State damages for delayed justice

The state will pay damages for unreasonably long delays in court proceedings or in the enforcement of court decisions, if a legislative proposal introduced by the Government passes, Info-Prim Neo reports. Discussing the proposal at a meeting of the Parliament's Legal Commission on Wednesday, Government Representative Vladimir Grosu explained the measure aimed to adjust the Moldovan legislation to the requirements of the European law and also to reduce the number of complaints lodged by Moldovan citizens with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Since 1998, Moldova has lost over 180 cases at the ECHR. In most of these cases, the applicants complained of unreasonably protracted court proceedings. Other 7 cases involving the same violation are pending before the Court in Strasbourg. The Communist members of the Commission were skeptical about the proposal, saying that it could remain merely formal unless the legislature clearly defined what a “reasonable term” meant. Another argument was that some plaintiffs could exploit this opportunity just to line their pockets. Attending the meeting, the members of the Supreme Court Justice also expressed their concerns, saying that the judges, especially in Chisinau and Balti, already had a huge caseload they could barely cope with, and the speediness required by the proposed measure could affect the quality of the court decisions.