Ways to improve the national mechanism of rehabilitation and compensation of crime victims is the focus of an OSCE-supported workshop

An OSCE-supported workshop to discuss practical ways to improve the national legal and institutional mechanisms of rehabilitation and compensation of crime victims in Moldova took place from 9 to 11 October 2019 in Chisinau. Thirty-five representatives of the justice, prosecution, health and finance state institutions, as well as relevant parliamentary committees participated in the event. The workshop was organized in cooperation with the National Institute of Justice.

The workshop provided the participants with an opportunity to analyse the existing national and international provisions regulating the rights of the victim in criminal proceedings. They also discussed protection norms applicable to minors, victims of trafficking and of domestic violence.

Discussions highlighted a victim-centred rehabilitation and compensation model from Portugal, where the legal and institutional framework is similar to the Moldovan context. Together with Moldovan and Portuguese experts, the participants elaborated on ways to replicate the Portuguese model in Moldova.

“This seminar came at the right moment, when we are trying to shift our approach from defending interests of the state to protecting rights of victims of different crimes,” said Vasile Schiopu, the head of the Ungheni Court of Appeal. “In Portugal, a person is entitled to compensation from the state for the injuries suffered from the moment a criminal investigation starts. It is the state’s obligation to seek redress and restore the victim’s rights, not vice versa, as is the situation in our country.”  

During the workshop, a representative of the Moldovan Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Protection presented a new National Referral System, which offers a holistic approach to social assistance to victims of all serious crimes. The system is based on the OSCE/ODIHR standards and is considered one of the best practices in the OSCE region.

The National Committee for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings recently raised, as one of its key priorities, the need to align Moldova’s legal and institutional framework on compensation and rehabilitation of victims of crimes with the European human rights standards. The Committee is the highest decision-making body in the country in this area, and the Mission has an observer status therein.

In recent years, the Mission, through its Human Rights Programme, has been strengthening the capacities of government officials in combatting exploitation and trafficking in human beings on both banks of the Dniestr/Nistru River.  In 2018, the Mission initiated a dialogue and an experience exchange between Moldovan and Portuguese state agencies responsible for the rehabilitation and compensation of victims of crimes.