Total project cost: € 600 000. Duration of the project: 26 months, until February 2016.

Project is guided by three objectives:

1. To ensure that compliance of national legislation and administrative practice with the ECHR is assessed.
2. To strengthen human rights guarantees in the criminal procedure and improve its efficiency.
3. To enhance the institutional capacities for an effective implementation of the ECHR including its case law at national level.

The main issues to be addressed by the project are:

• compliance of the criminal procedure and other important (draft) legislation with the ECHR and its case law;
• institutional weakness of the SCJ and other courts as regards interpretation and uniform application of the ECHR and its case law;
• lack of coherence in the interpretation and application of the national legislation in line with the ECHR and its case law, and, as a consequence, lack of an appropriate level of predictability of the justice system;
• further need of capacity-building for the national HR training institutions and increasing the pool and qualification of national trainers on the ECHR;
• the need to further improve the knowledge on the ECHR and its case law among judges and other legal professions.

• laws and draft legislation which have or might have an effect on the level and efficiency of protection of human rights are assessed by the CoE;
• the effectiveness and consistency of human rights protection, especially in the context of criminal procedures, are improved in Moldova;
• the capacity of the SCJ to ensure a harmonised application of the ECHR and in the national jurisprudence is strengthened, in particular through the systematised and regularly updated database of explanatory decisions and recommendations;
• awareness about the standards of the ECHR is raised and a favourable environment is created for its harmonised implementation by the law enforcement and judicial bodies;
• the current groups of national trainers on the ECHR for legal professions are reinforced;
• training materials, including HELP materials, are further developed and made available in Romanian;
• the level of professional skills and knowledge on ECHR standards among judges and other legal professions is strengthened through the use of the increased availability of trainings and resources (database, handbooks etc.).

• international expertise to review the relevant legislation and practices of its implementation, identify needs and obstacles in the uniform application of the ECHR and its case law in Moldova and draft recommendations on how to improve this application and how to strengthen the role of the judiciary in this regard,
• support to raising awareness about the importance of a coherent application of the ECHR and its case law among judges and other legal professions,
• capacity-building for specialised national training institutions and ECHR trainers, enabling them to better train their peers,
• enhance training for judges, law enforcement agents and other legal professions to better use the ECHR in their daily work, through multiplying training sessions and involving more national trainers.

• Ministry of Justice (including the Government Agent to the ECtHR)
• Supreme Court of Justice
• Superior Council of Magistracy
• General Prosecutor’s Office
• Office of the People's Advocate (Ombudsperson institution)
• National Institute of Justice
• Constitutional Court.

• Training session for prosecutors and judges “ECtHR case law in matters of legal certainty”, in partnership with the National Institute of Justice, Chisinau. 18-19 February 2016.
• Training session for the staff of the Constitutional Court “The jurisprudence of the ECtHR. The application of „necessity in a democratic society” test”, Chisinau, 11-12 February 2016.
• Training session for the justices and staff of the Constitutional Court “The effect of the judicial precedent of ECtHR on national judicial practice”, Chisinau, 04-05 February 2016.
• Training session for prosecutors and judges, with the participation of the staff of the Office of the People’s Advocate “The right to a fair trial. ECHR case law standards on the obligation to substantiate the court decisions, as one of the fundamental guarantees of the right to a fair trial”, in partnership with the National Institute of Justice, Chisinau, 28-29 January 2016.
• Training session for the staff of the Office of the People’s Advocate “Prevention and combating of torture, ill-treatment and impunity. Standards of monitoring of detention facilities”, Chisinau, 21-22 January 2016.
• Review, editing and printing of the Manual “Human Rights for Civil Servants”, in partnership with the Office of the People’s Advocate (Ombudsperson Institution). 1500 copies of the manual in Romanian and 500 copies in Russian will be distributed to local public authorities (LPAs) and central public authorities (CPAs) in Moldova through the Office of the People’s Advocate. January 2016.
• Training session for the staff of the Office of the People’s Advocate “Execution of the ECtHR judgements and the role of the Ombudsperson institution”, Chisinau, 17 December 2015.
• Training session “Access to the constitutional jurisdiction in the light of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights” for the justices and staff of the Constitutional Court, with the participation of judges from national courts, prosecutors, and lawyers from the Republic of Moldova.Chisinau, 19-20 November 2015.
• International Conference on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the accession of the Republic of Moldova to the Council of Europe “Bringing human rights home: commitments, challenges, education and cooperation”, organised in partnership with the Ministry of Justice and the National Institute of Justice of the Republic of Moldova, Chisinau, 4-5 November 2015.
• Implementation of the pilot on-line course “Introduction to the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights” for 20 national judges and prosecutors, in partnership with the National Institute of Justice of the Republic of Moldova and the Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals Programme (the HELP Programme). October – December 2015.
• The Assessment report on the implementation of the National Human Rights Action Plan (NHRAP) 2004 – 2008 and 2011 – 2014, developed in cooperation with the Office of the United National High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) in Moldova. September 2015.
• Round table for the presentation of the Assessment report on the implementation of the National Human Rights Action Plan (NHRAP) 2004 – 2008 and 2011 – 2014, in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Moldova, Chisinau, 28 September 2015.
• Study visit for judges and legal advisors of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova to the Council of Europe, including the European Court of Human Rights, Strasbourg, 07-09 July 2015.
• Cascade seminars conducted by national trainers who followed the ToT course “European Court for human Rights standards and their application by Moldovan legal professionals” (judges, prosecutors and legal advisers of the Ombudsperson Institution) for their peers, during May – June 2015:

• 14 – 15 May: Protection of asylum seekers and refugees according to ECHR, Chisinau
• 29 May - Combating domestic violence, Protective order, Balti
• 1 June and 25 June – Article 1, Protocol 1, Protection of property, Chisinau
• 2 June - Combating domestic violence, Protective order, Chisinau
• 9 June and 23 June –   Article 14, Prohibition of discrimination, Chisinau and Cahul (South)
• 10 June – Positive and negative obligations of the stat, Chisinau
• 18 June – Article 8, Protection of private life, Chisinau
• 19 June -  Article 6, Right to a fair trial. (Civil Part/Criminal Part), Chisinau
• 26 June – Article 3, Prohibition of torture, Chisinau

• Training seminar on the methodology of reporting on human rights violations and on the state’s compliance with international human rights treaties for the staff of the Moldovan Ombudsperson Institution, Chisinau, 12 December 2014.
• Training-of-trainers course for Moldovan legal professionals on “European Court for human Rights standards and their application by Moldovan legal professionals”, Chisinau, September - November 2014, Chisinau.
• Expertise analysis on the draft Law on the Governmental Agent of the Republic of Moldova, October 2014.
• Expertise analysis of the draft amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Moldova, October 2014.
• Study visit to the Council of Europe and European Court for Human Rights for the staff members of the Center for Human Rights of Moldova (Ombudsman Institution), Strasbourg, France, 2 – 4 September 2014.
• Seminar for the staff of the Moldovan Constitutional Court “Protection of personal data through the right to respect for private and family life”, Chisinau, 19 August 2014.
• Study visit to Strasbourg for judges and prosecutors of Republic of Moldova to the ECtHR and CoE, 7-10 July 2014
• Workshop „Standards of non-discrimination. Practical aspects: case management”, for the staff members of the Ombudsperson office, 1 July 2014, Chisinau.
• Train-of-Trainers programme “The procedure before the European Court for Human Rights: new trends, challenges and perspectives”, 29 May 2014.
• Seminar for the staff of Moldovan Ombudsperson Institution “European Convention on Human Rights standards on antidiscrimination”, 14-15 May 2014, Chisinau.