You are here:
WorldLII >>
Databases >>
United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child - States Parties Reports >>
2002 >>
[2002] UNCRCSPR 7
Database Search
| Name Search
| Recent Documents
| Noteup
| LawCite
| Download
| Help
Republic of Moldova - Initial reports of States parties due in 1995: Addendum [2002] UNCRCSPR 7; CRC/C/28/Add.19 (3 May 2002)
UNITED NATIONS
|
|
CRC
|
|
Convention on the Rights of the Child
|
Distr. GENERAL
CRC/C/28/Add.19* 3 May
2002
Original: ENGLISH
|
COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES
UNDER
ARTICLE 44 OF THE CONVENTION
Initial reports of States parties due in 1995
Republic of Moldova
[5
February 2001]
*
Re-issued for technical reasons
GE.02-42167 (E) 240502
CONTENTS
Paragraphs Page
PART ONE
I. GENERAL
DATA 1 - 4 3
II. POLITICAL STRUCTURE AND THE GENERAL
LEGISLATIVE
SYSTEM IN WHICH HUMAN RIGHTS
ARE PROTECTED 5 - 74 9
PART
TWO
III. GENERAL MEASURES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION
OF THE CONVENTION
75 - 85 20
IV. CONCEPT OF THE CHILD 86 - 120 23
V. GENERAL
PRINCIPLES 121 - 150 27
VI. CIVIL RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES 151 -
175 31
VII. FAMILY ENVIRONMENT AND ALTERNATIVE CARE 176 -
232 34
VIII. BASIC HEALTH AND WELFARE 233 -
271 40
IX. EDUCATION, LEISURE AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES 272 -
343 47
X. SPECIAL PROTECTION MEASURES 344 - 427 62
References
428 77
PART ONE
I. GENERAL DATA
- In
accordance with the provisions of article 44, paragraph 1 (a) and (b) of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child and the guidelines
regarding the form and
substance of States parties’ initial reports, the present combined report
on the steps taken by the
Republic of Moldova to implement the Convention and on
the progress accomplished between 1993 and 2000 is submitted to the Committee
on
the Rights of the Child.
- The
Republic of Moldova ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child
of 12 December 1990, through Parliamentary Decision No.
408-XIII
on 25 February 1993.
Official name of the country: Republic of Moldova;
Geographic position: The Republic of Moldova is situated in the south-east
of Europe, between Romania and Ukraine, in the basin of
the Prut and Nistru
Rivers;
Area: 33,800 sq. km.;
Population: 4,320 000 (on 1 January 1997);
Population density: 128 inhabitants/km2;
Capital: Chişinău City (approximately 780,000 inhabitants);
National day: Independence Day (27 August);
The State banner: Three vertical, equal stripes, in red, yellow and blue,
with the Republic of Moldova arms in the middle;
Form of government: Parliamentary Republic;
National Legislative-Unichamber Parliament, composed of 101 members,
directly elected through proportional representation;
Head of State: President;
Administrative divisions: 10 counties, 4 cities (Chişinău,
Bălţi, Tiraspol, Bender), 51 towns and 662 villages;
Date of admittance to the United Nations: 2 March 1992.
Distribution of the population
Urban area: 46 per cent;
Rural area: 54 per cent.
Table 1
Urban population (% of the
total)
|
Rate of population increase
|
1960
|
1997
|
2000
|
1960-1997
|
1997-2000
|
23
|
46
|
46
|
2.95
|
-0.35
|
External debt: US$ 1.3 billion in 1998;
External debt administrated by the Government on 1 April 2000: 749.9 million
lei;
1999 IGP was 12,204 million Moldovan lei, constituting approximately 95.6 per
cent (in comparative prices) compared to the year 1998;
The unemployment rate was 11.5 per cent in 1999 (according to the
classification of the International Labour Organization). The economically
active population constituted 49.6 per cent of the total population of the
country. The employed population constituted 43.9 per
cent of the total
population and 59.8 per cent of the population over the age of 15. There
were 35,000 unemployed people officially
registered on 1 January 2000.;
Inflation rate: 18.3 per cent in 1998;
Percentage of the population attending school: 71 per cent;
Adult education rate: 96.4 per cent;
Infantile mortality rate: for 1998 - 17.8 per 1,000 new born babies;
for 1999 - 18.2 per 1,000 new born babies;
Infantile mortality rate in urban and rural localities.
