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2007 Assessment

Moldova: Integrity Indicators Scorecard

Moldova: Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: National Ombudsman
Indicators		Score
52	In law, is there a national ombudsman, public protector or equivalent agency (or collection of agencies) covering the entire public sector?	100
53	Is the national ombudsman effective?	50
54	Can citizens access the reports of the ombudsman?	100

Indicator and sub-Indicator Details

In law, is there a national ombudsman, public protector or equivalent agency (or collection of agencies) covering the entire public sector?

52: In law, is there a national ombudsman, public protector or equivalent agency (or collection of agencies) covering the entire public sector?

Score:

YES

Comments: The law establish the office of parliamentary attorneys - three in number - which substitutes the office of the ombusdman, operating on the basis of a Center for Human Rights, located in the capital of Moldova.

References: Law on Parliamentary Attorneys (No.1349-XIII of 17.10.1997)

Is the national ombudsman effective?

53a: In law, the ombudsman is protected from political interference.

Score:

YES

Comments: By art.8, the parliamentary attorneys shall be appointed by the Parliament. They cannot belong to political parties or undertake political activities. In exercising their mandates, parliamentary attorneys shall follow only the principles and spirity of the constitution, abide the legislation, and they shall be fully independent from the Parliament, government or president, although there is a specific mechanism that allows the Parliament to recall them (with 20 mandates/votes, which is quite an easy way to block intiatives that would endanger some political interests).

References: Law on Parliamentary Attorneys (No.1349-XIII of 17.10.1997)

53b: In practice, the ombudsman is protected from political interference.

Score:

100

Comments: In practice, attorneys are very vulnerable to political influences. Once they can be recalled with a limited number of votes, they are sensitive to that, and, usually, make no important decisions or interventions that would be perceived as threatening to the ruling party leaders.

References: www.investigatii.md

53c: In practice, the head of the ombudsman agency/entity is protected from removal without relevant justification.

Score:

100

Comments: Art.9 says that Parliament can call back the attorneys with 20 votes of the MPs of by the president. The same article stipulates a list of cases when attorneys can lose their mandates: pension, health, personal reasons, etc.

References: Law on Parliamentary Attorneys (No.1349-XIII of 17.10.1997) Victor Popa, PhD in Law, Professor of ULIM - June 10, 2007

53d: In practice, the ombudsman agency (or agencies) has a professional, full-time staff.

Score:

100

Comments: By art.11, parliamentary attorneys are assisted in their work by technical staff. They are entitled to consider claims from the citizens of RM which are presented in written form. The structure and regulation that runs the Center for Human Rights has been approved by the Parliament.

References: Law on Parliamentary Attorneys (No.1349-XIII of 17.10.1997)

Peer Review Comments: I have visited the Human Rights Center in April, to establish contacts between the ombudsman's office and my organization. Staff there complaint that they were unable to effectively handle all complaints from citizens. They also said they were not enjoying full confidence of ordinary people, who prefer to lodge cases with the European Court of Human Rights, rather than the national ombudsman.

53e: In practice, agency appointments support the independence of the ombudsman agency (or agencies).

Score:

100

Comments: The Center provides regular annual reports to the Parliament of RM on the overall situation of human rights (see - www.parlament.md/download/standingcommittees/humanrights/ro/Report) On the basis of the report, parliamentarians may inquire further the state agencies on the notifications filled in by the parliamentary attorneys, and a decision of the Parliament is made (www.parlament.d/lawprocess/laws/169-XVI-13.07.1997/.) The activities of the Center are, however, criticized by the human rights organizations, as well as by the authorities. The president of Moldova was repeatedly called for more active measures by the Center to enhance the legal education of the population, while civil society claims that the Center is inert and usually takes no responsibility when major violations occur in connection to some social categories.

References: Center for the Human Rights in Moldova www.ombudsman.md www.transparency.md/news/ro.20061211.htm www.humanrights.md

53f: In practice, the ombudsman agency (or agencies) receives regular funding.

Score:

100

Comments: The Center is a legal entity, having its own budget, which is a part of the state consolidated budget. The state provides an office to the Center. Only a short sentence in the end of the Regulation stipulates (part IX) that the government will provide to the Centre all necessary tehnical-material and transportation means, according to the Annex No.1 (total of 22 persons). In addition to the basic staffing payroll, the Center has three branches in Balti, Cahul and Gagauz Yeri cities (in total - 15 persons).

References: www.ombudsman.md - Decision of the Parliament of RM regarding the approval of the Regulation on the Center for Human Rights, its structure, staffing and financing (No.1484 of 05.02.1998)

53g: In practice, the ombudsman agency (or agencies) makes publicly available reports.

Score:

100

Comments: They have posted their reports, as well as relevant international documents and acts that aim to educate the public.

References: www.ombudsman.md/publicatii

Peer Review Comments: Also, they held press-conferences and were in constant contact with media. But, because of vulnerability before political factors, they have to be cautious in criticizing the ruling party for malpractices; hence, poor public trust.

53h: In practice, when necessary, the national ombudsman (or equivalent agency or agencies) initiates investigations.

