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Activity of the Parliament on July 1–16, 2006

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Reshuffles

The Parliament has relieved Ion Platon from the post of judge of the Supreme Court of Justice.

Legislative acts

Law on forced execution system. The law establishes the competence of the forced execution system, the legal status of personnel, rights and obligations, personal and social guarantees of judicial executor, and their responsibility. The forced execution is a task of the Justice Ministry and it is achieved through the execution department and execution offices in cooperation with other bodies stipulated by law.

Law on support for small- and medium-sized business sector. The document aims to support the small- and medium-sized enterprises, given their importance in ensuring a sustained economic growth of Moldova. The law establishes the legal, economic and organisational grounds and forms of sustenance of development of small- and medium-sized enterprises by state. It regulates the classification of types of enterprises working in this sector into: — micro; — small and medium. The status of such an enterprise will appear in the virtue of the declaration on own responsibility, a document through which the economic agent declares the fulfilment of all requirements for subject of small- and medium-sized business sector.

Law on modification and completion of the insolvency law. The essence of the law consists in overcoming the insolvency at lawsuits only, giving up this way the extra-judicial process of reorganisation of enterprises implemented at present and considered inefficient. The quality of administrator of insolvency or temporary administrator will be awarded only to a person registered as individual entrepreneur, who was awarded licence accordingly to the law and is independent from creditors and debtor. The law will be enforced on January 1, 2007, while the Board of State Creditors will transmit meanwhile the cases of economic agents working under debt restructuring conditions in line with signed memorandum agreements to the State Tax Inspectorate.

Law on modification and completion of the law on bar. The amendments result from recommendations of international institutions, including notices of the Council of Europe in the field, and stipulate the transmission of functions of licensing and disciplinary responsibility of lawyers from the Justice Ministry to the Bar. Also, they establish the right of lawyers and prosecutors who have worked for 10 years to obtain a licence of attorney without examination and training, within six months after non-imputable dismissal from the post of judge or prosecutor.

Law on modification and completion of the law on entrepreneur’s patent. It bans the patent holders to trade certain goods under some conditions and to maintain some services. The document aims to ensure appropriate conditions in the domestic trade sector, to prevent fiscal frauds, to enhance the quality of services. Holders of patents who will stop their activity in connection with the new regulations will be able to get registered for free as individual entrepreneurs, with all necessary consequences (taxation of income, financial and statistic reports, respect for labour legislation, etc.). It also reduces the tax for patent, but introduces at the same time the mandatory social welfare taxes, and this fact reduces very much the effect of the lower cost of patent, while the monthly social welfare payments are pretty high.

Draft law on testing by detector of simulated behaviour (polygraph). It defines the main notions, principles and fields where the testing by using the polygraph may by applied, requirements for testing, mode of use of its results. The testing will be taken to evaluate the truth of information communicated by tested person:

The right to hold the testing is given to the Interior Ministry, the Centre for the Struggle Against Economic Crimes and Corruption, the domestic security service SIS, the State Guard and Protection Service, the Customs Service, the Defence Ministry, the Border Guard Service, the Prosecutor’s Office, the Department of Penitentiary Institutions. Moldovan nationals, foreign citizens or stateless people will be tested if:

Draft law on inter-professional organisations of agri-food products. It regulates the creation and functioning of inter-professional organisations for a product or group of agri-food products at national level or on the area of production, the main objectives and activities, rights and obligations.

Draft law on organisation and functioning of markets of agricultural and food products. The document proposes the setup of a legal framework on creation and organisation of markets of agricultural and food products by individuals and businesses that produce, store, process and/or trade these products on domestic and/or/foreign markets.

Draft law on organisation and conduct of tourism activity in Moldova. It seeks the replacement of the existing law on tourism with a new document capable to regulate the legal relations related to drafting and promotion of state policy on tourism, organisation and coordination of tourism activity, especially of entrepreneurial activity in the field of tourism, forms of tourism, creation and activity of national tourism areas, requirements on quality of tourism services and ensured security of tourists, principles of international cooperation in the field.

Draft law on modification and completion of the Election Code. The document approved in the first reading derives from the action plan of the parliament for fulfilment of the Council of Europe’s recommendations and aims to remedy the shortcomings and to introduce the provisions recommended by OSCE/CoE on Election Code and electors in Moldova, recommendations of local and international observers at elections. The draft promoted by a group of lawmakers representing all parliamentary factions was elaborated by the Central Election Commission in cooperation with the Association for Participatory Democracy ADEPT.

Draft laws on modification and completion of the Code of Civil Procedure and Code of Criminal Procedure. The drafts adopted in the first reading aim to adjust the provisions of the two complex legislative acts to recommendations from the CoE expertises concerning the new codes enforced in Moldova. Another draft contains reviewed provisions on use of preventive arrest and holding of person in custody during examination of penal case. Thus, it proposes that the term of holding of the accused person in preventive detention after delivery of the case to the court, from the day when the court received the case and till the day when the first court passes a verdict must not exceed 6 months, if the suspect committed an offence for which the law stipulates a maximum jail term of 15 years; and 12 months, if the person is suspected of an offence for which the law stipulates a maximum detention term of 25 years or lifetime detention. The suspect will be investigated in custody only in exceptional cases after these terms run off, and the term will be extended with three months every time until the court passes a verdict, on ground of an arrest warrant issued by a higher court on basis of a motivated proposal of the Prosecutor-General or his deputies. The promotion of amendments is a consequence of a parliamentary control on situation of suspects held in the preventive detention facility # 13 in the Chisinau municipality, being also dictated by frequent sentencing of Moldova by the European Court of Human Rights for unmotivated and long-term detention.

