Local authorities’ prior consent will no longer be a requirement for conducting assemblies

A notification in writing submitted to the local authorities will be just enough to plan and conduct public assemblies. A bill on assemblies that annuls the requirement to receive prior permission from local authorities passed today first reading in Parliament. According to the bill, anyone who intends to conduct a public assembly shall notify in writing, by means of a preliminary statement, the local authorities of the respective territorial-administrative unit no later than five days prior to the event. The preliminary statement shall contain the following information: the name of the organiser (either natural or legal person), contact info, the purpose of the assembly, date, location, and if needed, the itinerary of the march, the form of the assembly, the starting hours, the approximate number of participants, the planned duration of the event, services requested from local authorities. In the case of spontaneous assemblies and of those with a limited number of participants (10 persons in the current version of the bill), the notification in writing and in advance is not compulsory. Authorities may place restrictions on certain meetings in two ways. The first is to take legal action for the purpose of forbidding beforehand the meeting if there is irrefutable evidence that the holding of the event may run counter to the legislation. The second way is to stop an ongoing assembly if the manner in which it is conducted departs from the provisions of the present law or of the Constitution. According to the bill, anyone may organise an assembly, either natural or legal entity, as opposed to the law in effect, which gives this right only to the citizens of Moldova, if the organiser is a natural person. However, two restrictions are still in place: on minors and persons with limited legal capacity. These may organise assemblies only if assisted by persons with full legal capacity. Both the Opposition and the majority faction saluted the bill, noting that it is a step further in approaching European and international standards. However, some Opposition MPs remarked that the bill contains several ambiguous provisions, leaving room for interpretation, which could be used by law enforcers and authorities against the participants in or organisers of protest rallies. According to them, the bill needs certain modifications prior to the second reading. The bill is part of the Plan of Priority Measures for the implementation of the Moldova-EU Action Plan, and could be adopted in final reading at one of the Parliament meetings next week.