(1) This Code is the only criminal law of the Republic of Moldova.

(2) The Criminal Code is the legislative act which contains legal rules establishing the general principles and special provisions of criminal law, determines the acts which constitute offences and provides the penalties that are applied to offenders.

(3) This Code shall be applied in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova and international acts to which the Republic of Moldova is a party. If there are inconsistencies with international acts on fundamental human rights, international regulations shall take precedence and be directly applied.

(1) The criminal law protects, against offences, the person, his rights and freedoms, property, the environment, the constitutional order, the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova, the peace and security of mankind, and the whole order of law.

(2) The criminal law also aims to prevent the commission of new crimes.

(1) No one can be found guilty of committing an offence or be subject to a criminal penalty, except on the basis of a decision of the court and in strict accordance with criminal law.

(2) The unfavourable extensive interpretation and application by analogy of the criminal law shall be prohibited.

(1) All legal regulation is intended to protect, as a matter of priority, the individual as the supreme value of society and his or her rights and freedoms.

(2) The criminal law shall not aim to cause physical suffering or harm human dignity. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

(1) Persons who have committed offences are equal before the law and are subject to criminal liability regardless of sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, membership of a national minority, property, birth or any other status.

(2) The protection of the rights and interests of one person may not be achieved by infringing the rights and interests of another person or of a community.

(1) A person shall be subject to criminal liability and punishment only for acts committed with guilt.

(2) Criminal liability and criminal punishment shall be imposed only on the person who has intentionally or recklessly committed an act provided for by criminal law.

(1) When applying the criminal law, the nature and extent of the offence committed, the identity of the offender and the circumstances of the case that mitigate or aggravate the criminal liability shall be taken into account.

(2) No person may be prosecuted and punished twice for the same offence.

The criminal nature of the offence and the punishment for it are determined by the criminal law in force at the time the offence was committed.

The time of commission of the offence is the time when the harmful act or omission occurred, regardless of the time of the consequences.

(1) A criminal law which removes the criminal nature of the offence, which mitigates the punishment or which otherwise improves the situation of the person who committed the offence shall have retroactive effect, i.e. it shall extend to persons who committed the offence before the entry into force of that law, including persons who are serving the sentence or who have served the sentence but have a criminal record.

(2) The criminal law that increases the punishment or worsens the situation of the person guilty of committing a criminal offence shall not have retroactive effect.

(1) If, after the final judgment of conviction has become final and until the full execution of the penalty of deprivation of liberty, unpaid community service or a fine, a law providing for one of these types of penalty but with a lower maximum has intervened, the penalty imposed shall be reduced to that maximum if it exceeds the maximum provided for by the new law for the offence committed.

(2) If, after the final decision sentencing the offender to life imprisonment has become final and until the sentence has been carried out, a law has intervened which provides only for imprisonment for the same offence, the sentence of life imprisonment shall be replaced by the maximum sentence of imprisonment provided for by the new law for that offence.

(3) If the new law provides instead of imprisonment only the punishment of unpaid work for the benefit of the community or the fine, the applied punishment shall be replaced by unpaid work for the benefit of the community, if there are no prohibitions for its application, without exceeding the maximum provided by the new law. If the new law provides instead of the prison sentence only the penalty of the fine, the applied punishment shall be replaced by a fine, without exceeding the maximum provided in the new law. Taking into account the part executed from the prison sentence, the execution of the punishment of unpaid work for the benefit of the community or, as the case may be, of the fine may be removed in whole or in part.

(4) Complementary punishments, security measures not provided for in the new law shall no longer be executed, and those which have a corresponding more favourable new law shall be executed within the content and limits provided for by this law.

(5) If a provision of the new law relates to sentences finally imposed, account shall be taken, in the case of sentences served before the date of entry into force of the new law, of the sentence reduced or replaced in accordance with paragraphs (l) to (4).

(6) If the act for which the person is serving the penalty is no longer considered a criminal offence under the provisions of the new law, but constitutes a misdemeanour, the misdemeanour penalty shall no longer apply, regardless of the category and size of the penalty provided for.

(7) If, by virtue of the retroactive effect of the criminal law, it is necessary to reclassify the act established by an irrevocable court decision, the court, resolving the question of the execution of that decision, shall reclassify the act and shall apply the punishment by fixing the maximum penalty provided for by the criminal law more favourable to the convicted person, if the punishment established by the irrevocable decision is higher than the maximum provided for by the new criminal law, or shall maintain the punishment established by the irrevocable decision.

(1) All persons who have committed offences on the territory of the Republic of Moldova shall be held criminally liable in accordance with this Code.

(2) Citizens of the Republic of Moldova and stateless persons with permanent residence in the territory of the Republic of Moldova who have committed offences outside the territory of the country shall be subject to criminal liability in accordance with this Code.

(3) Foreign citizens and stateless persons not permanently residing in the territory of the Republic of Moldova who have committed offences outside the territory of the country shall be held criminally liable in accordance with this Code and shall be held criminally liable in the territory of the Republic of Moldova if the offences committed are directed against the interests of the Republic of Moldova, against the rights and freedoms of the citizen of the Republic of Moldova, against the peace and security of mankind or constitute war crimes, as well as for offences provided for in international treaties to which the Republic of Moldova is a party, if they have not been convicted in the foreign state.

(4) Criminal offences committed by diplomatic representatives of foreign states or other persons who, in accordance with international treaties, are not subject to the criminal jurisdiction of the Republic of Moldova shall not be subject to criminal law.

(5) Offences committed in the territorial waters and airspace of the Republic of Moldova shall be deemed to have been committed in the territory of the Republic of Moldova. A person who has committed an offence on a sea or air vessel, registered in a port or airport of the Republic of Moldova and located outside the aquatic or air space of the Republic of Moldova, may be subject to criminal liability under this Code unless otherwise provided in international treaties to which the Republic of Moldova is a party.

(6) Under this Code, persons who have committed offences on board a military seagoing or air vessel belonging to the Republic of Moldova, regardless of its location, shall also be subject to criminal liability.

(7) Punishments and criminal records for offences committed outside the territory of the Republic of Moldova shall be taken into account, according to this Code, in the individualization of the punishment for a new offence committed by the same person on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, as well as in the settlement of questions of amnesty on the basis of reciprocity pursuant to the decision of the court.

(1) The place where the offence was committed shall be deemed to be the place where the harmful act (inaction) was committed, irrespective of the time when the consequences occurred.

(2) The place where the transnational offence was committed shall be regarded as such if:

a) the offence was committed in the territory of the Republic of Moldova and in the territory of at least one other State;

b) the offence was committed in the territory of the Republic of Moldova, but a substantial part of its organisation and control took place in another State, and vice versa;

c) the offence was committed in the territory of the Republic of Moldova with the involvement of an organised criminal group or criminal organisation (association) carrying out criminal activity in more than one State, and vice versa;

d) the offence was committed in the territory of the Republic of Moldova but has serious consequences in another State, and vice versa.

(1) Citizens of the Republic of Moldova and persons who have been granted political asylum in the Republic of Moldova, in case of committing an offence abroad, may not be extradited and shall be subject to criminal liability under this Code.

(2) Foreign citizens and stateless persons who have committed offences outside the territory of the Republic of Moldova but are in the territory of the country may be extradited only on the basis of an international treaty to which the Republic of Moldova is a party or on the basis of reciprocity pursuant to the decision of the court, unless there are substantial grounds for believing that they are in danger of being subjected to the death penalty, torture or other inhuman or degrading treatment.