Table 2. Infantile morality rate for 1998
|
|
Urban localities %
|
Country average %
|
Total
|
64.4
|
35.6
|
100
|
0-6 days
|
20.6
|
18.4
|
39.0
|
7-28 days
|
8.1
|
7.0
|
15.0
|
28 days-3 months
|
14.5
|
4.6
|
19.1
|
3-6 months
|
12.3
|
3.7
|
15.8
|
6-12 months
|
8.9
|
1.9
|
11.1
|
Source: Ministry of Labour, Social Protection and the
Family.
- In
the Republic of Moldova, maternal mortality is higher than the European
Community parameters and in 1995 it was 40.8 per 100,000
new-born babies. The
high rate of maternal mortality is due, to a great extent, to unsatisfactory
living conditions, generated mainly
by the sharp economic crisis the country has
been going through, beginning in 1991. In this context, the level of sanitary
education
among the population decreased, as also did the possibilities of
antenatal diagnosis and treatment of complications during pregnancy,
as well as
the standard of equipment, including modern medical equipment for intensive
care.
The maternal mortality rate was 36.3 per 100,000 new-born children in 1998
and 28.3 per 100,000 new-born children in 1999;
Number of children up to 15 years of age: 973,102 (on 1 January 1999);
Number of people over 65 years of age: 341,700 (on 1 January 1999).
Human development indicators
Table 3
Life expectancy at birth
(years)
|
Adult literacy rate
(%)
|
Gross enrolment ratio - all levels of education
(%)
|
GNP per capita
($ PPP)
|
Life expectancy index
|
Education indicator
|
GDP
|
Human development index
|
1998
|
1998
|
1998
|
1998
|
1998
|
1998
|
1998
|
1998
|
67.0
|
96.4
|
73.4
|
2 042
|
0.700
|
0.887
|
0.503
|
0.697
|
Note: The human development indicators consist of three basic
elements: life expectancy, education level and living standards. Level
of
education is calculated as an arithmetic average weighted between the
eradication of adult literacy rate (with a two-thirds share)
and the gross
enrolment rate at all levels of education (with a one-third share).
GDP per capita, calculated by purchasing power
parity (PPP) in United
States dollars is used as a measure of living standards. Each component of
table 3 is compared to fixed maximum
and minimum values established by the
United Nations Development Programme, as follows: 25 and 85 years
respectively for life expectancy;
0 and 100 per cent for literacy rate; 0 and
100 per cent for the enrolment rate at all levels of education; 100
and 40,000 United
States dollars for GDP per capita. For the first
three components, the difference between the maximum value and the minimum one
results in an index, as follows:
Life expectancy index: (67.0-25)/(85-25) = 0.700;
Literacy rate indicator: (96.4-0.0)/(100.0-0.0) = 0.964;
Enrolment rate at all levels of education indicator: (73.4-0.0)/(100.0-0.0)
= 0.734;
Education level indicator, calculated from the two previous indicators:
(2 x 0.964 + 0.734)/3 = 0.887;
GDP per capita: (log2042 - log100)/(log40000 - log100) = 0.503;
Human development index, calculated as an average of the three basic
elements, which are given equal shares: (0.700 + 0.887 + 0.503)/3
= 0.697.
Table 4. Human development - general data
Life expectancy at birth (years)
|
Population having access to:
|
Daily consumption of calories per capita
|
Adult literacy level rate of illiteracy (%)
|
Gross enrolment ratio - all levels of education (%)
|
Publications (copies/ person)
|
Television
sets
(per 100
persons)
|
IGP/
inhabitant (PPP)
|
GDP per capita (US$)
|
Medical services
(%)
|
Potable water
(%)
|
Sanitary facilities*
(%)
|
1998
|
1998
|
1998
|
1998
|
1998
|
1989
|
1998
|
1998
|
1998
|
1997
|
1997
|
67.0
|
100
|
51.9
|
46.0
|
1 775
|
96.4
|
73.4
|
136
|
15
|
2 207
|
545
|
* Access to running water.
Table 5. Demographic profile
|
Annual population increase rate (%)
|
Rural population (% of the total)
|
Overall birth rate
|
Overall mortality rate
|
Overall fertility rate
|
Rate of use of any contraceptive methods
(%)
|
1960
|
1998
|
2000
|
1960-1998
|
1998-2000
|
1998
|
1998
|
1998
|
1997
|
1998
|
3.0
|
4.3
|
4.3
|
0.85
|
(-)0.45
|
54
|
10.9
|
11.1
|
1.67
|
27*
|
* Including women registered as using intrauterine and oral
contraceptive methods; per cent of
women between 15 and 49 years of age.
