Activity of the Parliament on October 7–20, 2002

October 7–11, 2002

The Summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) held in Chisinau was the most important event of the last week. Regardless of the views on the Summit results one thing is clear the friendship between President Voronin and President Putin is not so strong now. Despite their efforts Moldovan authorities failed to gain Russia on its side in settling Transdnistrian conflict. On the contrary, Vladimir Putin stated that Tiraspol regime was not criminal as claimed earlier on Vladimir Voronin. Furthermore, recently Russian Federation State Duma initiated the procedures of opening a Consulate in Tiraspol. The situation gets even more complicated and overturns are to be expected in the near future.

Another outcome of the Chisinau Summit is that President Putin took under his protection Ukrainian President Leonid Kucima, facing problems both on domestic and international political scene. In the recent years Kucima was supporting breakaway Tiraspol regime and that is why Chisinau authorities should be alerted by Putin’s suggestion Ukraine to take over CIS presidency.

In the time period covered by the commentary the Parliament continued to ratify treaties previously concluded within CIS.

Legislative acts adopted in the final reading

Laws on ratifying CIS agreements

Cooperative agreement on settling the problems of disabled

The Agreement provides for: creating a friendly environment to the disabled; single standards for disabled rehabilitation; improving the statistics of the disabled people, etc.

Noteworthy, Republic of Moldova ratified the agreement but formulated the reserves it had with regard to Article 1, which would be applied “in line with the national laws”. Experts claim the latter partially annuls the Agreement, as Article 1 provides that parties to the Agreement undertake to promote a coordinated policy on social-medical expertise, rehabilitation of the disabled, granting them equal rights to take part in the public life.

Agreement on paying pensions and state insurance to the employees of the Forces Ministries of the CIS countries

Under the agreement member states are obliged to estimate in line with their domestic laws and pay the pensions to the employees of the Forces Ministries who settled in the country.

Agreement on CIS Member States cooperation during evacuation of their citizens from the third countries in exceptional circumstances

Under the Agreement a joint evacuation commission shall be set up to coordinate the evacuation plan. In exceptional cases one or more parties shall undertake the leadership and allot financial and material resources for the evacuation, which are to be later reimbursed by the other parties.

Agreements on fairs and exhibitions within CIS

Under the Agreement the parties will establish a permanent council on CIS fairs and exhibitions with the headquarters in Moscow. A suggestion to establish a permanent exhibit of the CIS Member States at the Moscow Exhibition Complex was voiced during the CIS Summit, however the Russian part refrained from endorsing the initiative justifying by the need to conduct some preliminary estimates and draft relevant normative acts.

Law on requisition of goods and service in the public interest

The law stipulates the methods for the state to requisite from legal and natural entities real and personal estate. The law also regulates provision of services for the public good, namely recruiting certain categories of population to conduct certain works or to defend the country. Requisitioned goods shall be allocated to the national defense forces or to local government. Consumable goods shall be requisitioned for good and compensation established by law shall be paid. The law provides the types of goods subject to requisition, record keeping, compensation, etc. The law also specifies the goods, which may not be requisitioned.

Law on modification and completion of the Law on Supreme Court of Justice

Under the law, a new position Deputy Chairperson of the Court has been established. Deputy Chairpersons will simultaneously hold the position of Chairpersons of the Penal, Civil and Economic Bars.

Law on the ratification of the Cartagena Protocol on biological diversity

The Protocol sets norms and procedures allowing importing states to oversee import and export of biologically modified organisms.

Resolution on approving the Concept of Migration Policy

The Concept specifies:

objectives of the migration policy;
principles of migration policy;
tasks of the migration policy;
policy priorities;
policy enforcement;
expected outcomes.

Resolution on overseeing the enforcement of the Law on minimal free medical assistance guaranteed by the state

The Resolution highlights flaws in the enforcement of the law and obliges the Government, Healthcare Ministry and local government to take measures in view of:

developing and promoting long-term healthcare strategies;
obligatory state medical insurance;
revising the fees for the communal services paid by the medical institutions;
strict recording of the extra-budgetary funds accrued from the paid medical services;
information campaign of the population with regard to free medical assistance.

