#Justice4Moldova: Position Paper on the draft Law on the amendment of some normative acts – procedural aspects regarding the activity of the courts

This Opinion is formulated as a response to the request of the Ministry of Justice no. 03/5956 of 25 June 2024, addressed to the Institute for European Policies and Reforms.

The opinion is expressed on the draft law on the amendment of some normative acts – with reference to some procedural aspects regarding the activity of the courts.

The authors of the opinion consider it appropriate to promote the draft law on the amendment of some normative acts – with reference to some procedural aspects regarding the activity of the courts, published by the Ministry of Justice on June 25, 2024.

We consider that it is a necessary draft law in the context of ensuring the proper functioning of the courts and the realization of the rights and needs of citizens, this legislative initiative being based on the following fundamental reasoning:

• implementation of the provisions of Law no. 64/2023 on the Supreme Court of Justice;
• avoiding divergent interpretations regarding the subjects competent to challenge with appeal the sentences adopted in the trial procedure on the basis of the evidence

  administered in the criminal investigation phase;

• clarification of some provisions on the revision of civil court decisions;
• updating the provisions regarding the bail, the personal guarantee and the

  organisation’s guarantee;

• the need for the Supreme Court of Justice to issue a reasoned decision in all cases;
• the establishment of an effective mechanism for the hearing of witnesses in criminal investigations, when it cannot be heard directly at the headquarters of the criminal investigation body.

However, we believe that the draft law needs to be improved, and the conceptual proposals are presented below in the text of the opinion.

In order to improve the draft law, the following recommendations are presented:

• the elimination of the court’s discretion in the procedure for requesting the advisory opinion;
• revision of the normative provision that establishes restrictions in the procedure for requesting the advisory opinion;
• supplementing the draft law in order to establish a deadline within which the Supreme Court of Justice will issue the advisory opinion;
• complementing the changes proposed by the project with criteria that would allow the high reputation of guarantees to be measured;
• further analysis of the opportunity to intervene with amendments to the Administrative Code.

For more details, please consult the position note available HERE.