Within the project “Promoting rule of law through civil society oversight” the Legal Resources Centre from Moldova (LRCM) had as one the main objectives to promote effective implementation of European human rights standards in Moldova. It monitored the implementation of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) cases in Moldova, provided training of judges, prosecutors and lawyers on European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) standards and advocated for setting up a new mechanism of supervision of execution of ECtHR judgements.

Promotion of systemic changes via strategic litigation

The European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) is directly applicable in the Moldovan legal system. In this context, the LRCM has taken several cases to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), aimed  at  promoting  systemic  changes  in  the  national  legal  system.  One case has already been won, Mătăsaru v. Moldova (no. 69714/16), setting a strong precedent to allow the genuine exercise of the right to protest and freedom of expression in the Republic of Moldova. Another four cases are pending, focused on issues regarding the freedom of association, independence of judges, security and privacy and family life. Seven briefs relating to detention conditions, forcible transfer and deprivation of liberty, pre-trial arrest, and ill-treatment were sent to the Committee of Ministers to advocate  for  an  effective  execution  ECtHR  judgments  implementation  of  ECtHR standards in Moldova.

Awareness raising on ECHR

The LRCM, in collaboration with lawyers from the ECtHR Registry, has organized a series of trainings for more than 100 lawyers, judges and prosecutors. They benefited from a solid learning experience on the practical application of the ECHR to help them better serve their clients. Statistical data concerning Moldova and summarisation of judgements and decisions issued by the ECtHR in Moldovan cases was also developed on early basis.

Advocacy for effective national remedies on equality and non-discrimination

The  project  advocated  for  improvements  to  the legislative  framework  on  combating  hate  speech and  hate  crimes,  and  for improvements to the national mechanism on equality and non-discrimination. The legislative amendments are pending. The project provided an in-depth analysis of the jurisprudence of courts in  cases  of  discrimination,  compliance  with  non-discrimination legislation and the functioning of the Equality Council, with the aim of strengthening the legal framework and practice of equality and non-discrimination in Moldova.

The afore-mentioned activities were undertaken by the LRCM, because the effective observance of human rights in the Republic of Moldova is one of the values ​​and objectives of the organization, which are also promoted in the project “Promoting the rule of law through monitoring by civil society”, financially supported by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), implemented between October 2016 and November 2020.

The main results obtained by the LRCM within the project can be seen in the project factsheet. More details about the documents developed and the activities implemented within the project are available on the LRCM website.

The video registration from the close-out event of the project is available on the website www.privesc.eu.