Civil society is a condition needed in a democracy wherever in the world. The Moldova – EU Association Agreement explicitly provides that civil society needs to be strengthened. The Eastern Partnership that includes the Republic of Moldova also has civil society development mechanisms. The state assumed international commitments to respect and develop civil society. The SCOs come to supplement the work and expertize of the state in the areas in which this needs so as to ensure better services for the citizens, lawyer Irina Buzu, author of the study “Role of civil society in advancing the rule of law and justice sector reform”, stated in a news conference at IPN.
Irina Buzu said that to be able to operate in a stable environment and to continue to act as an authentic player in defending the rule of law, civil society organizations should be able to work without any unjustified intervention on the part of the state. “Nevertheless, civil society in the Republic of Moldova continues to face serious challenges. The examples include deliberate threats, including restrictions or financial inspections on the part of the authorities or inadequate protection against physical and verbal attacks, against arbitrary decisions when the level of protection of the fundamental rights that guarantee the activity of SCOs is rather low. For example, the NGOs that criticize the governmental policies in the hope that the new government will adopt more efficient practices in the cooperation and communication with the media and members of the NGO sector are subject or were subject until now to harassment, intimidation by the public authorities and officials,” noted Irina Buzu.
The study author recommends civil society to conceptualize a program to develop the civic powers of citizens so as to make sure that the people better understand public affairs and policies that refer to them and to empower them to identify ways of action for intervening in the dialogue and cooperation with the state institutions.
Another recommendation is to promote civil society among citizens so as to continually strengthen the NGO sector. “The grater is the society’s trust in nongovernmental organizations, the more influential and robust will be the latter in the dialogue with the state institutions,” stated Irina Buzu.
The study “Role of civil society in advancing the rule of law and justice sector reform” was carried out in partnership with Freedom House, which implements the Mobilizing Civil Society to Support Judicial Integrity in the Republic of Moldova Project. The project is implemented with support from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. The study was conducted based on the analysis and retrospective method and covered the past five years.
