The law by which the period during which the property and personal interests can be verified was reduced from three years to a year was declared unconstitutional. A decision to this effect was taken by the Constitutional Court following an application filed by ex-PAS MP Sergiu Litvinenco, currently Minister of Justice, IPN reports.
The law that was declared unconstitutional provided that criminal proceedings for particular offenses, such as unjust enrichment, can be instituted when the National Integrity Authority issues a document by which it ascertains the violation of the legislation in the field. It also stipulated that it will produce effects also for the checks initiated by NIA before its coming into force.
Sergiu Litvinenco asked the Court to suspend the effects of this law, saying there is a risk that when these legal provisions come into force, all the cases managed by NIA will be dropped owing to the expiry of the period set for carrying out the check. He also argued that the draft law wasn’t debated in the second reading and noted that the law does not meet the quality conditions.
After the judgment was passed, CC president Domnica Manole said the content of the law should have been broadly examined by Parliament by two readings, but the bill was adopted following two readings given the same day, at an interval of one minute.
As to the shortening of the period during which the property and personal interests can be verified, the Court held that the citizens’ confidence in the correctness of persons holding public posts and in institutions in general is the democratic basis for their functioning and these persons should meet high integrity standards. The shortening of the period can lead to impunity, when public functionaries avoid responsibility. Consequently, the verification of the property and personal interests can become a theoretical and illusory process.
The law by which the activity of the National Integrity Authority was modified was adopted by the MPs of the Party of Socialists together with the members of the Platform “For Moldova”, which included the MPs of the Șor Party, on December 16, 2020.
