Promoting a human rights compliant criminal justice system in the Republic of Moldova

The Programme ”Promoting a human rights compliant criminal justice system in the Republic of Moldova” is in line with the strategic priorities for cooperation as formulated in the Council of Europe Action Plan for the Republic of Moldova for 2017-2020, and is funded by the Norwegian government.

It is aimed to ensure a higher respect for human rights and the rule of law by assisting the national authorities in building up an efficiently functioning criminal justice system, in line with European human rights standards, and based on the principles of humanisation, resocialisation and restorative justice.

Main intervention areas will cover policy/legal framework, institutional and practical implementation levels, with the focus on:

Consolidation of criminal justice policy, legislation and judiciary practice in line with international standards with respect to the liberalization of criminal proceedings, including strengthening the application of non-custodial pre-trial preventive measures and sanctions, alternative sanctions in criminal cases, improvement of probation services and release on parole mechanisms
Better treatment and resocialisation of inmates by improving the regulatory and policy framework as well as prison staff capacities relevant to regime arrangements and management of prisons, implementation of treatment programmes and provision of health care services for inmates;
Support towards the development of the capacities of criminal justice stakeholders in the light of the implementation of the on-going reforms, including judiciary, prosecution service, as well as Ombudsperson’s institution and National Prevention Mechanism (NPM).

The Programme is expected to be implemented in 36 months (as of 1 March 2018).

Useful information

PROJECT NEWS

Back Human Rights Experts’ Meeting in the Republic of Moldova

The activities of the Council of Europe Programme “Promoting a human rights compliant criminal justice system in the Republic of Moldova” are continuously coordinated with the actions of the other national and international actors in the criminal justice field. On 17 January 2019 the representatives of the Council of Europe took part in the Human Rights Experts’ Meeting alongside the representatives of the Republic of Moldova, the European Union, the United Nations and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

During the meeting, the Council of Europe outlined the main challenges in the criminal justice field in the near future, in particular, the need to improve the material conditions of detention and health care in prisons and detention facilities, as well as to address overcrowding through wider and more targeted use of community sanctions and measures. Further steps also have to be taken to improve the quality of reasoning and justification as to the selection of pre-trial preventive measures and their prolongation.

The Programme “Promoting a human rights compliant criminal justice system in the Republic of Moldova” is part of the Council of Europe Action Plan for the Republic of Moldova 2017-2020. It is funded by the Government of Norway.

Chisinau 17 January