Making a prior complaint is necessary for the following crimes:

1. Threats, harassment, sexual harassment, violation of privacy and privacy of correspondence, rape and sexual assault.

2. In the situation that the victim of rape or sexual assault is a minor there is no need to make a prior complaint, a notice or autonotice to the police being enough.

It is important to make a complaint if you are the victim of a crime. In the cases mentioned in section a) you need to submit the complaint within 3 months of the act being committed, if you submit it too late there's a chance of the perpretator being left unpunished.

It is important to know that the complaint must include:

• name and surname,

• social security number,

• quality and residence of the petitioner,

• description of the act that is the object of the complaint,

• as well as identifying data of the perpetrator and means of proof, if known.

The complaint can be submitted at any police station or Prosecutor's office, but it would be recommended to submit it to the police section/Prosecutor's office nearest to the place the crime was committed, because usually this is the competent body for investigating the case.

Ask for a registration number for the complaint and, eventually, to be notified of the case file number to be able to follow what is happening with it.

You can request for the hiring to be carried out by a person of the same sex.

If the injured person is a minor, recording the hearing though audio or audiovideo technical means is compulsory in all cases.

When recording is not possible, this fact is recorded in the injured person's statement, with the concrete specification of the reason for which recording was impossible.

If the victim is a minor

• legal assistance is mandatory during the hearing (a lawyer is assigned from the general office)

• victim < 14 years - must be assisted by a legal representative during the hearing

• victim > 14 years - can be assisted by a legal representative during the hearing

• in practice, the presence of a psychologist from DGASPC is requested

• if the injured person is a minor, recording the hearing though audio or audiovideo technical means is compulsory in all cases. When recording is not possible, this fact is recorded in the injured person's statement, with the concrete specification of the reason for which recording was impossible.

As the injured person (victim of the crime) you have the following rights:

• the right to propose that the judicial bodies administer the evidence, raise exceptions and ddraw conclusions;

• the right to be informed, within reasonable time, as to the state of the criminal investigation, at your explicit request, with the condition of providing an address on Romanian territory, an electronic postal address (email) or electronic messanger, to which this information can be communicated;

• the right to consult the file, within the conditions set out by law;

• the right to be listened to;

• the right to ask questions of the defendant, witnesses and experts;

• the right to have any decision not to indict communicated to you tranlated in a language that you understant, when you do not understand Romanian;

• the right to be assisted by lawyer or representative;

• the right to be informed if the aggressor will be deprived of freedom, respectively sentenced to a punishment depriving them of freedom and to be informed about their release or escape in any way.

Moreover, the victims that are dependent on the perpetrator of the crime, victims of human trafficking, of violence in close relationships, of sexual violence or of exploitation are presumed vulnerable and thus have the following rights:

The right to special protective measures, such as:

• surveillance and protection of their home and the provision of a temporary home;

• accompaniment and the guarantee of your protection or that of your family members;

• personal data protection, by the provision of a pseudonym;

• hiring through audiovideo transmission means, with the voice and image distorted.

In principle, you will be heard a single time, to be recalled only if it is strictly necessary for the criminal case to be carried out.

You can be accompanied to the hearing, on request, by your legal representative and by one other person chosen by you.

The hiring can carried out on premises made or adapted for this purpose;

You can request for the hiring to be carried out by or in the presence of a psychologist or another specialist in victim counselling;

You can request for the hiring to be carried out by a person of the same sex.

Ensuring the presence of an interpreter

An interpreter is guaranteed to the victim for the hearing and to formulate a criminal complaint.

In general, after the police is notified, they immediately request an interpreter to make sure they can understand and communicate with the victim.

The victim does not separately/independently request an interpreter. The criminal investigatory bodies have this competence and make the request.

If the assigned interpreter is a man, you can refuse to talk to them and request to be assigned a woman interpreter.