Law no. 329 of 8 July 2003 (**republished**) on the profession of private detective*)
ISSUER: THE PARLIAMENT
Published in the OFFICIAL JOURNAL no. 178 of 12 March 2014
**) Republished pursuant to art. 248 in Law no. 187/2012 for implementing Law no. 286/2009 on the Criminal Code, published in the Romanian Official Journal, Part I, no. 757 of 12 November 2012, rectified in the Romanian Official Journal, Part I, no. 117 of 1 March 2013, as subsequently amended, both texts being renumbered.
Law no. 329/2003 was republished in the Romanian Official Journal, Part I, no. 306 of 8 May 2007.
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1
(1) A private detective is a person certified under this law and who, without prejudice to the right to privacy, individual or family life, or to other fundamental rights and freedoms, on the request of natural persons or legal entities, conducts specific investigation activities, related to:
a) a person’s conduct and public morals;
b) data on the solvency or seriousness of a potential business partner – natural person or legal entity;
c) missing persons;
d) goods that form the subject matter of civil or criminal disputes in court, alienated to bring prejudice to the interests of a party in a lawsuit;
e) ensuring protection against information leaks from private life or economic operators who wish to keep such information confidential.
(2) The activity of a private detective cannot be contrary to national legal regulations or to international regulations to which Romania is a part, to national security, public order or good morals.
(3) Information gained from a private detective’s activities is intended solely for the private detective’s client, under this law.
Article 2
(1) A private detective may exert his/her profession, as applicable, within specialized companies or in private practices, incorporated pursuant to the commercial law and operating under a licence issued by the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police.
(2) The business object of specialized companies and private practices is unique.
(3) Executives of specialized private detective companies must be graduates of a law school or of a post-secondary school for detectives or they must have served as a policeman or as an employee in a public institution with duties in the field of public order or national security, holding an officer rank and they must meet requirements provided for in art. 5 (c), (d), (e) and (f);
(4) Natural person partners or shareholders of specialized private detective companies, incorporated pursuant to par. (1), must cumulatively meet requirements in art. 5 (d) and (e).
Article 3
(1) A private detective is bound to keep professional secrecy on collected data and information.
(2) Data and information mentioned in par. (1) may be disclosed, on request, under the law, only to courts of law and to the Public Prosecution Service, if they are useful for finding out the truth in criminal cases.
(3) In their activity, private detectives shall obey the law, the articles of association of the specialized private detective company or private practice.
Chapter II How one can become a private detective
Article 4
Only certified professionals may be private detectives.
Article 5
(1) In order to become a private detective, one must meet the following conditions:
a) he/she is a Romanian citizen or a citizen of a European Union Member State or a state in the European Economic Area;
b) he/she has at least secondary education and has graduated a post-secondary school for detectives or has served as a policeman or as an employee in a public institution with duties in the field of national defence, public order or national security or has third-level education;
c) he/she is medically fit;
d) he/she has not been convicted for wilful offences;
e) he/she does not perform an activity that involves exercising public authority;
f) he/she has procured an approval from the County Police Inspectorate or from the Bucharest Police Directorate-General, as applicable;
g) he/she has passed the certification examination for private detectives, pursuant to provisions in art. or he/she has a qualification certificate for this profession or a similar certificate issued in one of the European Union Member States or a state in the European Economic Area;
(2) Meeting the requirement set forth in par. (1) (b) related to having served as a policeman, and requirements in (d) and (f), including by individuals mentioned in art. 2 (3) and (4), shall be verified by County Police Inspectorates or, as applicable, by the Bucharest Police Directorate-General, based on data and information in their related records.
(on 20-07-2017, Paragraph (2) in Article 5, Chapter II was amended by Point 1, Article I in ORDINANCE no. 2 of 13 July 2017, published in the OFFICIAL JOURNAL no. 568 of 17 July 2017)
Article 6
(1) Persons interested to sit for the qualification examination for private detectives must submit at County Police Inspectorates or, as applicable, at the Bucharest Police Directorate-General the following documents:
a) application;
b) curriculum vitae;
b) education document, in the original and in copy or, as applicable, a certificate showing that they have served as a policeman or as an employee in a public institution with duties in the field of national defence, public order or national security;
d) graduation certificate for having attended a specialized training course, in the original and in copy;
e) medical and psychological fitness certificates, issued by a specialized healthcare facility or an authorized laboratory;
f) statement declaring they meet the requirement in art. 5 (1) (e);
g) proof of having paid the fee to sit for the examination to test specialized knowledge, set forth pursuant to legal specifications.
(2) The copies of documents mentioned in par. (1) (c) and (d) shall be certified as true to the original, by signature, by the Police unit representative. The originals of documents submitted shall be returned to their holder on the spot, after having compared the copies against originals.
