Useful information

For most medico-legal examinations requested directly by the persons concerned — such as assessments after an assault or an accident, or for a medico-legal certificate on recent traumatic injuries — no appointment is needed. You can come straight to the headquarters of the Vâlcea County Service of Legal Medicine during opening hours, bringing your identity document and the relevant medical documents.

An appointment may be needed in advance for:

• complex medico-legal expert evaluations;
• expert evaluations ordered by the judicial authorities;
• psychiatric evaluations;
• new expert evaluations;
• other work involving examinations by a board or extensive medical documentation.

Note: to reduce waiting time and to find out which documents you need in your situation, we recommend that you call us before you come.

The processing time depends on the type of medico-legal work and the complexity of the case.

For medico-legal certificates on traumatic injuries, the document is issued within 7 days at most of the examination of the person or of receipt of the last medical document needed to draw it up, in accordance with the applicable legal provisions.

For complex expert evaluations, evaluations by a board or work requiring additional medical documentation, consultation with other specialities or further investigations, it may take longer, depending on the particular features of each case and on when the documentation is completed.

Note: for information on the progress of a case or the availability of your document, please call the Vâlcea County Service of Legal Medicine.

A valid identity document is mandatory when you come.

If you do not have all the medical documents, they can be submitted later, depending on the type of request. The medico-legal document will be drawn up once the necessary documentation is complete.

Note: see the “Opening hours and required documents” section for the full list of documents required for each service, or call us for more information.

If the medico-legal expert evaluation or finding was ordered by a criminal investigation body, a court or another competent authority, the medico-legal expert report is sent directly to the institution that requested the work, in accordance with the applicable legal provisions and procedures.

In these cases you do not need to send the document to the requesting authority yourself.

Entitled persons may request, under the conditions laid down by law and in compliance with the rules on access to medico-legal documents and the protection of personal data, information about the case or a copy, where this is permitted by the legislation in force.

Yes. A copy of a previously issued medico-legal document can be issued at the request of the entitled person or their legal representative, under the conditions laid down by law.

The request is submitted in writing to the registry of the Vâlcea County Service of Legal Medicine and must include:

• the reason for the request;
• a valid identity document;
• the documents proving the status of representative, if the request is made through a representative.

Note: for information on the procedure and the documents required, please contact the Vâlcea County Service of Legal Medicine.

The trauma score is a standardised method of assessing the personal injury suffered in a vehicle accident. It is the basis for setting compensation in the amicable procedure provided for by the legislation on compulsory motor insurance (RCA) and is calculated under Order no. 1/2.293/2022, drawn up in cooperation with the “Mina Minovici” National Institute of Legal Medicine, Bucharest.

The assessment ends with a Medical Evaluation Report — Insurance Medicine (REMA), which includes:

• an analysis of the medical documentation;
• the clinical examination;
• an assessment of the injuries and their consequences;
• the trauma score awarded.

The assessment is carried out for a fee, at the request of the injured person, the RCA insurer, the Romanian Motor Insurers’ Bureau (BAAR) or the Policyholders’ Guarantee Fund, by medical expert assessors: specialists or senior physicians in legal medicine, specialists or senior physicians in the medical assessment of work capacity, or physicians who have completed the postgraduate course in the assessment of personal injury, based on the curriculum approved by the “Mina Minovici” National Institute of Legal Medicine, Bucharest.

Note: medico-legal documents issued in the public system and the REMA report have a different legal status, purpose and content. The medico-legal certificate and the medico-legal expert evaluation establish and assess injuries, whereas the REMA report is intended solely for assessing personal injury in compulsory motor insurance (RCA) matters.

The number of days of medical care is a medico-legal assessment of the severity of traumatic injuries, set by the forensic physician on the basis of the clinical examination and the medical documents.

These days do not represent:

• the length of sick leave;
• the period of hospitalisation;
• the time needed for complete recovery.

They express the estimated period of medical care needed for the injuries caused by the trauma to heal.

Note: the number of days of medical care is set according to the medico-legal criteria laid down in the professional rules and guidelines.

A forensic autopsy is ordered by the criminal investigation body or by the court and is carried out within the medico-legal institution, in accordance with the special law. Its regime is laid down in Article 185 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

An autopsy is ordered in the following situations:

• in the event of a violent death;
• when the death is suspected of being violent;
• when the cause of death is unknown;
• when there is a reasonable suspicion that the death was caused, directly or indirectly, by an offence or in connection with the commission of an offence.

If the body of the victim has been buried, exhumation is ordered so that the body can be examined by autopsy.

The prosecutor immediately orders a forensic autopsy if the death occurred while the person was in the custody of the police or of the National Administration of Penitentiaries, during involuntary hospitalisation, and in the case of any death that raises the suspicion of a breach of human rights, of torture or of any inhuman treatment.

To determine whether there are grounds for an autopsy, the criminal investigation body or the court may ask for the opinion of a forensic physician. At the forensic physician’s request, specialists from other medical fields may also be co-opted for the autopsy, except for the physician who treated the deceased. Any lawful method may be used to establish identity, including the collection of biological samples to establish a forensic DNA profile.

The forensic physician who performed the autopsy draws up an expert report setting out their findings and conclusions on:

• the identity of the deceased or identifying features, if the identity is not known;
• the manner of death;
• the medical cause of death;
• the existence of traumatic injuries, how they were caused, the nature of the injuring agent and the causal link between the traumatic injuries and the death;
• the results of the laboratory tests carried out on the biological samples taken from the body and on any suspicious substances found;
• biological traces found on the body of the deceased;
• the probable date of death;
• any other elements that may help to clarify the circumstances of the death.

Note: the criminal investigation body must inform a family member of the date of the autopsy and of the right to appoint an authorised independent expert to attend it.

Yes. The injured person may request a medico-legal certificate within 30 calendar days of the traumatic event, by coming to the Vâlcea County Service of Legal Medicine, under the conditions laid down by the procedural rules on medico-legal activity.

However, we recommend that the examination be carried out as soon as possible after the injuries occur, as this allows the traumatic signs to be documented fully and objectively.

Bring all the medical documents you have to the examination:

• discharge summary;
• consultation records;
• imaging investigations;
• test results;
• other medical documents.

Note: the number of days of medical care is assessed later by the forensic physician, after examining the person and evaluating the medical documents.