The European Court of Human Rights between 1997 and 2022 inclusively passed 575 judgments in Moldovan cases. These ascertained 754 violations of the European Convention on Human Rights and most of these referred to the violation of the right to a fair trial. Based on the convictions of 2022, the state is to pay half a million euros. The total figure of damages since 1997 is €22.5 million.

In a news conference at IPN, acting director of the Justice Program of the Legal Resources Center from Moldova (LRCM) Vladislav Gribincea said that 30% of the identified violations refer to the right to a fair trial. “Is this much or not? The Court’s average shows that this right is more often violated than in 30% of the cases. But in the case of the Republic of Moldova, the indicator is smaller because we have a larger number of serious violations of the Convention. We have 25% violations of the prohibition of torture. I refer to ill-treatment, non-investigation of ill-treatment, detention conditions, cases of ill-treatment between private entities that are not investigated by the authorities and non-provision of medical assistance in detention,” said Vladislav Gribincea.

As to the violation of the right to a fair trial, he said that it primarily goes to the non-execution of court judgments, illegal quashing of court judgments by revisions and appeals, late appeals, improper procedure for examining cases, primarily appeals. “The Appeals Court or the Supreme Court of Justice reverse the solutions of lower courts without questioning witnesses. This is inadmissible,” noted Vladislav Gribincea.

Among other violations are the violations of the right to protection of property, which are very costly, and of the right to liberty and security, which show how judges in Moldova apply arrest. “The European Court said that the arrests are often badly motivated. The general rule is that if there are no reasons, the persons should not be arrested,” stated the acting director of the Justice Program.

The convictions also refer to the right to respect for private and family life. “These violations are very different and intrusive and range from wiretapping to noise generated by an air conditioning device placed by neighbors near the window of the plaintiff, who cannot sleep due to the noise, or the inclusion in civil status documents of another ethnic origin than the one claimed by the applicant – Moldovan or Romanian,” said Vladislav Gribincea.

Moldovan citizens in 2022 filed 642 applications to the European Court of Human Rights, by 12 applications more than in 2021. By the number of applications per capita, Moldova ranks fourth among the 46 Council of Europe member states, hitting an anti-record.

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