Activity of the Parliament on June 24 – July 7, 2002

June 24–28, 2002

During the time covered by the commentary, Moldovan deputies managed to examine and adopt a series of very important laws. We should consider some of those as follows.

Legislative acts passed in the final reading

Law on Ratification of the Agreement on Third Structural Adjustments Credit

On June 20, the much-awaited external aid to the Republic of Moldova has been resumed, when World Bank approved SAC-III, worth US$ 30 million. The Parliament ratified the Agreement, providing for 3 installments of the credit, which will be repayable in 40 years, including a 10-year grace period, with an interest rate of 0.75 %. The respective credit shall be used to cover the budget deficit, as it has already been provided for in the Law on State Budget for year 2002.

Law on approving the draft law on the Ratification of the Memorandum of understanding “Netherlands program on economic cooperation with the Republic of Moldova in 2002–2003”

The relevant program provides for technical aid, worth Euro 1,5 million, in agriculture, industry and infrastructure. Especially, preference would be given to projects aiming to produce alternative energy and environmentally clean products.

Law on the Ratification of the Agreement on coordinating the policies on transportation fees

The Agreement was signed on January 17, 1997 in Moscow in view of ensuring the quality and profitability of the services provided by the States members to the Agreement on goods and passengers transportation. The law is intended to standardize the laws regulating the transport fees, to promote a balanced customs policy, to establish and provide transport corridors for the traffic of goods, etc.

Law on the ratification of the Agreement on small business development in the CIS

The agreement is aimed to establish a national and international infrastructure for the development of the small business, establishment of cooperation between businesses, and for the adjustment of member states’ legal framework. By improving the legal framework the economic, investment and commercial cooperation of the small business shall be boosted. The Agreement includes provisions on protecting the rights and interests of legal and natural entities conducting entrepreneurial activity.

Law on modification of the Fiscal Code

The law completes and amends the Fiscal Code as follows:

Exempts from excises domestically and foreign produced TV.
Levies excises on imported diesel.

Law on modification and completion of Fiscal Code

The amendments are due to enter in force on July 1, 2002. The grounds for amending the Fiscal Code were the changes made in the fiscal and financial control bodies, especially with regard to:

Competencies of the Center for Fighting Economic Crime and Corruption;
Improving the current wording by eliminating the flaws and inconsistencies;
Excluding sanctions not regulated by the fiscal law;
Decreasing sanctions for fiscal offences;
Excluding provisions on binding reporting of various data;
Excluding non-normative provisions.

Generally, this law is aimed to establish milder regulation for the businesses so as to abolish the pressing from the state bodies. The new law is to meet the demands of businessmen who long ago disapproved the adoption of Title V of the Fiscal Code due to its tough rules.

By passing the law the governing reached a consensus with businessmen, satisfying some of their claims in exchange for their legal business (not shadow one).

Legal acts passed in the first reading (not final)

Draft Law on Notary

The notary has been in the spotlight for a long time. The private notary was set in 1997 upon the adoption of the Law on the Notary. During the last couple of years, the Law has been modified several times, while some of its provisions have been outlawed.

The following were the most common complaints on the law:

It established a notary “elite”, not allowing outside contestants;
It decreased the state role in overseeing the notary activity, which allowed for abuses and lack of responsibility;
High prices of notary services.

The draft law is aimed to meet those challenges by:

Abolishing the influence of the Notary Union;
Establishing tougher control mechanisms to be employed by the Ministry of Justice in overseeing the notary;
Developing the Methodology for Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Economy set the fees for the notary services, as a recommendation.

The debates in Parliament highlighted a series of flaws related to: internship period, authorizing a state body to produce stationery, expenditures to be deducted from the notary gross income; establishing a disciplinary commission, establishing a binding fee calculation methodology, etc.

Besides the said law, the Parliament passed in the first reading a draft law on payments for the notary services and their taxation. Under the draft, the payments shall be divided into several categories:

State tax to be transferred to the state budget;
Legal tax to be transferred to the Ministry of Justice;
Notary honorarium to be separately taxed.

Also under the draft, a special Chapter shall be included in the Fiscal Code regarding the notary taxation and shall include several articles:

Subjects of taxation;
Purpose of taxation;
Expenses of the Public notary;
Tax quotas, etc.

Draft law on public communal services

Under the draft, a single legal framework shall be established regulating the set up and operation of communal services in the administrative-territorial units, monitoring and control over those services.

The draft provides for: types of communal services (mutual or public benefit); administering communal services; right to the provided services; funding and investments; rights and responsibilities of the local government with regard to public communal services.

The draft law is aimed to establish an order in this field, as the communal services were decentralized while no conditions had been established for their normal operation. Once the law is enforced an infrastructure of communal services shall be developed as well as communities will be entitled to draft their territorial development programs.

Draft law on modification and completion of certain legislative acts

The draft shall ensure the enforcement of the Law on Entrepreneurial Cooperative Society. It provides:

Liability for:
1. The use of company goods by violating the company internal regulations;
2. Failure to properly submit the documents for inclusion in the State Register of Companies;
3. Breaching the rights of the participants to the commercial partnership.
Regulation of the status of entrepreneurial cooperative society in the Law on Entrepreneurship.
Specifying in the Law on State Registration of Companies and Other Types of Organizations, the documents required for the registration of the entrepreneurial cooperative society.