(on 20-07-2017, Article 6 in Chapter II was amended by Point 2, Article I in ORDINANCE no. 2 of 13 July 2017, published in the OFFICIAL JOURNAL no. 568 of 17 July 2017)
Article 7
(1) One shall acquire the capacity of private detective after verifying if they meet requirements set forth in law and after candidates are examined by a commission at the County Police Inspectorate and at the Bucharest Police Directorate-General, respectively.
(2) The commission mentioned in par. (1) shall meet quarterly and knowledge testing shall be conducted pursuant to the topics approved by the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police.
(3) After passing the examination, private detectives are issued a certificate, which they may use to become associated with or to get hired at a licensed company or they may establish a private practice to conduct investigation activities.
(4) Individuals that fail the examination may challenge the result at the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police within 3 days and the latter has an obligation to solve such a challenge within 30 days from the submission date.
(5) Citizens of European Union Member States or of states in the European Economic Area, who hold the capacity of private detective, may conduct activities specific to this profession in the Romanian territory, under this law, exclusively based on a delegation issued by their company in order to solve a case that requires their presence in Romania. Citizens of European Union Member States or of states in the European Economic Area shall prove they hold the capacity of private detective with the document that validly certifies this capacity in their country of origin or provenance.
(6) Detectives mentioned in par. (5) are bound to notify the police body holding territorial jurisdiction before the commencement of any specific activities, as well as the completion thereof.
Article 8
(1) The capacity of private detective shall terminate:
a) by a written waiver, to be submitted at the County Police Inspectorate or, as applicable, at the Bucharest Police Directorate-General;
b) by a cancellation of the certificate under art. 23 (2);
c) when the person in question no longer meets requirements in art. 5 a) and c) – e);
(2) The capacity of private detective shall be suspended:
a) when a criminal action is initiated against the person in question for a wilful offence committed in connection with their detective activity; in this case, suspension shall last until the final judgement;
b) whilst the private detective is in one of the situations provided in art. 10;
c) under the conditions provided for in art. 20 and art. 23 (1).
Article 9
(1) After passing the certification examination, private detectives shall use their private detective badge to prove their capacity.
(2) Private detective badges are nominal and not transferable. The procedure to issue private detective badges, the form and content thereof shall be established by an order*) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, to be published in the Romanian Official Journal, Part I.
Note
*) See the Order of the Ministry of Administration and Internal Affairs no. 492/2005 on the procedure to issue, the form and content of private detective badges, published in the Romanian Official Journal, Part I, no. 133 of 14 February 2005.
Article 10
The profession of private detective is incompatible with:
a) other professions remunerated by wages that involve exercising public authority;
b) activities that have an influence on the independence of this profession or are contrary to good morals;
c) direct practice of commerce, except if conducted pursuant to the business activity and to fulfil specific activities.
Chapter III Rights and obligations of private detectives, of specialized companies and of private practices within which private detectives conduct their activity
Article 11
(1) When exercising their profession, private detectives have the right to conduct investigations in connection with persons, goods, deeds, data and circumstances that form the subject matter of their activity, with a strict observance of the rights and freedoms of citizens, as well as of legal stipulations.
(2) When conducting investigations, private detectives may ask natural persons or public authorities for pieces of information that, under the law, are not classified and bring no prejudice to the right to privacy, individual or family life, or to other fundamental rights and freedoms of the investigated person.
Article 12
A private detective has the following obligations:
a) to demonstrate professional trustworthiness and scrupulousness, as the purpose of their activity is to seek the truth in the matter entrusted to them;
b) to use investigation methods and means that bring no prejudice to the rule of law or to citizen rights and freedoms;
c) to keep, even after the termination of their capacity as private detectives, professional secrecy in connection with documents, deeds, data and circumstances they have become aware of during their activity, except for cases that are expressly provided for in law;
d) not to use their capacity of private detectives for other purposes than for work.
Article 13
When conducting their activity, private detectives are forbidden to conduct investigations on:
a) the staff of diplomatic and consular representative offices or the staff of military international organizations;
b) persons conducting permanent or temporary activities, of whatever kind, for public authorities, institutions or other legal entities of a public interest or within public interest services;
c) confidential data related to political, religious, philosophical or trade union opinions and beliefs and the expression thereof, on sexual orientation, health, social or ethnic origin of a person;
d) criminal cases on the docket of judicial bodies;
e) specific activities conducted by institutions having duties in the field of national defence, public order and national security.
Article 14
Private detective specialized companies and private practices have the following rights:
a) to procure and use technical means for investigation and communication as allowed by law;
b) to organize training courses and other specific professional and physical training activities to improve the training of their own staff;
c) to be affiliated to professional associations that would represent them before other associations or before state institutions;
d) to formally request data from public authorities in relation to persons, goods or situations, as needed by a private detective in their investigations, which data, according to the law, are not classified and bring no prejudice to the right to privacy, individual or family life, or to other fundamental rights and freedoms of the investigated person.
