Committee of Ministers urges Chisinau authorities rapidly to adopt law on freedom of religion

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CoE) adopted a new resolution on Moldova on Tuesday, urging the Moldovan authorities rapidly to finalise the ongoing work with a view to enacting new legislation regulating the registration and functioning of religious denominations. Such legislation is necessary in order to effectively prevent new violations of the European Convention on Human Rights, according to a communication of the Romanian presidency of the Committee of Ministers. While noting important improvements included in the latest draft bill which is presently pending before Parliament, the Committee nevertheless pointed to a number of shortcomings which still appear to affect the registration procedure. The Committee therefore encouraged the Moldovan authorities rapidly to solve the outstanding issues, also taking into account the opinions expressed by the Council of Europe experts, in order to achieve a legislative reform compliant with the requirements of the European Convention on Human Rights in the field of freedom of religion. While the European ministers discuss in Strasbourg the execution of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) judgments by CoE member states, the Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia sued again the Moldovan government at ECHR on March 28 for non-execution of a final ruling of the Supreme Court of Justice in Chisinau. The latter has recognised that the Church Acoperamantul Maicii Domnului in Floresti, claimed by the Metropolitan Church of Moldova, is subordinated to the Bessarabnian Church. The Moldovan government was sentenced in the field of freedom of religion in December 2001 in a case of the Bessarabian Church, which has been awarded victory and registered later with the Justice Ministry. A political organisation set up in 1949, the Council of Europe works to promote democracy and human rights continent-wide. It also develops common responses to social, cultural and legal challenges in its 46 member states.