MINISTERS’ DEPUTIES

Notes on the Agenda

CM/Notes/1521/H46-26

6 March 2025

1521st meeting, 4-6 March 2025 (DH) Human rights   H46-26 C. v. Romania (Application No. 47358/20) Supervision of the execution of the European Court’s judgments Reference documents DH-DD(2025)72, DH-DD(2024)1307, DH-DD(2023)943, DH-DD(2023)671

 

Application	Case	Judgment of	Final on	Indicator for the classification
47358/20	C.	30/08/2022	30/11/2022	Complex problem

Case description

This case concerns the State’s failure to effectively deal with the applicant’s allegations of sexual harassment in the workplace, which were finally dismissed in 2020 (violation of Article 8 of the Convention).

The Court found that the alleged perpetrator's employer, the State-owned railway company “CFR Călători”, did not respond adequately to the applicant's allegations and that the domestic criminal proceedings concerning these allegations were seriously flawed. In particular, the decisions of the Prosecutor’s Office and the district court offered no explanation why the acts in question did not meet the requirements provided by the criminal law to constitute the offence of sexual harassment. They did not explain how they reached the conclusion that the applicant had not felt humiliated, did not contain an assessment of the credibility of the applicant’s statements and of the power dynamics between the applicant and the accused or the threats allegedly made by the latter against the former. The authorities also failed to protect the applicant against secondary victimisation, on account, inter alia, of the extensive reproduction of the accused's allegations in the decisions.

Status of execution

The authorities submitted an action plan on 30 May 2023 (DH-DD(2023)671), and updated information on general measures on 7 August 2023 (DH-DD(2023)943). Revised action plans were submitted on 8 November 2024 and 17 January 2025 (DH-DD(2024)1307 and DH-DD(2025)72, respectively).

Individual measures

The just satisfaction awarded by the Court in respect of non-pecuniary damage has been paid, within the time limit set. The domestic proceedings were reopened at the applicant’s request and the Prosecutor’s Office considered new evidence. Subsequently, the Prosecutor’s Office terminated them due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

According to the National Council for Combating Discrimination (CNCD)[1], the applicant had not lodged a complaint before this body concerning the sexual harassment she allegedly suffered in 2016. The authorities consider that no further individual measures are required in this case.

General measures

The authorities submitted information on the measures adopted by them as of 2022 to tackle the phenomenon of sexual harassment in the workplace.

1) Improvement of the legislative framework aimed at preventing harassment

The most relevant and visible action has been the ratification in 2024 of the International Labour Organisation's Convention No. 190/2019 on eliminating violence and harassment in the workplace (ILO Convention No. 190/2019).^[2] The same year, a working group comprising Government representatives, public institutions and representative of civil society was established within the National Agency for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men (ANES) and tasked with ensuring alignment of domestic legislation, in particular Law No. 217/2003 on preventing and combating domestic violence, with international standards.[3]

Moreover, EU Directive 2006/54/EC on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation has been transposed into the Romanian legal order through a series of normative acts, which will lead to amendments of the Law No. 202/2002 on the equality of treatment and opportunities between men and women (“Gender Equality Law”).

2) Preventive mechanisms at employer level

Amendments to the Gender Equality Law introduced in 2019 require employers to develop internal policies to prevent and fight sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination in the workplace, as well as to raise awareness among employees about the anti-harassment policy and inform employees about the procedure concerning complaints of sexual harassment.[4]

In 2023, the Government approved a methodology,[5] in line with the European Commission's gender equality strategy for 2020-2025, to prevent and combat workplace harassment, outlining procedures for reporting, investigating, and addressing complaints at the level of employers – public institutions and private companies (2023 Methodology). It foresees the imposition of disciplinary sanctions and fines and includes an obligation for employers to organise information campaigns and training sessions and to introduce codes of conduct setting standards of behaviour. [6] The Labour Inspectorate, under the authority of the Ministry of Labour and Social Solidarity, was entrusted to supervise the implementation of the 2023 Methodology. ANES publishes an annual report on the state of the implementation of the 2023 Methodology at the level of public institutions and several externally-funded projects were approved in view of creating a digital platform for monitoring its implementation.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Solidarity and ANES are also entrusted to ensure compliance with legislation on equality, in particular the Gender Equality Law and provide resources for psychological and legal support for victims of harassment.

3) Effectiveness of investigations and court proceedings

The Ministry of Justice considers that the deficiencies identified by the Court regarding the crime of sexual harassment do not stem from the legal provisions, but from their application.[7] They emphasise that protection orders can be issued for acts of violence, including sexual harassment.

