Nobody repaid costs related to cases lost at ECHR to state in six years

The prosecutor general over the last six years instituted appeal procedures in only ten cases in which Moldova was found guilty by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The Government’s acting agent to the ECHR Lilian Apostol said this is because of the imperfect legislation, Info-Prim Neo reports. The appeal procedure was included in the legislation of Moldova in 2006. No person has yet repaid the costs related to the cases lost at the ECHR to the state. Under the law, the Government suggests the prosecutor general to initiate appeal procedures, but it is the prosecutor who takes a final decision. “The mechanism is in general very simple, but certain legal provisions must be ordered. There should be a common appraisal as the problems that appear in court refer to the difference in the used terms,” Lilian Apostol said in a meeting of the Investigative Journalists’ Club. According to him, the terms are very important from juridical viewpoint. Within the justice sector reform, the legislation will be amended so as to bring clarity in this respect. Cornelia Cozonac, the head of the Journalistic Investigations Center, said that only two of the ten appeals concern persons involved in cases of use of torture and inhuman treatment. In the two cases, the four police officers considered guilty of use of torture haven’t been obliged to repay the costs to the state because the prosecutor general’s applications were rejected by the Supreme Court of Justice by irrevocable decisions. Until December 31, 2011, the ECHR passed 227 decisions on Moldovan cases. The Government of Moldova was obliged to pay over €12.8 million damages.