As well, under the 2nd paragraph of the 85th article, driving a vehicle that displays a fake registration number, or releasing such a vehicle into circulation constitutes a felony. Regarding this criminal rule, the doctrine and the jurisprudence emphasize several points of view when its compatibility with the offence referred above is questioned. Although it is not widely accepted, the opinion embraced by the author regards as incompatible the premises underlying these two offences: the 1st paragraph is considering the situation of an unregistered vehicle, while the 2nd paragraph refers to a registered automobile, which however displays a registration number that does not correspond to the officially assigned one. Throughout the analysis of the elements of this felony, it has been also clarified the meaning of the concept of “false registration number”, which was not defined by the legislator, but also its relationship with the crimes of forgery provided by the Criminal Code within the articles 288 -292. The third offence provided by the 85th article of the Government’s Ordinance no. 195/2002 was regulated through a combination between the 1st and the 2nd paragraphs from the same article, but regarding a trailer. The 4th paragraph of the 85th article of the Government’s Ordinance no. 195/2002 protects by means of criminal law the safety of road traffic by banning the use of those registered vehicles, which turn out to be unsuitable for this usage, due to serious technical deficiencies.

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