Moldova loses 50th case at ECHR

Moldova was sentenced on Tuesday, February 13, by the European Court for Human Rights (ECHR) on the case “Venera-Nord-Vest Borta AG” vs. Moldova. The Strasbourg Court has sentenced Moldova in the 50-th case, for violating the provisions of the European Convention of Human Rights. The plaintiff, an enterprise in Moldova, concluded in 1999 a contract with another private enterprise, which did not fulfil its obligations. For that reason, “Venera-Nord-Vest Borta AG” sued the aforementioned company. The court ruled in the plaintiff’s favour, but under the judgement of the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) the judgement becomes irrevocable. Early in 2003, as a result of the general prosecutor’s appeal, SCJ has quashed its own decision, rejecting at the same time the plaintiff’s pretensions. ECHR found the violation of article 6 § 1 of the Convention (the right to an equitable lawsuit) and of article 1 Protocol no 1 (the right to the property protection). The court awarded damages of over EUR 28,000 to the plaintiff, of which EUR 7,000 for sustained loss and about EUR 3,000 for moral damages and costs. Experts assert that Moldova has the largest number of cases lost at ECHR against the number of inhabitants.