Constitutional Court rejects Communist application

The Constitutional Court has rejected as inadmissible a request by the Communist Party to check the constitutionality of the Parliament Decision of July 12 on the Historical, Political and Legal Assessment of the Totalitarian Communist Regime of the Moldavian SSR. The Court found that this Decision is non-lawgiving, but exclusively of political nature, and thus is not subject to constitutionality control. In a separate application, the Communists requested the Court to check the constitutionality of a measure that prohibits the use of communist symbols for political ends. The Court declared the application admissible, deciding at the same time to ask expert opinions from the Venice Commission and the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. The Communist Party wrote a petition to the Court asking it to fast-track the hearing of its appeal against the ban on the communist symbols, complaining that it obstructs the activity of the party. The Court said a decision on the appeal will only be passed until after the expert opinions are received.