Towards improved cooperation between the Equality Council and the Judiciary in the Republic of Moldova

Representatives of the Equality Council and judges designated by the Superior Council of Magistracy took part in an online roundtable “Fundamental rights in the context of war –freedom of expression and its limitations”. The exchange between the equality body and the Judiciary was initiated in April 2021, aiming at fostering cooperation in legal matters related to discrimination. It entailed a series of meetings devoted to different topics relevant for the protection from discrimination and equality. This last event enabled a joint discussion about the newest developments in the case-law of international courts, including the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights on freedom of expression.

Participants also had the possibility to get more information about the practice of the National Council for Combating Discrimination of Romania and the cooperation with the national judicial system on anti-discrimination. The equality body as public authority with expertise in nondiscrimination can provide useful opinions, based on accumulated practice of the institution and data-base information related to the relevant cases. Those opinions, despite not binding for courts, can still be very useful as they provide information on additional aspects relevant for the protection of victims of discrimination, can contribute to better reasoning of judgments and have an educational role for all relevant actors.

As pointed out by William MASSOLIN, Head of the Council of Europe office in Chișinău, the discussion had an additional value considering the current developments in the region:

“Particularly in such challenging times, the co-operation of all actors in the field of antidiscrimination is of utmost importance for the improvement of practices and measures aimed at addressing these hurdles, including combating hate speech especially against vulnerable groups. Your collaboration and joint work contribute to the better protection of victims of discrimination in the Republic of Moldova.”

To conclude the event, it was highlighted that the continuation of cooperation among institutions is very important, as well as the systematic discussions on new legal developments, for the benefit of further promotion of non-discrimination, diversity, and equality in the Republic of Moldova and having citizens feeling their rights are protected.

This activity was organised jointly within the European Union and the Council of Europe projects “Strengthening access to justice through non-judicial redress mechanisms for victims of discrimination, hate crime and hate speech in Eastern Partnership countries” and ”Strengthening the capacities of the justice sector actors to deliver justice in line with European standards, in particular to fight discrimination in the Republic of Moldova”, implemented in the framework of the programme “Partnership for Good Governance II, 2019-2022”.

A two-day seminar focusing on the way hate speech is addressed by the European Court of Human Rights’ jurisprudence brought together 22 prosecutors and judges from the Republic of Moldova. The program included discussions on the best legal practices in hate speech case handling and exchange experience and ideas for improving the legal redress responses to discrimination and hatred by the country.

The seminar took place on 19-20 January 2023 and covered also topics related to the identification of prejudices and stereotypes and working with victims of hate speech. The participants had the possibility to discuss relevant case-law of the European Court of Human Rights with Council of Europe experts and an ECtHR lawyer and take part in interactive sessions, and practical exercises for the application of the ECtHR principles when handling cases.

Participants were provided with relevant training materials, including the 2022 Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers to Member States on combating hate speech, in local language (Recommendation CM/Rec (2022)16).

As concluding remarks, the judges and prosecutors from the Republic of Moldova agreed upon the future directions of work in this area, highlighting the importance of an approach based on dialogue and collaborative solutions by different actors dealing with hate speech and discrimination. This event was organised in cooperation with the National Institute of Justice of the Republic of Moldova, in the framework of the joint European Union and the Council of Europe project “Strengthening access to justice through non-judicial redress mechanisms for victims of discrimination, hate crime and hate speech in the Eastern Partnership countries”, part of the programme “Partnership for Good Governance II, 2019-2022”.