The lack of a legislative provision that would regulate the maximum length of the preventive measure “obligation not to leave the country” is an omission contrary to the Constitution. The Constitutional Court accepted the exception of unconstitutionality raised by a lawyer, IPN reports.
In his application to the Court, the lawyer said that owing to this ambiguity in the legislation, a client of his had the ban on leaving the country extended for ten times, his right to free movement being thus violated.
Even if Article 178, paragraph 3 of the Penal Procedure Code says the length of the preventive measures cannot exceed 30 days and this can be extended justifiably, it is not specified for how many times the measure can be applied. The constitutional judges concluded that this omission generates the violation of the person’s constitutional right to know his rights and obligations.
Under the Court’s judgment, Article 178 of the Penal Procedure Code should be amended so that it regulates the maximum period for which the obligation not to leave the country can be imposed. Until this is done, the periods stipulated in Article 191 of the Penal Procedure Code will be applied, which is for at most 60 days.
