The Constitutional Court (CC) suspended the application of the Amnesty Law provisions that allow the commutation of life imprisonment sentence to 30 years behind bars. The decision was taken following a complaint filed by Prosecutor General Ion Munteanu, IPN reports.
The constitutional judges ordered the suspension until a final decision is pronounced on the texts "or the sentence is commuted" and "to 30 years in prison, if the persons is sentenced to life imprisonment" of Article 7 of Law No. 243/2021 on Amnesty adopted on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the proclamation of the independence of the Republic of Moldova.
According to the Prosecutor General, these provisions were adopted without asking for the assessment of the risk of recidivism by a certified forensic psychologist. In his opinion, this change entails major risks for public safety and violates the rights of victims, affecting the social balance.
The complaint also draws attention to procedural irregularities. The challenged amendments were introduced in the final stages of the legislative process, without public consultations and without the necessary opinions, which, according to the author, goes against the principles of transparency and legal certainty.
The Constitutional Court found that these provisions can affect fundamental human rights and considered it necessary to suspend them in order to prevent possible harm. Thus, until a final decision on their constitutionality is taken, commuting life sentences to more lenient sentences is no longer possible.
The Court's decision is final, entered into force on the date of its adoption and is to be published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Moldova.
Following the scandal related to the release from detention of dangerous criminal leaders, sentenced to life imprisonment, Parliament on April 4, as a matter of urgency, gave two readings to a law that interprets Article 7 of the Law on Amnesty in relation to Articles 91 and 92 of the Criminal Code. Thus, persons sentenced to life imprisonment can no longer benefit from the commutation of the sentence to amnesty and early release or the replacement of the unserved part of the sentence. The law was published the next day in the Official Gazette.
