The ban on providing services for money by noncommercial organizations to electoral competitors during the election campaign was declared unconstitutional. The Constitutional Court pronounced after MP Sergiu Litvinenco challenged provisions of the law on noncommercial organizations that ban noncommercial organizations from providing services to election runners during the election campaign, IPN reports.

The MP said the final version of the article differs conceptually from the bill approved by the Government. The version approved by the Government says that “during the election campaign, the noncommercial organization cannot financially support or provide free services to electoral contenders and cannot campaign”.

The version that was given two readings by Parliament says that “during the election campaign, the noncommercial organization cannot provide services and cannot financially or gratis support electoral contenders and cannot campaign”.

“The noncommercial organization can provide services for money to potential electoral competitors outside the election campaign. The temporary limitation of this possibility has consequences for the ownership right. So, the Court didn’t identify pertinent reasons that would justify the imposition of the ban on the provision of expensive services only on noncommercial organizations given that the law allows the noncommercial organizations to provide such services outside the election campaign,” says the judgment.

The judgment is final and cannot be challenged. It takes effect when it is adopted and is published in the Official Gazette.

The Court recommended Parliament to review Article 6, paragraph (5) of the law on noncommercial organizations in accordance with the given judgment so that the noncommercial organizations during election campaigns are banned from providing free services only, not yet services for money.