The Council of Europe’s project “Support to criminal justice reforms in the Republic of Moldova”, which has a budget of €2 million, has three major objectives. When these are achieved, the Ministry of Justice and the Prosecutor General’s Office will be assisted in doing the criminal justice reforms, while the Office of the People’s Ombudsman will be able to strengthen its operational capacities. The project will last until the end of 2017, but can be extended afterward, IPN reports.
The beneficiaries of the project are the Ministry of Justice, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Office of the People’s Ombudsman and the National Institute of Justice. The project aims to strengthen interested sides’ capacities to ensure the observance of the criminal justice legislation, in accordance with the European standards, and the institutional capacity to implement the national preventive mechanisms against torture.
A report to assess corruption risks in the prosecution service will be compiled within this project. Also, there will be adopted a plan of action for rooting out corruption. The National Institute of Justice will be supported by instructing trainers and prosecutors and by working out training materials concerning the implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights, in administering justice and managing the prosecution service.
As to the Office of the People’s Ombudsman, at least 200 public servants working at closed-type institutions will take part in the training programs centering on the modern standards on treatment of prisoners. The authorities and the population will be sensitized to the problems related to the guaranteeing of the basic human rights and fundamental freedoms.
The project also aims to develop the capacity and strengthen the Torture Combating Unit of the Prosecutor General’s Office, to promote policies of zero tolerance of torture and to step up the measures to protect the victims of inhuman and degrading treatment.
