Moldova is among the countries with a weak rule of law, with a high number of cases filed against the state, according to an annual report released by the European Court of Human Rights. In most of the cases, Moldova was found guilty of violating articles which advocate for the right to protection of property, and the right to a fair trial.

On January 29, the European Court of Human Rights released the annual report for 2019. According to it on December 31, 2019, there were 1,056 pending applications filed against Moldova, placing the country on the 11th place out of 47 states.

Out of all the pending applications: 

• 635 applications concerning Moldova were allocated to a judicial formation compared with 814 in 2018;
• 301 applications were communicated to the Government compared with 54 in 2018;
• 54 decisions ruled by court compared with 33 in 2018.

According to the number of requests allocated to a judicial formation by the population of the country, Moldova’s index is 1.79 requests per 10,000 inhabitants, which is less than in 2018, when Moldova had a 2.29 index of applications per 10,000 inhabitants.

However, despite the improvement, Moldova remains among the countries with the biggest number of applications allocated to a judicial formation.

In 2019 Moldova paid more damages to the applicants 508,465 euros which is double compared to 234,191 in 2018. 

In 2019, the Court ruled 54 decisions in 39 of which Moldova was found guilty of at least one violation of the Human Rights Convention.   

At the same time, in 14 cases no violation of the Convention was found, while Russia’s responsibility was found in five cases. 

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According to the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in 2019, Moldova was found guilty of violating the following articles:

• Article 3 – Inhuman conditions, inhuman and degrading treatment / defective investigations (six cases);
• Article 5 – The right to liberty and security (nine cases);
• Article 6 – The right to a fair trial (27 cases);
• Article 8 – The right to respect for private and family life (four cases);
• Article 10 – Freedom of expression (one case);
• Article 13 – The right to an effective remedy (three cases);
• Article 1 of Protocol no. 1 of the Convention – Protection of property (15 cases).

Until December 31, 2019, the ECtHR has issued 441 judgments against Moldova. In three hundred eighty-five of them Moldova was found guilty of violating the Convention, paying damages of around €15 million Euros. 

In terms of the number of decisions ruled and the number of violations found Moldova outruns countries like Germany, Spain, Norway, the Neverlands, Portugal which have a bigger population than Moldova and which have long adhered to the European Convention for Human rights.

On December 31, 2019, there were 1,056 Moldovan applications waiting to be examined, of which over 95 percent have high chances of success. This number exceeds the total number of claims on the basis of which Moldova has been convicted in the last 22 years since the people can file applications to the ECtHR against Moldova.

Based on all the decisions ruled until December 31, 2019, Moldova was obliged to pay over €17.1 million, with only 537,000 euros paid in 2019. 

Read the report here.

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