Article 15
(1) When organizing and conducting their activity, private detectives in specialized companies and private practices have an obligation:
a) to conduct investigations only based on a written covenant entered with their client;
b) to open and keep a numbered register log, to be registered at the County Police Inspectorate or, as applicable, at the Bucharest Police Directorate-General, in which to record all investigated cases;
c) to communicate data and information as requested by a prosecutor or a court of law to solve criminal cases;
d) if it is found that some pieces of collected information are related to national security, to immediately notify qualified authorities;
e) to hire and use for their specific investigation activities only individuals that are private detectives;
f) depending on possibilities and based on some covenants, to accept students of private detective schools as apprentices.
(2) Private detective specialized companies and private practices shall set up an organization and functioning regulation, to be approved by a written order of the company’s chief executive officer or the private practice holder, as the case may be.
Chapter IV Sanctions
Article 16
A failure to observe stipulations in this law shall lead, as applicable, to civil liability, material liability, disciplinary actions, administrative or criminal law liability.
Article 17
Unlawful exercise of the private detective profession is an offence and it shall be punished according to the Criminal Code.
Article 18
The following deeds are minor offences:
a) conducting investigations in other cases than as provided in art. 1 (1) or by an infringement of provisions in art. 12 b)-d) and in art. 13;
b) infringement of provisions in art. 3 (1) and (3) and in art. 7 (6);
c) infringement of provisions in art. 2 (2) and (3), art. 3 (2) and in art. 15 (1) a)-e).
Article 19
(1) Minor offences set forth in art. 18 shall be sanctioned as follows:
a) deeds set forth in pt. a) and c), with a fine from RON 500 up to RON 1,000;
b) the deed set forth in pt. b), with a fine from RON 200 up to RON 500.
(2) For minor offences set forth in art. 18 c), fines can also be applied to legal entities, in which case, the thresholds are from RON 1,000 up to RON 2,500.
Article 20
(1) Repeated minor offences set forth in art. 18 a) and c) within one year shall lead to a certificate suspension for a time period of 3 up to 6 months.
(2) A certificate suspension and a suspension removal shall be ordered, in all cases, by the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police, at the proposal of County Police Inspectorates or of the Bucharest Police Directorate-General, and they are conveyed to the person in question.
Article 21
The finding of minor offences and the enforcement of sanctions shall lay with policemen that are specifically appointed by the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police.
Article 22
Provisions in Government Ordinance no. 2/2001 on the legal status of minor offences, as approved with amendments and supplements by Law no. 180/2002, as amended and supplemented, except art. 28 and 29, shall also apply to minor offences set forth in this law.
Article 23
(1) Violation of obligations set forth in art. 15 (1) a)-e) shall also lead to a suspension of the private detective certificate or, as applicable, of the operating licence of the specialized company or private practice, for a time period between one month and 3 months.
(2) The private detective certificate or, as applicable, the operating licence of the specialized company or of the private practice shall be cancelled if, within a year from the expiry date of a period of suspension of the certificate or licence, one of the deeds that led to suspension is committed again.
Article 24
(1) Measures set forth in art. 23 related to the suspension or cancellation of private detective certificates shall be ordered by the County Police Inspectorate that issued them or, as applicable, by the Bucharest Police Directorate-General.
(2) The suspension or cancellation of an operating licence of a private detective specialized company or private practice shall be ordered, under this law, by the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police.
Chapter V Final Provisions
Article 25
The control over specific activities conducted by private detective specialized companies and private practices shall be conducted by policemen that are specifically appointed by the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police, with an approval from the Public Prosecution Service.
Article 26
The General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police shall keep records on all certified private detectives, private detective specialized companies and private practices.
Article 27
The nomenclature of activities in the national economy shall be supplemented with the activity of private detective.
Article 28
(1) Provisions in this law shall be supplemented by legal stipulations on the recognition of professional diplomas and qualifications for regulated professions in Romania.
(2) Documents needed to gain the capacity of private detective, other than as set forth in par. (1), issued to citizens of European Union Member States or states in the European Economic Area, by authorities in countries of origin or provenance shall be recognized under the law.
Article 29
(1) This law shall enter into force within 90 days from its publication in the Romanian Official Journal, Part I*).
Note
*) Law no. 329/2003 was published in the Romanian Official Journal, Part I, no. 530 of 23 July 2003.
(2) Within 60 days from publication, the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police and the Romanian Intelligence Service shall draw up the draft of the implementing rules for this law, to be submitted at the Government for approval.