Other legal acts examined in the first (not final) reading

Draft law on completing the Law on state regulation of the external commercial activity

The law is completed so as to establish a fund for promoting exports, which is to be administered by a central public body. The fund shall coordinate foreign commercial activities.

Draft law on military material responsibility

The law sets the penalties to be paid for damaging the patrimony of the military unit.

October 14–18, 2002

During the time period covered in the commentary the Parliament convened on two brief sessions to examine several draft laws. It seems that the deputies are saving their forces for the upcoming hearing on the draft budget for 2003, which always is accompanied by hot debates. A list of legal acts examined by the Parliament is provided below.

Legal acts adopted in the final reading

Law on the Ratification of Acts on Eurobonds Restructuring

In 1997 the Government issued eurobonds worth 75 million USD at a 10% interest rate and a settling day in June 2002, time at which they were due to be repurchased by the Republic of Moldova. Due to a shortage of money, Republic of Moldova authorities commenced the negotiations with eurobonds holders in view of postponing the repurchase to November 2002. Republic of Moldova managed to negotiate the payment restructuring for 7 years and a decrease of interest rate to 6%. The deal is viewed as a very advantageous for Moldova, which thus avoided insolvency and a poorer international rating.

Law on the Modification and Completion of the Law on Normative Price and Land Sale and Purchase

Under the law, the plots nearby privatized units shall be rented at a price ranging between 2% to 10% of the normative price. The law also extends until January 1, 2005 the right of the owners to decrease the normative price of land nearby privatized units, so as the land could be privatized at a lower price.

Legal acts examined and adopted in the first reading (not final)

Draft law on finger print registration

The law provides the goals, principles, types and criteria for finger print registration. Finger print registration shall be obligatory for several categories of population:

citizens who work in the Forces Ministries;
members of plane crews;
drivers;
citizens working abroad;
persons under investigation, convicted and those under administrative arrest;
foreign citizens and asylum seekers;
unidentified bodies.

The draft law also allows for voluntary finger print recording. Also the draft provides a series of requirements with regard to record keeping, storage and use of the finger print information, right to access and use the said information. Certain experts claim the provisions are incomplete and do not fully guarantee citizens’ right to individual freedom and non-interference his/her private life.

The said issue has been extensively debated in various countries, including France and US. The state argues for the need to ensure state security, fight terrorism and protect citizens’ rights, whereas human rights activists argue that the aforesaid actions would precisely abridge citizens’ rights. Another argument against the said registration system is that the data may be later used by the special services to blackmail public figures, etc.

Given the aforesaid, we shall monitor the way Moldova public opinion and civil society reacts to the said draft law.

Draft law on distribution of copies of literary works and phonograms

The law is aimed to protect copyright, fight audiovisual piracy and illegal distribution of literary works and phonograms. This shall be achieved by obliging distributors of audiovisual materials, databases, software and phonograms to get registered with the State Copyright Agency and receive a control sign. Furthermore, the law sets several requirements for distribution, namely:

each package of the literary work or phonogram shall include the control sign and information on the copyright;
distributor will posses a registration certificate proving the award of control signs;
distributor will posses a contract providing for the distribution of the works of art and phonograms according to the procedure established by the Agency, etc.

Experts welcomed and praised the draft law, as responding to the general tendency in the region. Furthermore, clear-cut provisions would allow Republic of Moldova to avoid international litigation. On the contrary, opponents of the draft law believe that the binding purchase of control sign would inevitably lead to the increase of the product price and thus affect the ordinary citizen purchasing it.

The Parliament is to decide which of the two positions is more grounded and is more relevant to the state policy in the field.

Draft law on the modification of legal acts related to the detainee’s mail

The draft law prohibits censure of the detainee’s correspondence with national or international institutions protecting human rights and freedoms.

The opponents of the modification claim that according to the Constitution provisions prohibiting any kind of censure, no mail in general should be read or censured. The supporters of the modification claim that Article 54 of the Constitution allows restricting citizen’s right to secrecy of correspondence, provided state and society interests are at stake. The latter also argue that detainees are not entirely deprived of the said right, once detention period expires they may fully enjoy the said right.

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