In the course of 2022, Moldovan citizens filed 642 applications to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), 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 given that in 2021 it ranked 11th. The data were presented by the Legal Resources Center from Moldova (LRCM). Experts of the Center noted that the picture is rather gloomy as the citizens of the Republic of Moldova, which is a small country by territory and by population, go to the ECHR because they do not trust the national judicial system.
“This figure against the number of population is rather large. Even if, geographically speaking, the Council of Europe’s reports still use the figure of 3 million, we realize that the population in the Republic of Moldova is much smaller. In reality, this anti-record is even more painful. This higher anti-rating is probably due to the fact that some of the states that traditionally filed more applications to the ECHR submitted a lower number,” Daniel Goinic, director of the Center’s Human Rights Program, stated in a news conference at IPN. Last year, the Moldovans went to the ECHR five times more often that the Europeans went on average.
By December 31, the European Court passed 575 judgments in Moldovan cases, 34 of which in 2022. “These 34 judgments are a rather high figure. By this index, we ranked sixth among the Council of Europe member state in 2022. The figure of 575 takes us to the 11th spot among these states. I want to draw attention to the fact that there are states that joined the European Convention much earlier than the Republic of Moldova did, in 1997, and there are states that are geographically and demographically larger. However, regrettably, we outstrip them by the general number of decisions or of convictions,” said the program director.
A number of 48 violations of the European Convention on Human Rights were ascertained by the 34 judgments passed last year. Two articles were violated most of the times – prohibition of torture and degrading or inhuman treatment, and the right to a fair trial.
On December 31, 2022, 1,020 Moldovan applications were pending. According to Daniel Goinic, only 97% of these applications have chances to be solved successfully.
Last year, the ECHR recorded a total of 45,500 applications, by 1,250 applications more than in 2021. According to the LRCM’s data, 41% of the complaints were against Turkey and Russia. “Turkey and Russia the last three-five month have held the lead in this regard. The citizens complain about the human rights situation in these two countries,” said Daniel Goinic.
At the end of last year, 74,650 applications were pending at the ECHR. “This figure is higher and it has increased the last few years. But it is not as high as in 2014-2016, for example. Probably, even if the number of applications among the Council of Europe member states is lower, the workload at the Court is rather heavy. It is a challenge for the ECHR and one of the policies adopted the last few years is for the different disputes between the state and the plaintiff to be solved at national level rather than at the European Court. The Court often resorts to the policy to avoid conviction by decision in favor of a consensus at national level,” said the LRCM expert.
In 2022, the European Court of Human Rights passed 1,163 judgments, by 5% fewer than in 2021. 53% of the pronounced judgments referred to Russia, Ukraine and Romania. Moldova ranked sixth.
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