Table 6. Human development indicators
Life expectancy at birth (years)
|
Infant mortality rate (per thousand live births)
|
Adult literacy rate (%)
|
Enrolment rate - all levels of education (%) for the population between 7
and 22 years of age
|
Number of adult illiterates (15 years old and over) millions
|
Number of illiterate women (15 years old and over), millions
|
Number of children who do not attend primary school, thousands
|
Number of deceased children under the age of 5 thousands
|
1959
|
1998
|
1960
|
1998
|
1989
|
1998
|
1989
|
1998
|
1998
|
1998
|
68.1
|
67.0
|
48.2
|
17.8
|
96.4
|
71
|
0.1
|
0.09
|
11.0
|
1.1
|
Table 7. Children survival and development
Pregnant women between 15
and 49 years of age suffering from anaemia
(%)
|
New-born babies weighing less than the acceptable norm at birth
(%)
|
Maternal mortality parameter (per 100,000 live-born infants)
|
Infant mortality parameter (per 1,000 live-born infants)
|
Parameter of mortality of children up to 5 years of age (per 1,000
live-born infants)
|
Mothers breast-feeding children up to the age of 6 months
(%)
|
1998
|
1998
|
1998
|
1998
|
1998
|
1998
|
48
|
5
|
36.3
|
17.8
|
23.5
|
66
|
Source for tables 3-7: United Nations Development Programme in
the Republic of Moldova - 1999 Report.
Main demographic parameters
|
|
1995
|
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
Total population
|
4 366.3
|
4 334.4
|
4 320 0
|
4 304.7
|
4 293.0
|
Males (thousands)
|
2 082.0
|
2 071.0
|
2 064.5
|
2 057.5
|
2 052.0
|
% of the total number
|
47.7
|
47.8
|
47.8
|
47.8
|
47.8
|
Urban population (thousands)
|
2 073.6
|
2 004.1
|
1 995.3
|
1 987.3
|
1 976.0
|
% of the total population
|
47.5
|
46.2
|
46.2
|
46.2
|
46.0
|
Structure of the population according to age:
|
|
|
|
|
|
Under the employment age (%)
|
29.7
|
28.6
|
28.2
|
27.6
|
27.4
|
Of employment age (%)
|
54.9
|
55.6
|
56.0
|
56.4
|
56.5
|
Of retirement age (60 for women; 65 for men)
|
15.4
|
15.8
|
15.8
|
16.0
|
16.1
|
Rate of natural increase of the population
|
8.0
|
0.8
|
0.5
|
0.0
|
-0.2
|
Birth rate
|
17.7
|
13.0
|
12.0
|
11.9
|
10.9
|
Mortality rate
|
9.7
|
12.2
|
11.5
|
11.9
|
11.1
|
Marriage rate
|
9.4
|
7.5
|
6.0
|
6.1
|
6.0
|
Divorce rate
|
3.0
|
3.4
|
3.1
|
3.1
|
3.0
|
Infant mortality rate (per 1,000 live births)
|
19.0
|
21.2
|
20.2
|
19.9
|
17.8
|
Table 8. Population aged 60 years or over
(thousands)
|
Age group
|
|
60-64 years
|
65-69 years
|
70-74 years
|
75-79 years
|
80 years and over
|
1959
|
81.4 (36.6%)
|
56.9 (25.6%)
|
84.2
|
1970
|
119.8 (34.5%)
|
98.4 (28.4%)
|
128.5
|
1979
|
125.0 (29.3%)
|
127.6 (29.9%)
|
173.8
|
1989
|
194.0 (35.5%)
|
143.8 (26.3%)
|
208.8
|
1992
|
196.0 (34.9%)
|
151.0 (26.1%)
|
214.0
|
1993
|
192.8 (33.9%)
|
155.2 (27.3%)
|
105.1 (18.5%)
|
57.7 (10.1%)
|
56.9 (10.0%)
|
1994
|
183.6 (32.4%)
|
160.2 (28.2%)
|
111.5 (19.6%)
|
55.1 (9.7%)
|
56.7 (10.0%)
|
1995
|
177.6 (31.3%)
|
162.9 (28.7%)
|
114.9 (20.2%)
|
53.5 (9.4%)
|
57.9 (10.2%)
|
1996
|
176.9 (31.2%)
|
162.3 (28.6%)
|
116.3 (20.5%)
|
57.6 (10.1%)
|
54.6 (9.6%)
|
1997
|
179.4 (31.4%)
|
161.8 (28.3%)
|
115.7 (20.2%)
|
64.1 (11.2%)
|
50.9 (8.9%)
|
1998
|
151,9 (30.9%)
|
136.1 (27.7%)
|
100.5 20.5%)
|
60.2 (12.3%)
|
42.5 (8.7%)
|
Source: Ministry of Labour, Social Protection and the
Family.