Score:

100

$Scoring Criteria :: 100 Score Criteria: The agency aggressively starts investigations -- or participates fully with cooperating agencies\' investigations -- into judicial misconduct. The agency is fair in its application of this power. <p>50 Score Criteria: The agency will start or cooperate in investigations, but often relies on external pressure to set priorities, or has limited effectiveness when investigating. The agency, though limited in effectiveness, is still fair in its application of power. <p>0 Score Criteria: The agency rarely investigates on its own or cooperates in other agencies\' investigations, or the agency is partisan in its application of this power.$

Comments: On the website of the Center, one may find a list of most recent investigations initiated on the basis of petitions. Some were on the cases delayed by the judges, some were from convicts detained in the penitentiary institution (dated July 27,2007), some were on parental rights. This information is provided in three languages: Romanian, Russian and English.

References: www.ombudsman.md/ses_avize/

Peer Review Comments: The Agency addresses requests and petitions to different public institutions, while extremely rarely initiates investigations. The effectiveness of the petitions is very low.

Peer Review Comments: The Center does not investigate all the complaints possible. For example, it does not initiate investigations into the legal provisions that harm the rights of citizens. Nor does it file against the political decisions that breach human rights, for example the right of assembly. My personal perception is that the Center does not do enough in this regard and that it is a formal body.

53i: In practice, when necessary, the national ombudsman (or equivalent agency or agencies) imposes penalties on offenders.

Score:

100

Comments: By law, the ombudsman can only notify, verify, present public information, investigate, request information, present annual reports to the Parliament, initiate administrative litigations, request constitutional control interventions from the Constitutional Court, but it cannot impose any penalties.

References: Law on Parliamentary Attorneys (No.1349-XIII of 17.10.1997) Ion Manole, chairman of the Promo-Lex Association Stefan Uritu, chairman of the Helsinki Committee Association

Peer Review Comments: Comments above are equal to 0 grade.

Peer Review Comments: As mentioned above, the Parliamentary Attorneys do not impose any penalties on offenders..

53j: In practice, the government acts on the findings of the ombudsman agency (or agencies).

Score:

100

$Scoring Criteria :: 100 Score Criteria: Ombudsman\'s reports are taken seriously, with negative findings drawing prompt corrective action. <p>50 Score Criteria: In most cases, ombudsman\'s reports are acted on, though some exceptions may occur for politicalally sensitive issues, or particularly resistant agencies. <p>0 Score Criteria: Ombudsman reports are often ignored, or given superficial attention. Ombudsman reports do not lead to policy changes.$

Comments: The Center for Human Rights issues regular press releases through which it tries to inform the public about the accomplishments and results, about their initiated investigations or lobbying activities to the benefit of a specific case. It is not clear enough, however, if the initiated actions of the Center brought satisfactory results to the applicants, or if their claims have been met by the authorities. The largely shared opinion is that the annual reports presented by the Centre in the Parliament bring more key-information on these results. It goes without doubt, however, that reactions from the Parliament were not always positive, and this served as a basis for calling back one of the former attorneys, Lazar, before the mandate ended, while the reports were considered too 'black' and negative by the ruling party (in 2002).

References: www.ombudsman.md www.credo.md

Peer Review Comments: Government and ruling party's MPs are reluctant to ombudsman reports, which they perceive as a tool that goes hand in hand with opposition's interests.

53k: In practice, the ombudsman agency (or agencies) acts on citizen complaints within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: Established in 1988 as an independent public authority, the Center for Human Rights in Moldova is actively promoting its mission and role as a promoter of human rights and bona fides advocate. Attorneys contribute to the oversight of the general situation and intervene frequentely at the request of dozens and hundreds of cases of people whose rights have been infringed by state authorities, and if an administrative decision may affect constitutional rights of persons, they employ a wide range of means to ensure that the invididuals get compensations, or their liberties are protected. On Dec. 31, 2006, the Center employed 37 full-staff, including 15 local representatives.

References: www.ombudsman.md

Can citizens access the reports of the ombudsman?

54a: In law, citizens can access reports of the ombudsman(s).

Score:

YES

Comments: By law, citizens can have daily access to the work of the Human Rights Center and get appointments to the parliamentary attorneys, who are oblidged by law to have at least three days in a month to meet with citizens (public audiences). Each of the notifications received from citizens (art.19) represents a reason to initiate a registered file on this subject. Decisions of the attorneys are notified to the petitioners according to the Law on Parliamentary Attorneys, and only written petitions are considered. Anonymous letters are not considered.

References: Law on Parliamentary Attorneys (No.1349-XIII of 17.10.1997) Regulation of the Functioning for the Center of Human Rights (No.1484 of 05.02.1998)

54b: In practice, citizens can access the reports of the ombudsman(s) within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: Everyone having access to the internet may easily access the ombudsman's reports, which are regularly published on the web page indicated above. Access is free. Parliamentary attorneys take appointments only three days per month, which means that in the rest of the days citizens may receive legal advice and consultation from the lawyers of the Center on Human Rights.

References: www.ombudsman.md Stefan Uritu, Helsinki Committee - Moldova Sergiu Ostaff, Credo Centre

54c: In practice, citizens can access the reports of the ombudsman(s) at a reasonable cost.

Score:

100

Comments: Reports of the Center for Human Rights in Moldova can be accesed free of charge, and no additional fees are requested for legal advice or consultation provided by the staff at the center.

References: www.ombudsman.md

Peer Review Comments: While visiting the Human Rights Center in April, I was able to carry away all the reports and brochures the ombudsman's office published during two years, including a few recently-published papers.