CSM sanctions two judges from Pitești for sentencing Daniel Chițoiu to prison

Update

CSM sanctions the judges who increased the sentence of Daniel Chițoiu due to the lawyers' behavior

The Judges Section for disciplinary matters of the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM) sanctioned two magistrates from the Pitești Court of Appeal, Ioan Fundătureanu and Costin Andrei Stancu, for aggravating the sentence of former minister Daniel Chițoiu. They transformed a three-year suspended sentence determined at the first-instance level into a four-year prison sentence, justifying the decision based on the behavior of the accused's lawyers, a practice deemed illegal by the CSM. ^[2]

The imposed sanctions include demotion from the professional rank of Court of Appeal to that of Tribunal for Ioan Fundătureanu and a 10% reduction in monthly gross allowance for a period of one year for Costin Andrei Stancu. The CSM found that there was a flagrant and unjustifiable violation of the basic principles of criminal law, especially those of the legality of the penalty and the personal nature of criminal responsibility, as the sentence cannot be increased depending on the attitude of the client's lawyer. ^[2]

The first-instance court sentenced Daniel Chițoiu to three years suspended for the fatal accident produced in December 2019, in which two people lost their lives. The CSM did not analyze the soundness of the penal solution from the perspective of evidence or legality, but concentrated strictly on the reason why the magistrates increased the sentence. The decision can be appealed to the High Court of Cassation and Justice. The road accident occurred on December 26, 2019, on DN 7 Pitești-Râmnicu Vâlcea, in the Zamfirești area. Chițoiu's car entered the wrong lane and collided head-on with a car driven by an 82-year-old man from Pitești. The collision caused the death of the driver and a female passenger, aged 73, and seriously injured another passenger. ^[2]

Update

CSM sanctions two judges from Pitești for aggravating the sentence of Daniel Chițoiu

The Judges Section for disciplinary matters of the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM) sanctioned two magistrates from the Pitești Court of Appeal, Ioan Fundătureanu and Costin Andrei Stancu, for aggravating former minister Daniel Chițoiu's sentence to four years in prison, justifying the decision through the behavior of the accused's lawyers. This practice was considered illegal by the CSM. ^[3]

Magistrates Ioan Fundătureanu and Costin Andrei Stancu sentenced Daniel Chițoiu in January 2026 to four years in prison, a sentence increased compared to the three years suspended applied by the first-instance court. ^[3]

The CSM sanctioned the two magistrates for increasing the sentence based on the behavior of the lawyers. Ioan Fundătureanu was demoted from the professional rank of Court of Appeal to that of Tribunal, and Costin Andrei Stancu's salary will be reduced by 10% over a period of one year for committing a disciplinary offense provided by law. ^[3]

The CSM held that, among the arguments invoked for adopting the solution, the behavior of the accused's lawyers was explicitly accepted, manifested in requests for recusal, referral to the Judicial Inspection, and requests for the admission of evidence. The Section established that aggravating the accused's criminal situation as a result of the personal behavior of their lawyer represents an intentional, illegal, and unjustifiable violation of the law. The fundamental principles of criminal law violated are the legality of the criminal penalty and the personal nature of criminal responsibility. The Criminal Code allows for the evaluation of the accused's conduct, not the autonomous professional behavior of their defender. This distinction is uncontroversial in national doctrine and confirmed by European jurisprudence. The Judges Section of the CSM declared that it did not analyze whether the increase in the sentence was justified, whether the evidence was correctly assessed, or whether the penal solution was legal and well-founded, as these aspects belong exclusively to jurisdictional activity. In its reasoning, the CSM cited specialized works by law professors regarding the legality of penalties, the personal nature of criminal responsibility, and the autonomy of the procedural rights of the lawyer. The orientation of national and European jurisprudence does not allow aggravating the criminal penalty for the autonomous and personal behavior of the lawyer. The Section held that this was not a simple error of law interpretation, but a conscious, flagrant, and unjustifiable violation of fundamental principles. The explicit use of the lawyers' conduct to aggravate the sentence, the lack of justification regarding the personal imputability of this conduct, and the position of the judges, who continued to support this possibility even during the disciplinary proceedings, underpinned the conclusion of bad faith. The established violation was appraised as evident, of macroscopic gravity, incompatible with the elementary requirements of the exercise of judicial office, and impossible to justify by the existence of an alternative legal interpretation. The fatal road accident took place on December 26, 2019, on DN 7 Pitești - Râmnicu Vâlcea, in the locality of Zamfirești in Argeș County. A car driven by an 82-year-old man from Pitești was also involved in the traffic incident. According to an eyewitness, the car driven by Chițoiu entered the wrong lane and hit the other vehicle. As a result of the collision, the 82-year-old man died and the front-right passenger of the same car was seriously injured, later dying. The Pitești Court of Appeal decided on Thursday, January 8, 2026, to increase the former minister Daniel Chițoiu's sentence from 3 to 4 years in prison and ordered its execution under detention conditions. ^[3]

Update

CSM sanctions judges from Pitești who increased the sentence of Daniel Chițoiu

The CSM sanctioned two judges from the Pitești Court of Appeal, Ioan Fundătureanu and Costin Andrei Stancu, for sentencing former minister Daniel Chițoiu to four years in prison, increasing the sentence compared to the three years suspended granted at the first instance. The sanctions include Fundătureanu's demotion from the Court of Appeal rank to that of Tribunal and a 10% reduction in Stancu's monthly allowance for one year. ^[4]

The CSM held that aggravating the sentence based on the lawyer's behavior represents a flagrant violation of the principles of penalty legality and the personal nature of criminal responsibility. The Section explained that, according to Article 74(1)(f) of the Criminal Code, the conduct of the accused is evaluated, not that of their defender. ^[4]

The accident produced on December 26, 2019, in Argeș County remained without substantive analysis by the CSM. In the incident, an 82-year-old driver and a 73-year-old female passenger died. ^[4]