Author: admin2706 admin2706

Centrul de Resurse Juridice din Moldova a realizat un spot social menit să sporească gradul de informare, conştientizare şi responsabilizare a cetățenilor cu privire la riscurile pe care le comportă săvârşirea faptelor de corupţie.

Spotul „Corupția ucide - la propriu!” ilustrează povestea unui cetățean ajuns în fața Judecății de Apoi din cauza unui caz ordinar de corupție și sugerează faptul că urmările unui act de corupție lovesc în societate și nu-i ocolește nici pe autorii acestor acte.  

Spotul a fost realizat în cadrul proiectului „Consolidarea societății civile din Moldova pentru a cere justiție” cu suportul financiar al Departamentului de Stat al SUA/Biroul Internațional pentru Justiție Penală și Aplicarea Legii al Ambasadei SUA în Republica Moldova.

On 13 and 14 September 2018, LRCM organized two training workshops on the application of the 2% mechanism (2% Law) for civil society organizations (CSOs) from Cahul and Căușeni regions. The purpose of the workshops was to enable local non-governmental organizations to capitalize the benefits of the 2% Law.

Workshops focused on explaining the 2% mechanism (registration procedure, steps, terms, involved institutions) as well as on the use of amounts and reporting. Other topics covered accountability and sanctions applied by responsible bodies, CSOs and taxpayers' access to information, as well as the opportunity to plan and implement a 2% information campaign that is so important for achieving results.

The training sessions were organized within the project "Promoting the rule of law in Moldova through civil society oversight", implemented by the Legal Resources Centre from Moldova with the financial support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

List of resources about the 2% Law is available here.

Presentation of the trainers is available here.

We recall that between 1 and 30 September 2018, CSOs can register in the List of 2% Beneficiaries by submitting a request to the Ministry of Justice.

More details about the registration procedure can be found here.

On 12 September 1997, the Republic of Moldova became a party to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The Republic of Moldova committed to respect the rights guaranteed by it and recognized the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

From 1997 to 31December 2017, the ECtHR registered more than 13,400 applications against Moldova. At 31 December 2017, 1,348 of them (10,1%) were still waiting to be examined. As regards the number of pending applications, Moldova ranks 11th out of the 47 ECHR member countries.

To date, the ECtHR issued 381 judgments in Moldovan cases, of which 27 in the first 8 months of 2018. The most frequent violations found by the ECtHR in Moldovan cases are non-execution of judgments, ill-treatment, inadequate investigation of ill-treatment and deaths, imprisonment in bad conditions, irreparable quashing of irrevocable court rulings.

Based on the judgements and decisions of the ECtHR issued by 31December 2017, the Republic of Moldova was obliged to pay compensation of over EUR 16,300,000.

In order to increase the level of information of the society about the activity of ECtHR in Moldovan cases, the Legal Resources Centre from Moldova (LRCM) carried out analyzes for the years 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. To facilitate the application of ECtHR standards at national level and to avoid similar deviations in future, the LRCM prepared a summary of all violations found by the ECtHR in the Republic of Moldova until 31 December 2017.

Similarly, LRCM analyzed the impact of the measures taken at national level to implement ECtHR rulings. LRCM has produced reports in this respect for the years 1997-2012 and 2013-2014.

All ECtHR case law, including translations into Romanian, is available on the ECtHR website.

Signatory organizations are concerned about the way seven Turkish citizens have been detained and have to be expelled from the Republic of Moldova. Expulsion of these persons to Turkey denotes an imminent danger to lives and security of these persons and the risk that they will not benefit a fair trial.

In a press release issued in the morning of 6 September 2018, the Information and Security Service (ISS) informed on carrying out of a complex national security threat prevention operation in several localities in the country. The actions have been carried out by the ISS Antiterrorist Centre. In another press release, the ISS confirmed the declaration by the competent bodies as undesirable of seven foreign citizens suspected of relations with an Islamist group, about which there are clues that it is carrying illegal actions in many countries, who will be expelled from the territory of the Republic of Moldova. The press release makes reference to the fact that the actions of these citizens have been subject to monitoring for a period of time and, once the existence of the risk to national security has been confirmed, it has been decided that these persons should immediately leave the territory of the Republic of Moldova. The ISS has collaborated in this case with special services of other states. Finally, the ISS came up with a specifying statement stating that the information which appeared in the public space was completely false, that none of the seven persons was a minor, that the persons were not detained, but had been already expelled from the country.

