22 years of ECHR in the Republic of Moldova

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 2018, the ECtHR registered more than 14,200 applications against Moldova. At 31 December 2018, 1,204 of them 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 420 judgments in Moldovan cases, of which 33 in the first 9 months of 2019. 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 31 December 2018, the Republic of Moldova was obliged to pay compensation of over EUR 16,600,000.

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 each year separately (period 2010-2018).

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.

In order for the society to enjoy all the benefits offered by the ECHR, its standards must be applied without reservation by the national authorities.

All ECtHR case law is available on the ECtHR website.