The Penal Code of Romania (Codul penal al României) is a document providing the legal basis regarding criminal law in Romania. The Code contains 446 articles. The articles mention aspects such as the national boundaries of law and the crimes that fall under the incidence of penal law.[1] Judicial discretion is granted by the Code through the use of minimum and maximum sentences. The most recent version of the Romanian Penal Code has come into effect on 1 February 2014.
In the modern history of Romania, there have been four criminal codes, the first three codes being associated with the rulings of Alexandru Ioan Cuza, Carol II and Nicolae Ceaușescu respectively, and the current code being based on a modernized understanding of the law, within the European context, in the 21st century. Each of these codes had been modified several times after their enactment, including in connection with a change of political regime, such as the installation of the communist regime after World War II, and the fall of the communist regime after the Romanian Revolution of 1989.