The number of applications submitted to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) against Moldova in 2013 rose by 45.1% on 2012, to 1,356. This is the highest number of applications from Moldovans ever recorded by the ECHR during a year. Only the number of complaints against Montenegro, Slovenia and Serbia is higher than that against Moldova.

In a news conference at IPN, chairman of the Legal Resources Center of Moldova Vladislav Gribincea said that the large number of applications to the ECHR is due to the population’s great distrust in the Moldovan judicial system. As many as 9,700 applications against Moldova were submitted between 1998 and 2013. On January 1, this year, 1,442 applications were pending.

Of the over 93,000 applications examined by the ECHR in 2013, 3,162 were submitted by Moldovans. Of them, 99.4% were declared inadmissible or were annulled. Thus, Moldovans’ valid applications examined by the ECHR totaled 0.6%. This figure is under the Court’s average of 3.9%.

“More than 70% of the Moldovan applications pending at the ECHR have chances to be successful. We expect the number of rejected and obviously groundless applications to decrease the next few years. But the number of complaints concerning human rights violations are projected to increase,” said Vladislav Gribincea.

He also said that by December 31, 2013, the ECHR passed 273 decisions on Moldovan cases. Among the most frequent violations of the European Convention on Human Rights are the non-implementation of national court decisions, inappropriate investigation of ill-treatments, and detention in inhuman conditions.

The applications concerning the non-implementation of court decisions referred to violations committed in 2007. In 2012-2013, the ECHR ascertained no violations of the kind.

In the cases lost at the ECHR, Moldova was obliged to pay over €13.9 million damages, including €325,000 on 19 decisions passed in 2013. €3.1 million was paid based on amicable settlements or the unilateral statements formulated by the Government.