Over 20 investigative judges participated in the workshop on the examination of complaints regarding poor conditions of detention in the Republic of Moldova, co-organized with the National Institute of Justice of the Republic of Moldova and the Council of Europe Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.

The European Court of Human Rights has issued so far over 70 judgements against the Republic of Moldova in which it found violations on account of poor conditions of detention.

The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) reports on the Republic of Moldova consistently highlighted numerous issues regarding poor conditions of detention. These issues typically included overcrowding in detention facilities, inadequate access to healthcare, sanitation, and hygiene, as well as reports of ill-treatment or abuse of detainees. The CPT often provided recommendations to the Moldovan authorities to address these concerns, emphasizing the importance of improving living conditions for detainees and ensuring that their rights are respected in accordance with the European Convention.

“This issue, while longstanding, remains a pressing concern, as evidenced by the continued registration of new applications related to poor conditions of detention in the Republic of Moldova with the European Court of Human Rights”, underlined in his opening speech, Falk Lange, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Chisinau.

The workshop provided an opportunity for judges to familiarise themselves with the relevant standards and case law of the European Court of Human Rights on the examination at national level of the complaints regarding poor conditions of detention, the problems of poor conditions of detention in the Republic of Moldova from the perspective of the new complaints to the European Court of Human Rights, as well as to learn from good practices in the implementation of the domestic remedy for poor conditions of detention from Italy and Romania.

The workshop aimed at raising the awareness of investigating judges on the challenges and improvements in implementing domestic remedies to address the poor conditions of detention in the Republic of Moldova.

The workshop was organised within the framework of the Council of Europe Project “Strengthening the human rights compliant criminal justice system in the Republic of Moldova”, which is part of the Council of Europe Action Plan for the Republic of Moldova for 2021-2024.