The BCS MPs’ application concerning the Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, known as the Istanbul Convention, does not meet the admissibility conditions and cannot be accepted for examination by the Constitutional Court, IPN reports.

In a press briefing, CC president Domnica Manole said that the Venice Commission was asked to pronounce on the Istanbul Convention. “According to the Venice Commission, the Istanbul Convention does not contain any definition of the family and the relations between partners or of same-sex relationships and does not promote such relationships in a special way,” stated Domnica Manole.

The Istanbul Convention refers to the institution of marriage only in the context of the forced marriage. “The Istanbul Convention does not oblige the states to legalize same-sex marriages. Consequently, the Istanbul Convention does not contradict the national constitutions that define marriage as a union between a woman and a man,” said the president of the Constitutional Court.

Moldova’s Parliament ratified the Istanbul Convention on October 14. The MPs of the Bloc of Communists and Socialist (BCS) boycotted the vote. On October 20, President Maia Sandu promulgated the law to ratify the Convention.

The Orthodox Church of Moldova pleaded against, criticizing the vote of the parliamentary majority. Bishop Markel of Bălți and Fălești signed a decree instructing the priests of the Diocese of Bălți and Fălești not to mention the senior state officials in their Sunday prayers.

The Convention was adopted by the Council of Europe on May 11, 2011. The Republic of Moldova signed it on February 6, 2017, but its ratification was put off for several times. By ratifying the Istanbul Convention, the state pledges to allocate financial resources for ensuring the functionality of crisis centers for victims of violence, emergency hotlines and shelters. The Republic of Moldova is the 35th Council of Europe member state (out of 47) that ratified this document.