On 10 July, the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights participated in the ninth meeting of the Advisory Council of the Government Agent in Chișinău.
The first part of the meeting focused on the execution of the T.M. and C.M. group of cases concerning domestic violence. The Department presented a follow-up to the Committee of Ministers’ recent examination of the group at its 1563rd Human Rights meeting (June 2026). Discussions addressed the possibility of reopening the criminal proceedings in the Vieru case, as well as the general measures required to ensure full execution of these judgments, in particular addressing the coexistence of parallel criminal and administrative sanctioning regimes for domestic violence as well as improving integrated data collection.
The Advisory Council also discussed the execution of the G.M. and Others case, concerning forced abortions and birth control measures imposed on the applicants, women with intellectual disabilities, while residing in a psychiatric asylum. The Department highlighted the outstanding general measures expected to comply with the Court’s judgment, including amendments to the Criminal Code to ensure that all invasive birth-control measures are criminalised; improvements to complaint mechanisms in placement centres; and continued capacity-building on informed consent for healthcare professionals, alongside awareness-raising activities for residents of placement centres on their right to lodge complaints.
Finally, the Advisory Council held preliminary discussions on the execution of the recent Petrov judgment concerning informal prisoner hierarchies. The Department presented examples of approaches adopted in other Council of Europe member states and underlined the need for a comprehensive national strategy to address the root causes of the systemic problem concerning informal hierarchies in prisons.