The information available in mass-media reveals that the detained citizens are nationals of Turkish origin, among whom are the Deputy Director of "Orizont” Lyceum and other employees of the "Orizont" Lyceum network. They were requested to present their identification documents and the reason for their arrest was not explained to them. Among the detained persons was a minor of 16 years, who was released in an hour. At 14:00 it was not clear whether these persons were on the territory of the Republic of Moldova or were extradited.

This is a second attempt by the state institutions to expel the administration of "Orizont" Lyceum. In 2017 the Turkish authorities requested the closure of “Orizont” lyceums in the Republic of Moldova. On 31 March 2018, the director of the institution was detained and heard regarding some circumstances that were subject of a criminal case. The director of the lyceum, Turgay ŞEN, would have been suspected in a case that was started in November 2017 on the grounds of "terrorism financing”. The director of the lyceum has applied for asylum in the Republic of Moldova. At the same time, he considers that the criminal case was opened at the order of the leaders of the Republic of Moldova in the interest of the Turkish leadership in response to the financing of repair works of the Presidency building in the sum of over 10 million Euro, fully ensured by the Turkish Government. Several schools from other countries have been subject to similar actions on the grounds that they would have been supported by Fethullah Gulen. The latter is a former ally of the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who lives in exile in the United States since the late 1990s and is accused by the leadership of Turkey of being behind the attempted coup d'état on 15 July 2016. The clergyman is at the head of a vast network of NGOs and schools around the world and has opened several educational institutions over the past decades.

The signatory organizations condemn the fact that the persons are detained without explaining the reason for their detention. It seems that the intention of the Moldovan authorities is to expel the detained persons to Turkey right now. Given that the detained persons have been in the Republic of Moldova for a long time, their expeditious and unannounced expulsion is not justified and betrays hidden political interests. The detained persons can be expelled only to Turkey, where they are most likely to face an unfair trial and an imminent danger of being tortured. We request the Moldovan authorities to consider seriously the real danger to which they might subject these persons in case of their expulsion to Turkey, to act in the spirit of the law, to allow proper judicial control of the expulsion decision and to ensure that their decisions are not influenced by political interests.

Signatory organizations:

• Legal Resources Centre from Moldova,
• Promo-LEX Association

The English version of the statement is available here

The Romanian version of the statement is available here

Between 1-30 September 2018, the Ministry of Justice invites eligible non-commercial organizations in the country to submit applications for registration to the percentage designation mechanism (2% Law). The 2% Law is a mechanism that allows taxpayers to designate 2% of the amount of income tax earned in the previous year to non-governmental organizations acting in the public interest and to religious entities. Pursuant to Government Decision No. 1286 of 30 November 2016, approving the Regulation on the percentage designation mechanism, the Ministry of Justice receives annually the applications for registration in the 2% beneficiaries list, checks the compiance with the eligibility requirements of the applicant organizations, prepares and regularly updates the List of beneficiaries of the 2% Law.

For the 2% mechanism can apply:

1. public associations, foundations and private institutions performing public utility activities, according to art. 30 of Law 837 on Public Associations;
2. religious cults and their constituent parts carrying out social, moral, cultural or charitable activities, according to art. 15 of Law 125 on Freedom of Conscience, Thought, and Religion.

Are eligible to participate in the 2% mechanism non-commercial organizations that:

• Operate for at least one year until filing the application for registration in the List of 2% beneficiaries;
  • have no debts to the national public budget for previous tax periods (the situation regarding debts is verified by the Ministry of Justice, without the obligation to submit any certificate by the organization).
  • declare on their own responsibility that they did not support, and during the valorisation of the sources obtained after the percentage designation, they will not support the activity of a political party, a social-political organization or a candidate for elections, within the meaning of the Electoral Code.

N.B. Organizations wishing to be registered in the List of 2% beneficiaries are NOT required to hold public utility status issued by the Certification Commission attached to the Ministry of Justice but must demonstrate that they practice public utility activities.

In order to be registered in the List of beneficiaries, organizations will submit an application that can be downloaded here: Download the application form.