- From
table 8, a constant increase in the inactive population can be noted in the
period 1959-1989, a stagnation of this indicator
in the period 1989-1997
and a sudden decrease beginning in 1997/1998. This fact can be explained, to a
great extent, by the profound
economic crisis the country was going through
after the Transnistrian conflict of 1992, aggravated by the Eastern markets
crisis
after 1997. In this context, we need to mention that an increase in real
unemployment and labour force migration, have made the
burden of social
protection systems borne by the economy even heavier. Compared to 1991, when
the economic reform started, the coefficient
of the demographic burden grew 1.46
times. This also affects the capacity for the social protection of
children.
II. POLITICAL STRUCTURE AND GENERAL LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
IN WHICH HUMAN RIGHTS ARE PROTECTED
A. Brief history. General presentation
- The
Republic of Moldova, as a sovereign and independent State, entered the
international arena after the disintegration of the USSR
by adopting the
Declaration of Sovereignty of the Soviet Socialist Moldovan Republic on 23 June
1990 and the Declaration of Independence
of the Republic of Moldova on 27 August
1991.
- As
part of the USSR, Soviet Moldova witnessed the horrors of political genocide,
manifested through mass deportations, systematically
organized starvation and
forced denationalization. The Russian language was imposed as the official
language.
- In
the past decade, political and cultural activities were carried out in the
Republic of Moldova for the democratization of social
and political life and for
the emancipation of the population.
- The
Republic of Moldova adopted a series of laws, as follows: Law on the Return of
the Moldovan Language to the Latin Writing Method
(31 August 1989);
Parliamentary Decision “On the Approval of the Regulation regarding the
State Flag of the Moldovan Soviet
Socialist Republic”; Law on the State
Anthem of the Republic of Moldova. It instituted the position of President of
the country
(3 September 1990); it selected the ancient symbols - the eagle and
the auroch’s head - as the State escutcheon, (3 November
1990); and it
changed the name of the country - from the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic to
the Republic of Moldova (23 May 1991).
So far, the Republic of
Moldova has established diplomatic relations with about 140
States.
- At
the same time, the process of State consolidation was seriously affected by the
separatist actions of some forces in the Eastern
part of the country. For
centuries, the population had a multinational component, a part of which (Gagauz
and Bulgarians - about
3.2 per cent) is concentrated in the south of the
country. In order to prevent the egression of the Republic of Moldova from the
Soviet space, the union centre decided to use national separatism as a means of
blackmail. The coordinated policy of the separatist
leaders in the districts on
the left bank of the Nistru River of Bender town and the Gagauz region was
aimed against the constitution
of a new unitary and independent State. It had
as its purpose the preservation of the old ideological, political and economic
orientations.
Consequently, on 2 September 1990, in Parcani village, a meeting
of a group of deputies of the eastern districts of the Republic
of Moldova
(Transnistria) proclaimed itself a congress and proclaimed the constitution of
“The Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic
of Transnistria, a component part
of the USSR”. The majority of the 64 deputies who represented the eastern
districts and
Bender town in the Parliament also participated in that
congress.
- Through
this act, the political fight for the sovereignty of the Republic of Moldova was
taken out of the legal, constitutional context.
As a result, the initiative was
taken by those political forces in Transnistria which, in order to accomplish
their goals, used
tougher and tougher methods belonging to a totalitarian regime
arsenal.
- More
and more of the 64 deputies, either on their own initiative, or under pressure
from the Transnistrian extremist forces, did not
participate in the working
meetings of the Parliament of Moldova. Political extremism started to dominate
Transnistria, becoming
the norm, to the prejudice of pluralism of opinion and
dialogue.
- As
a consequence of the application of anti-constitutional political procedures, to
a great extent determined and favoured by Moscow
political forces, who pleaded
in favour of maintaining the Soviet Union, the premise for the violation of
fundamental human rights
appeared in the eastern districts of the Republic of
Moldova.
- Currently,
in the Republic of Moldova, there is a clearly defined tendency to create the
mechanisms and key factors for the implementation
of a system of promotion and
respect of human rights, which is particularly based on international legal
instruments. Title II of
the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova is devoted
to human rights and their importance, and is entitled “Fundamental rights,
liberties
and duties”.
