The employer cannot oblige the employee to provide explanations within disciplinary procedures at work. On September 14, the Constitutional Court ruled that the right to silence implies the person’s right not to be forced to confess against oneself or to admit one’s blame, IPN reports.

The Court took such a decision after examining the application concerning the exception of unconstitutionality of an article of the Law on the Police and the Status of Police Officer and of a point from the Policeman’s Disciplinary Regulations, submitted by lawyer Doina Ioana Straisteanu.

The Regulations obliges the police officer to provide explanations in written form about the committed violation. If this refuses to give explanations, he/she is obliged to explain the refusal in written form. Thus, examining the Regulations, the Constitutional Court held that the norms included in these run counter to the legal provisions and affect the person’s right not to confess against oneself, contrary to the guarantees enshrined in the Constitution and the European Convention.

The Constitutional Court’s judgment is definitive and cannot be appealed.