 was adopted during the plenary session of the Venice Commission, as reported by IPN.){kind=link}
The Venice Commission has released an opinion on the modifications to the Electoral Code of the Republic of Moldova and related laws concerning the ineligibility of individuals associated with political parties declared unconstitutional. The opinion was prepared in response to a letter from Igor Grosu, the President of the Moldovan Parliament, dated July 24, 2023. The joint opinion of the Venice Commission and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) was adopted during the plenary session of the Venice Commission, as reported by IPN.
In the Commission’s opinion, it is noted that the law, which stipulates a five-year ineligibility period for being elected in presidential, parliamentary, and local elections for members of the executive body of a party declared unconstitutional and for members of such a party holding an elected office, restricts the right to participate in elections. While this restriction may serve the legitimate purpose of defending the Constitution and the integrity of the democratic state, it is automatically applied based solely on party membership and holding a specific position, without distinguishing between party members who may have actively contributed to the alleged illegitimate acts attributed to the political party and those who performed neutral duties or were unaware of possible illegal actions committed by the party. The restriction affects a large group of individuals, collectively holding them responsible for the party’s illegitimate activities, thus lacking individualization and, consequently, guarantees of a fair process. This contravenes the principle of proportionality.
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“The Venice Commission and ODIHR recommend that Moldovan authorities if they wish to prevent certain members of parties declared unconstitutional from holding certain elected positions, introduce adequate criteria and an effective individual assessment that limits restrictions on the right to be elected only to those members and/or elected officials of the party whose activities have endangered the Constitution and the integrity of the democratic state through their actions and expressions and/or have actively pursued the (illegal) objectives of unconstitutional parties. It is advisable to provide these individuals with the full range of procedural safeguards in the assessment process, including a sufficiently reasoned decision and the opportunity to challenge the limitation of their rights by offering the possibility to seek judicial review of the decision to deprive them of the right to stand for election.”
The implementation of these recommendations is crucial to avoid disrupting the balance between the legitimate goal of protecting the democratic order of the state and national security and the need to protect the electoral rights of individuals without disproportionately undermining the essential role played by all political actors in ensuring pluralism, as further stated in the opinion.
Some provisions of the Electoral Code that prohibit certain individuals associated with political parties declared unconstitutional from running in elections have already been declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court on October 3, 2023. On October 4, 2023, the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova adopted a new bill that contains criteria for determining the inadmissibility of members of a party declared unconstitutional in the electoral race. The Venice Commission and ODIHR are “not able to analyze these amendments in the present opinion.”