The application may be filed either by post or at the Ministry of Justice at 31 august 1989, no. 82, MD-2012, mun. Chișinău, and in electronic format at secretariat@justice.gov.md.

The application is to be signed directly by the head of the organization or the legal representative by enclosing the copy of the power of attorney.

Organizations that have already been included in the List of 2% beneficiaries for 2018 do not have to submit repeatedly applications for registration.

The Ministry of Justice will check the presence of the debts and will offer 10 days for the payment of debts, subject to the exclusion from the List of 2% beneficiaries. Based on the List of 2% beneficiaries, in 2019, individuals will choose the organizations to which they will designate 2% of the income tax. By the end of 2018, the Ministry of Justice will examine the organizations' requests and publish the List of 2% Beneficiaries for 2019.

The application form can be downloaded here. 

Additional information on the 2% mechanism and the registration procedure.

Signatory organizations express their deep disappointment regarding the way the authorities of the Republic of Moldova have exercised their duties in connection with the protests and public demonstrations that took place in Chisinau municipality on 26-27 August and 1 September 2018. We will highlight some of the key issues that we consider important for the public knowledge and in relation to which we request the authorities to take the necessary measures.

In a joint statement, the signatory organizations:

1. condemn the way the authorities acted as regards the protests in the Great National Assembly Square (Piața Marii Adunări Naționale - PMAN) and ask the Mayor's office of Chisinau municipality and the police to provide public explanations shortly as to why they allowed the Shor Party the organization of demonstration in the PMAN on 26 August 2018, even if it did
   not submit a prior declaration. The police and the Mayor's office of Chisinau municipality should have provided to Shor Party either another place for demonstrations or a shorter period for
   holding it, so that their demonstration did not to coincide with the other two protests (announced for 13:00 and 14:00 respectively) given the imminent risk of altercations and the absence of prior declaration regarding the Shor Party demonstration. Allowing Mr. Shor demonstration has in fact created situations of provocations and altercations among the participants, which would have given the police „legal” reason to intervene forcefully against the participants in the protest.
2. condemn restriction of the journalists’ access to the events of 26-27 August 2018 and police inaction when the representatives of Shor party have pushed the journalists off. We reiterate the statement by media NGO's of 28 August 2018 on preventing journalists from covering the events of 26-27 August and request the competent authorities, first of all the Prosecutor General's Office and the Ministry of Interior, to investigate promptly and impartially the cases reported in the statement.
3. condemn the way the police dispersed the protesters at the Stefan cel Mare monument in the morning of 27 August 2018 and the brutal way in which the protesters were dispersed, despite the fact that they were peaceful and in a much lower number than the policemen, presenting no danger to the lives and security of the latter
4. condemn and qualify as illegal the dispersal of the civic group of protesters OccupyGuguță and seizure of their goods in the morning of 27 August 2018.
5. condemn and qualify as excessive the actions of the police and of the Government administration on 1 September 2018 against the participants in the Centenary March.
6. are concerned and require the Ministry of Interior to explain the presence of the persons in civilian clothes alongside the police without the possibility of identifying them and the way how to identify the policemen in balaclavas.

Signatory organisations reiterate that the peaceful protest is an important method of showing disagreement with certain public policies. The way in which the protest is conducted and the conduct of public authorities at the protest is an important indicator of the state of democracy in a state. The conduct of the public authorities of the Republic of Moldova during the protests of 26-27 August and the demonstration of 1 September 2018 raised many serious questions. Organisations request the competent public authorities - in particular the Mayor's office of Chisinau municipality, the Ministry of Interior and the Prosecutor General's Office - to provide a comprehensive analysis of the events of 26-27 August and 1 September 2018, thoroughly investigate all complaints regarding those events and publish the results of the analysis and investigations within a short period of time.

Signatory organizations:

• Legal Resources Centre from Moldova
• Amnesty International Moldova
• Association for Participatory Democracy “ADEPT”
• Association for Efficient and Responsible Governance
• Association of Independent Press
• Foreign Policy Association
• Centre for Investigative Journalism
• Centre for Independent Journalism
• Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims "Memoria"
• National Environmental Centre
• WatchDog.md Community
• CPR Moldova
• Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE)
• Institute for Public Policy
• Pilgrim-Demo
• Transparency International – Moldova

English version of the statement is available here

Romanian version of the statement is available here

Russian version of the statement is available here