The Ministry of Justice published a Guide on reporting acts of violence and sexual harassment on its website, which includes information on how to formulate a complaint, what legal rights exist both within the criminal process and the immediate measures that can be ordered, such as protection orders. The Ministry of Justice indicated that victims of sexual harassment benefit from free legal aid.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs reported a decrease in the number of criminal complaints for harassment to the police (from 58 complaints in 2019 to 25 in 2023), attributable, according to the police, to the effective protection of victims. According to data submitted by the Prosecutor's Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice (“PICCJ”), between 84 and 96 cases of sexual harassment were registered each year between 2021 and 2023 by the Prosecution’ Office, of which between 28 and 43 cases were dismissed (43 in 2021, 31 in 2022 and 28 in 2023). It is not clear whether these numbers concern workplace sexual harassment.

Between 2017 and 2024, only two complaints of sexual harassment in the workplace (Art. 223 of the Criminal Code) were referred to the courts and the perpetrators were convicted in two cases.[8]

The first-instance courts issued more than 15,000 protection orders each year, but it is not clear from the information available to the authorities whether any of them relate to sexual harassment in the workplace.

The collection of statistical data is expected to be improved with the implementation of a new electronic case management system (ECRIS V), managed by the Ministry of Justice.

The PICCJ conducted a thematic review in 2021 to assess the consistency and legality of the outcomes of cases concerning sexual harassment. It revealed difficulties in interpreting legal definitions and underlined the importance of prompt and impartial investigations. The findings were disseminated to improve practices across prosecution units. Additionally, the PICCJ initiated the “Protection of Victims of Crime” project, funded by the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014-2021, focusing on vulnerable groups and improving the accessibility and quality of the justice system.

The Superior Council of the Magistracy (“CSM”) indicated that the issues raised by the judgment in this case can be addressed during seminars on the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights, and that the relevant aspects can be integrated into the topic of protection against discrimination, including from a gender perspective.

4) Publication and dissemination

The judgment was translated, published and disseminated to the CSM, the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Labour Inspectorate and the State-owned railway company “CFR Călători”. The dissemination emphasised the authorities’ obligation to take into account the European Court’s findings in the present case, in addition to the preeminent principle of respect for human dignity, as well as the importance of carrying out an effective investigation in cases related to allegations of sexual harassment in the workplace.

5) Romanian Ombudsperson's 2023 Special Report on Harassment and Violence in the Workplace[9]

The report highlights significant gaps in addressing workplace harassment. There is no unified regulation, as provisions concerning sexual harassment can be found in a multitude of normative acts referring to harassment at work: the Criminal Code, the Labour Code and other pieces of legislation on equality. Moreover, there is an overlap between the powers of the institutions with competences in this area. The Ombudsperson regrets the lack of a clear definition of harassment and of clear criteria for assigning the duties of the authorities competent to investigate and punish acts of harassment at work.

The Ombudsperson recommends, inter alia, aligning the domestic legislation with the ILO Convention No. 190/2019 and creating a coherent legislative and administrative framework to prevent and sanction workplace harassment. She further recommends taking appropriate measures to prevent workplace harassment and its consequences at employer level and amending the Labour Code and Law No. 108/1999 on the Labour Inspectorate in order to create a procedure for carrying out controls by labour inspectors.

6) Submissions from civil society under Rule 9.2

On 23 March and 11 December 2023, and on 14 January 2025, the Committee of Ministers received three Rule 9.2 communications from the Association for Liberty and Equality of Gender and 14 other NGOs and trade unions (DH-DD(2023)439, DH-DD(2023)1514 and DH-DD(2025)96).

The NGOs acknowledge that the authorities have actively engaged with civil society organisations, trade unions and business representatives to advance the alignment of the domestic legislation with the international standards.

They provide examples and statistical data in support of their argument that harassment, including sexual harassment, is rampant, and that the domestic legal framework is ineffective in preventing and eliminating this phenomenon. One of the major obstacles is the requirement for the victim of sexual harassment to lodge a criminal complaint within three-months from the day of the alleged offence, which does not reflect the complexities and challenges the victims face to report acts of harassment.

Moreover, the NGOs consider it essential for judges and prosecutors to be better trained in assessing power dynamics, especially when gender is involved. Law enforcement agents must avoid stereotypes and re-victimisation and ensure the effectiveness of investigations. They call for measures designed to improve the laws and public policies concerning harassment in the workplace, as well as their implementation, and urge the Romanian authorities to align the legal framework with the ILO Convention No. 190/2019.

Analysis of the Secretariat

As regards individual measures

The just satisfaction awarded by the Court has been paid and no further individual measures appear possible in this case due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for the prosecution of the sexual harassment alleged by the applicant.