Law on modification and completion of the Law on Repatriation of Funds

Amendments have been suggested so as to improve the mechanism of calculating the term of repatriation and that of imposing sanctions, to establish cases when sanctions are not applied.

The draft also provide for:

Definition of the leasing notion,
Force majeure cases when sanctions are not due, etc.

As the draft law was very much debated in Parliament, we shall come up with a more detailed commentary later on.

July 1–5, 2002

The period covered by this report was relatively calm, and this because Council of Europe resolution has taken the central stage again. The governing is taking measures to meet in due time the requirements set forth in the resolution, whereas opposition is monitoring them.

Some of the legal acts passed are of great interest and we shall closely examine them.

Legal acts adopted in the final reading

Law on revising state budget for year 2002

The law decreased the budgetary deficit by Lei 40 million. Further, financial resources have been redistributed from one category to another, which greatly dissatisfied many deputies, including those from the majority faction. The debates held in Parliament highlighted how several deputies lobby for the increase of funds allocated to sectors, which they coordinate.

The law also operates amendments with regard to:

Proper taxation of cane raw sugar. Noteworthy, domestic producers protested against the government economic policy, which facilitates the import of cane raw sugar, while the export of the Moldovan sugar has considerably decreased.
Deadline for paying VAT tax, excises, and customs fee for imported goods.
Quota of transfers from the state budget to local budgets for salary raise to the workers in the social sphere.
New budget category for the Constitutional Court so far provided under the judiciary category.
Loan worth Lei 100 million to be granted by the National Bank of Moldova to the Government, for covering the budget deficit and servicing external debts. Noteworthy, last year the Government received a Lei 30 million loan under a similar law, though there has been no sign of its reimbursement.

Law on mobilization and its preparation

The law suffered no changes as compared to the first reading, except for some minor changes. The bill is meant to bring the law in accordance with the economic and financial potential of the state.

Law on the modification of legal acts on education

As initially intended, the law includes several key elements:

Changing the name of the ministry into the Ministry of Education.
Dissolution of the Evaluation and Accreditation Commission and entrusting those responsibilities to bodies due to be established within the Ministry of Education.
Reorganizing the Ministry and defining new job roles.

Law on the modification of the Law on the Production and Sale of Ethyl Alcohol

Under the law licensees for en detail sale of alcohol products issued before the enforcement of the Law on licenses shall be valid until the expiration of their term.

Law on Ratification of the CIS Convention on forced transfer of patients with mental disorders

The relevant Convention was signed in Moscow in 1997 and provides for the procedure of transferring in custody persons acting irresponsible, who committed serious offences, provided a final sentences has been issued.

The convict shall be transferred into the custody, at the request of the country member to the Convention upon mutual agreement of the parties.

Law on approving the cancellation of financial penalties and sanctions of the taxpayers who paid the arrears to the state budget

The law is aimed to encourage honest taxpayers by canceling their penalties and fees, provided they paid the arrears to the state budget. More than 40,000 enterprises, which managed to pay the said arrears until December 1, 2001, will benefit of this law.

Law on modification and completion of legal acts related to advertising

The law provides for the penal and administrative liability for breaching legal acts regulating advertising.

Law on modification and completion of legal acts regulating the enforcement of court rulings

The law toughens the penal liability for intentional failure to enforce the court rulings.

Resolution on the evaluation of the enforcement of the Law on Carabineer

The Resolutions highlights that local government failed to take due measures to ensure the enforcement of the said law. In this respect the Ministry of Interior has been entrusted to take measures so as to eliminate the flaws identified.

Further, it was established that the Government should ensure adequate accommodation of the military and oversee the correct spending of funds allotted for the board of military.

Resolution on the evaluation of the enforcement of the Law on Petroleum Products

The report on this issue raised a lot of debates in Parliament. It was even suggested to set deadlines for the Government to put an end to smuggling, or to resign.

The resolution points to the flaws and unsatisfactory activity of the Government and local public administration in enforcing the said law. The Government was entrusted to develop and enforce legal acts providing for the automated tracking of the petroleum and its sale.

Further, the Government will have to take measures in view of environment safety. Until January 1, 2002 the Government shall report on the enforcement of the resolution.

Acts adopted in the first reading (not final)

Draft law on the modification of legal acts on bankruptcy

The draft is aimed to eliminate the deficiencies in enforcing the Law on Bankruptcy. Specifically, it provides for licensing the managers working in the bankrupt companies.

Law on Scientific and Technological Data

The draft determines the state policy with regard to scientific and technological data, and methodology on using such data. The draft includes provisions on:

Notions: — author of data; database; beneficiary of information; info fund; information institutes; information product; information services, etc.
Relations between the parties: authors, copyright holder, beneficiaries, producers, intermediaries, etc.
Priorities of the state policy in the filed.
Monitoring activity.
Rights and obligations.
Single national information space.
Information market, etc.

Law on the modification of the Parliament Regulation

The law is meant to bring in accordance the Regulation with the modifications operated to the legislation, and the experience acquired by the Parliament.

Previously, the draft stirred fervent debates in Parliament, so that it was excluded from the agenda as opposition blamed the authors for obstructing them. Until the next hearing the draft is to be worked upon, while politically sensible issues shall be excluded beforehand.

e-democracy.md