The Bucharest Court of Appeal ruled that Daniela Tarău, falsely accused and imprisoned 15 years ago, is entitled to receive the following compensation from the Romanian state: 100,000 euros for moral damages and 7,200 euros for material damages.

The decision is final and comes a year after the courts, following a five-year trial, confirmed her innocence. After securing her acquittal, she sought compensation for the damages she suffered as a result of this judicial error.

According to Article 52 of the Romanian Constitution, the state is materially liable for damages caused by judicial errors, but that does not eliminate the liability of specific magistrates who have exercised their function with bad faith or gross negligence.

Illegal deprivation of liberty

The Ilfov Court accepted Daniela Tarău’s claims for compensation, explaining that, after studying the case and hearing both parties, all the criteria laid down by the Civil Code for such situations are met: Daniela Tarău was deprived of her liberty unlawfully, as demonstrated both by the ECtHR decision obtained in 2009 (according to which her right to a fair trial was violated) and by the trial in Romania, at the end of which she was acquitted in 2015; the state, through its representatives who failed to do their duty in Tarău’s case, is guilty of illegally depriving her liberty.

The amount of the compensation was determined by taking into consideration all that the applicant went through, including her imprisonment of one year and nine months, the miserable detention conditions during this time, and the six years that followed her release, during which she was not able to find a job because of her criminal record, and she and her family had to endure suffering and humiliation because of what happened.

The judge from the Ilfov Court justified her decision to award 900,000 euros in compensation: "In terms of the amount of compensation, the tribunal holds that, in checking national jurisprudence, including that of the Supreme Court, there is a limit of 1.500 lei/day as compensation for unlawful deprivation of liberty. When applying this criterion in the present case, the court determined an average by considering all components of the unlawful act (deprivation of liberty, restricting freedom of movement, the order to undergo verification by the Probation Service and the period required for rehabilitation), following the granting of a limit of 787 lei/day corresponding to 5,150- the total number of days required for the applicant to be proven innocent."

The state’s opinion: moral compensation should not fully cover the damage; it only needs to diminish it.

The Ministry of Finance, which was responsible for paying the damages claimed by the applicant, argued that the moral damages claimed have not been demonstrated, and that the amount awarded is too high anyway: "A possible compensation for damages can only diminish moral damage and not to cover it entirely."

Court agrees, but wants something symbolic

The Bucharest Court of Appeal, which heard the appeal filed by the state, decided in June 2016 to reduce the amount of moral compensation to 100,000 euros and to maintain the remaining material damages granted to the applicant by the first instance court.

In its reasoning, the verdict of the Court of Appeal agreed with the reasoning of the court of first instance in proving the guilt of the state in this case, but the appellate judge believed the amount of moral damages awarded by the Ilfov Court was too high and decreased it, stating:

"Moral damage is not the price paid for the physical or mental suffering, which cannot be estimated, but a symbolic reparation established on the basis of the negative consequences on personal, family and social life. The court considers that the amount of 900,000 euros established by the first instance court is not a compensation determined in consideration of the above, constituting a redress that diverts the awarding of moral damages from their purpose and objective prescribed by law, thus becoming a source of undeserved and unjustified income."

Daniela Tarău is unhappy with the outcome and is determined to ask for a review of the decision of the Court of Appeal.

Until then, Daniela Tarău is trying to change the system from within. Step by step. She graduated from law school in September, defended her doctorate, and is now seeking a teaching job at a university, where she wants to teach future magistrates about the justice system.

She will be a teacher who graduated from, in addition to anything else, the school of life: 635 days of arrest, 376 days of restrictions on her freedom of movement, 1,095 days of checks by the Probation Service, 2,920 days required for rehabilitation and a total of 5,150 days required to prove her innocence. And for all that she will get for this is 100,000 euros from the state.