Parliamentary control. Statements

Hearings

The Chamber of Auditors has reported to the Parliament on management of public finances in the budgetary year 2005. It presented generalised information about creation and use of public financial resources; integrity and management of public patrimony; actions taken by entities to remedy the violations and shortcomings discovered by Chamber of Auditors; findings of controls held at the request of parliamentary factions. Although it indicates a certain improvement of financial management expressed through a lower number of discovered violations and shortcomings, the situation is still unsatisfactory regarding the economical and efficient use of public patrimony. The controls conducted by chamber at the request of parliamentary factions covered the Association of the Deaf, the Society of Invalids and the Society of the Blind (at the demand of the PCRM faction) and the National Public Broadcasting Company TeleRadio-Moldova (at the request of the PPCD faction), with the Chamber of Auditors signalling shortcomings and inefficient management, but without major consequences on institutions concerned. The conclusion of the chamber on management of public resources recommend:

It was established after debates that the essential amendments promoted to the law on Chamber of Auditors during the parliamentary consensus had a minor impact, with most of actions aimed to improve the activity will be taken in perspective, in line with a plan on strategic development of the Chamber of Auditors, which will be implemented in the second half of 2006. All decisions of the chamber on controls have been unanimously adopted by its members, though they were appointed by different parliamentary factions, including the opposition. Although they have appreciated some positive sides of activity of the Chamber of Auditors, the opposition lawmakers who spoke out about report said that the situation regarding management of public resources is still deplorable, the efficiency of controls by chamber is minimal, high-ranking functionaries who admit violations are not punished and only primary executors are sanctioned, but they are and act under influence of political decision-making factors.

The minister of industry and infrastructure has informed the Parliament about situation regarding gas deliveries from the Russian Federation and prospects in electro-energy sector. Vladimir Antosii assured that the higher import price of Russian natural gas will not influence the electricity tariff for final consumers, as Moldova has signed a contract with Ukraine on importation of electricity that covers more than 70 percent of the need of our country, for 2.52 cents a kW/h. On the other hand, the minister acknowledged that the higher price of Russian gas will increase the internal gas tariffs, and they may grow up to 3 lei per cubic metre for some consumers, though Moldova imports the gas for over 2 lei per cubic metre. The higher tariffs will affect first of all the households who consume more than 30 cubic metres of gas a month (use the natural gas for heating). Antosii noted that negotiations with the gas giant Gazprom go on, in order to sign a natural gas delivery contract for at least 3–4 years, but noted that the minimum price will be 160 dollars per 1,000 cubic metres. The minister fell short of estimating the impact of higher prices on national economy and social condition of population, but noted that the government is hopeful to find alternative gas providing sources, especially after finalisation of the international gas pipe Baku-Tbilisi-Erzrum, which will cross Bulgaria and Moldova could contract certain quantities of gas from there. The Government does not nourishes big hopes regarding alternative energy resources (biomass, regenerating resources, Aeolian energy, etc.), as their share is supposed to cover maximum 3 percent of the need of energy resources in the near future.

Questions and Interpellations

The prosecutor-general has replied an interpellation of AMN Deputy Vitalia Pavlicenco, who demanded a control on involvement of functionaries of prosecutor’s office in illegal deals and redistribution of properties[1]. According to first checking, the actions were not completely confirmed, but certain elements requiring more investigations have been discovered.

PSL Deputy Igor Clipii has asked the Prosecutor-General’s Office and the domestic security service SIS to investigate the publishing of a book titled “Cartea Neagra a Tradarii” (Black Book of Treason), which contains disparagement against some political leaders, during the 2005 parliamentary electoral campaign. The book was published in a large circulation, without identity signs required by law (order, author, printing company, etc.). Clipii argued his demand through the need to sanction the guilty persons and stronger political battle before the 2007 local elections.

PPCD Deputy Gheorghe Susarenco has asked the Prosecutor-General’s Office to report on measures taken to sanction public functionaries (policemen, judges, prosecutors) who are to blame for adoption of some decisions contested at ECHR, which made the Strasbourg-based court sentence Moldova for applying the torture.

Declarations

The speaker has promised that the Parliament will debate in the first reading draft legislative acts on consolidation of autonomy of local public administration by the end of the current session: the law on decentralisation, a new law on local public administration and amendments to legislation on local public finances. The drafts will be sent to the Council of Europe for expertise after they are passed in the first reading.

The parliamentary faction representing the Our Moldova Alliance (AMN) has released two declarations on recent speeches and actions of Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin. A document accuses the chief of state of launching some anti-national and anti-Romania statements, followed by a stance on recent statements of Romanian President Traian Basescu. Another declaration invokes the usurpation of state power by President Voronin by convoking a wide sitting with the participation of heads of the three powers in the state (that the Constitution bans), through intervention in legislative process (obligation of anti-corruption examination of legislative acts), and through criticism against members of the Parliament, the institution which elected the chief of state and the president is responsible in front of it.

  1. ↑ Article “Mafia Procurorilor” published by Ziarul de Garda
June 15–30, 2006 July 17–31, 2006