The criminal cases will be closed based on reconciliation only in certain conditions. Relevant amendments to Article 109 of the Criminal Code (Reconciliation) are to be approved by the Government. They are aimed at removing the negative effect of the unlimited use of reconciliation and the risk of repetition of similar offenses.

Article 109 of the Penal Code provides that reconciliation is the act of ending a disagreement and annulling criminal punishment for a minor or less serious offense, while in the case of minors also for a serious offense.

According to the Ministry of the Interior’s Investigations Department, the criminal cases closed based on the reconciliation of sides in 2009-2013 represented over 60% of the total number of criminal cases. In 2013, 11,344 criminal cases were started in Chisinau municipality alone. Of them, 952 were closed based on Article 109 of the Penal Code.

It was established that a large number of people who committed offenses reconcile and then commit the same offenses. If the proposed amendments are adopted, the right to reconciliation will be enjoyed only by persons without a criminal record for similar offenses committed in the last five years.