As regards general measures

The deficiencies revealed by the judgment are two-fold. They concern the inadequate response of the applicant’s employer to her allegations, as well as apparent absence of mechanisms put in place at the employer’s level (a State-owned company) to deal with sexual harassment in the workplace. They further relate to the authorities’ failure to protect the applicant on account of the significant flaws in the criminal investigation into the facts. In order to ensure the non-repetition of the violation found in this judgment, under Article 46 § 1 of the Convention, the Romanian authorities should put in place preventive mechanisms in State-owned companies and State institutions and ensure that criminal proceedings concerning allegations of sexual harassment in the workplace are effective.

1) Improvement of the legal framework envisaged by the authorities

The ratification by Romania of the International Labour Organisation's Convention on eliminating violence and harassment in the workplace (ILO Convention No. 190/2019) in 2024, demonstrates the authorities’ commitment to provide effective protection against such phenomena, including sexual harassment in the workplace. They could be encouraged to inform the Committee of the results of the working group set up in 2024 to align the domestic legislation with international standards, as regards areas related to sexual harassment in the workplace.

In this context, the authorities could also consider the recommendations for improvement of the legal framework concerning workplace sexual harassment contained in the Romanian Ombudsperson's 2023 Special Report and those formulated by civil society organisations concerning the time-limit of three months from the date of the facts for the victims to lodge a criminal complaint. They could consider in particular the Ombudsperson’s recommendations on the need to ensure the consistency in the domestic law between the mechanisms of protection against harassment.

2) Preventive mechanisms at employer level

The elaboration of a methodology in 2023 to prevent and combat workplace harassment at the level of employers and its envisaged monitoring by the Labour Inspectorate are very positive steps. The authorities’ plans to issue annual reports on the implementation of the methodology at the level of public institutions and to create a digital platform for the monitoring of the implementation are also encouraging.

In order to allow the Committee to assess the effectiveness of the preventive mechanisms set up by the methodology, the authorities could be invited to submit: 1) information on the functioning of the monitoring system, together with disaggregated data on cases of sexual harassment in the workplace and action taken and 2) the available annuals reports of the National Agency for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men (ANES) on the implementation of the methodology.

The authorities could also consider strengthening their cooperation with the relevant NGOs and the National Human Rights Institutions in order to benefit from their extensive expertise in the development and implementation of prevention and victim support measures, as well as awareness-raising activities.

3) Effectiveness of investigation and court proceedings

The deficiencies found by the European Court in relation to the criminal investigation into the applicant’s allegations of sexual harassment at her workplace indicate the need for targeted training for prosecutors and judges dealing with such cases.

The same conclusion can be drawn from the thematic review of cases concerning sexual harassment conducted by the PICCJ in 2021, which revealed difficulties in interpreting legal definitions. In its 2022 Baseline Evaluation Report on Romania, the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO) also referred to concerns about revictimising investigative practices, such as lengthy questioning, demeaning comments and assumptions.[10]

It is therefore positive that the PICCJ disseminated the findings of its above thematic review across prosecution units in order to improve investigative practices. The initiation of the project "Protection of Victims of Crime", funded by the Norwegian Financial Mechanism, focusing on vulnerable groups and aimed at improving the accessibility and quality of the justice system is also a positive step.

As regards targeted training of prosecutors and judges, the authorities could be invited to follow up on the indication of the CSM on the possibility of putting in place specific trainings and awareness-raising activities on issues raised by the judgment in this case and elaborate such training programs. They could also consider engaging in relevant cooperation activities and projects within the Council of Europe for the setting up of such programs. Police officers competent to investigate allegations of harassment could also be the beneficiaries of specific training programmes.

Since systematic and regular collection of disaggregated data from law enforcement authorities (police, prosecution offices and criminal and civil courts) is essential to assess the efficiency of criminal investigations, the authorities’ plan to improve data collection though a new electronic case management system (ECRIS V) should be welcomed.  

Statistical data on cases concerning sexual harassment in the workplace examined by the prosecution authorities and the courts submitted by the authorities so far shows that only two cases concerning this offence were brought to court during the period 2017-2024. A particular low level of convictions in relation to sexual violence offences was also noted in the 2022 GREVIO Report.[11]

The authorities could be invited to provide data focusing on this offence, including the number of complaints brought to the prosecution authorities, the number of cases dismissed, the reasons for the dismissal, the number of cases referred to courts and the number of convictions for the last five years. Information on the number of prevention orders issued in relation to such cases and on the functioning of this mechanism would also be useful for the assessment of the effectiveness of the mechanisms put in place.

Financing assured: YES