The powers of the Council for the Prevention and Elimination of Discrimination and Ensuring of Equality must be extended, consider experts of the Legal Resources Center of Moldova. Within an analysis of the legislation on equality and discrimination, these ascertained that owing to the shortcomings related to the uncertain status and limited powers of the Council, the process of efficiently eradicating discrimination is slowed down.
The Center’s programs director Nadejda Hriptievschi, in a news conference at IPN, said that to intensify the fight against discrimination in Moldova, the legislation should enable the Council for the Prevention and Elimination of Discrimination to impose direct penalties for acts of discrimination. Now the Council can only prevent discrimination and can examine individual complaints.
Nadejda Hriptievschi also said that to improve the situation in the area of non-discrimination, the Labor Code should be reviewed from the angle of gender equality. It is recommended developing crèche services, reducing parental leave and increasing maternity leave allowances.
According to the Center’s legal consultant Pavel Grecu, to combat discrimination, the nondiscrimination obligation should be included in as many normative documents as possible, especially in those concerning public servants. As a result of the study, the Supreme Court of Justice was recommended to work out a consultative notice about the language in which the complaints must be accepted by court, based on the legal framework and practice of Moldova.
The recommendations were formulated by experts within the study “Analysis of compatibility of Moldova’s legislation with the European standards on equality and nondiscrimination”. They are intended for the Government, courts of law, the Council for the Prevention and Elimination of Discrimination and Ensuring of Equality, the Bureau for Interethnic Relations and the People’s Ombudsman.
