The right to a fair trial remains the most frequently violated right in Moldova, according to data published by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in its activity report for 2023.

According to the report, as of 31 December 2023, 1,150 pending applications were against Moldova out of a total of 68,450 applications, placing it 10th out of 46 states (12th in 2022), according to a press release issued by the Association of Lawyers for Human Rights.

Of these, 835 applications are pending before the Chamber and the Committee; 270 applications have been communicated to the Government; 24 judgments have been delivered.

According to the number of applications allocated to a judicial body, 653 applications, in relation to the country’s population, Moldova ranks 5th with an index of 2.60 applications per 10,000 inhabitants.

As regards Moldova, during 2023, the Court delivered 24 judgments, and in each of them at least one violation of the Convention by the Republic of Moldova was found.

The analysis by articles of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights rendered in Moldovan cases in 2023 reveals violations of the following articles by Moldova:

• Article 6 – Right to a fair trial (14 cases);
• Article 8 – Right to respect for private and family life (6 cases);
• Article 1 of Protocol No 1 to the Convention – Protection of property (6 cases).
• Article 5 – Right to liberty and security (5 cases);
• Article 3 – Inhuman conditions, inhuman and degrading treatment/inadequate investigation (4 cases);
• Article 13 – Right to an effective remedy (2 cases)
• Article 10 – Right to freedom of expression (1 case);
• Article 14 – Prohibition of discrimination (1 case);

By 31 December 2023, the Court had delivered 599 judgments against Moldova, for which damages of around €20 million had been paid.

In terms of the number of judgments and the number of violations found, Moldova is ahead of countries such as Germany, Spain, Norway, the Netherlands and Portugal, which have a much larger population than Moldova and which acceded to the European Convention on Human Rights a long time ago.

More than half of the violations found against Moldova are for violations of the right to a fair trial (244), protection of property (183), inhuman and degrading treatment (147), right to liberty and security (121), etc.

In the 34 judgments delivered in 2022, the ECtHR found 48 violations of the ECHR. 13 of the 48 violations (27%) relate to ill-treatment and/or inadequate investigation of ill-treatment, as well as failure to provide adequate medical care to detainees. A further 13 (27%) violations concern the right to a fair trial. Three of these violations relate to sentencing on appeal without the direct hearing of witnesses, while the other violations of the right to a fair trial relate to insufficient reasoning of court decisions, the admission of late appeals or appeals or violations of access to justice.