- Reform
of the national legal system together with reform of the judiciary, started in
the Republic of Moldova as soon as State independence
was obtained, in January
1993. The subsequent adoption of several laws and the introduction of changes
to the Criminal Procedure
Code and the Criminal Code offered the Republic of
Moldova the opportunity to get closer to international standards, especially to
the European ones.
- Several
drafts of the Constitution were examined by the European Commission for Legal
Democracy (Venice Commission), and the text of the new Constitution, which was
adopted on 29 July 1994, follows, to a great extent, the expert’s
comments. The contribution of international experts
was important; the
specifications and corrections they made resulted in a modern Constitution, in
conformity with the conditions for guaranteeing a legal system that corresponds
to the current exigencies in the field of human
rights guarantee.
- Article
1 stipulates that the Republic of Moldova is a democratic State governed by the
rule of law, in which human dignity, human
rights and liberties, free
development of the human personality, justice and political pluralism are
guaranteed and represent supreme
values.
- “Democracy
in the Republic of Moldova will be exercised in terms of political pluralism,
which is incompatible with dictatorship
and totalitarianism, and no ideology can
be instituted as the State official ideology.” (art. 5)
- Unity
of the people constitutes the fundament of the State, which is “the common
and indivisible homeland of all its citizens”.
(art. 10)
- Constitutional
provisions regarding human rights and liberties are interpreted and applied in
conformity with the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, with other pacts and
treaties to which the Republic of Moldova is a party. (art. 4, sect.
1)
- The
Constitution regulates issues regarding economic relations in society in
accordance with the new principles, ensures the right to property, and
provides
that property may not be used to the detriment of human rights, liberties and
dignity. (art. 9)
- In
summary, the main provisions contained in the Constitution are: political
pluralism, separation of and collaboration among the legislative, executive and
judicial powers, and the right of
all citizens to protection and to develop and
express their ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious identity.
Constitutional
law is the one that has the task of determining the way of
applying international treaties in the domestic legal system.
- Taking
into account the importance of respecting fundamental rights and liberties and
human rights, the legislator emphasized the
supremacy of international law and
of human rights and, in article 8 of the Constitution, the Republic of Moldova
pledges itself to respect the Charter of the United Nations and international
treaties to which it is a
party.
- The
principle of the priority of international documents was recognized also by the
Supreme Court of Justice, which, after studying
the practice of applying these
constitutional provisions, adopted Decision No. 2 on 30 January 1996, “On
the Courts of Law
Practice in Applying some Constitutional Provisions”, in
accordance with which, “in cases when domestic legislation runs
counter to
international documents, provisions of the international document to which the
Republic of Moldova is a party, will be
applied”.
- Following
the constitutional provisions, most of the legislative documents of the Republic
of Moldova stipulate the supremacy of international
law: the Civil Code, the
Civil Procedure Code, the Criminal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code, the
Marriage and Family Code, etc.
- A
special role is given in this field to the Constitutional Court, which, on
notification, examines the constitutionality of international
treaties to which
Moldova is a party. In this context, it should be mentioned that the
Constitutional Court applies the provisions
of article 4, section 2 of the
Constitution, which stipulates: “If there are contradictions between
pacts and treaties to which the Republic of Moldova is a party and
its domestic
laws regarding fundamental human rights, international regulations will have
priority.”
- Rights
and liberties contained in the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova
reproduce, to a great extent, the rights proclaimed in the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights and in
the European Convention on Human Rights. The
Constitution reiterates: “in conformity with the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, the ideal of free human beings, enjoying civil
and
political liberties and released from fear and poverty, cannot be
accomplished unless conditions which allow any person to enjoy his
civil and
political rights, as well as his economic, social and cultural rights, are
created”.
- Economic,
social and political rights constitute the fundament for the multilateral and
plenary development of a human being. They
are not less important than civil
and political rights, but their exercise depends on the resources the society
has. This does not
mean that the State has no responsibility for guaranteeing
them by progressively ensuring their exercise. For this reason, we consider
that it is necessary for international bodies to lay stress on the right to
development. The notion of development itself needs
to be enriched, made more
complex.
- Nonabusive
application of these provisions was included among the commitments made by the
Republic of Moldova at the moment of its
adhesion, as a member with full rights,
to the Council of Europe: the national authorities assumed responsibility for
ensuring that
restrictions on the exercise of certain rights or liberties and
the exercise of rights and obligations provided in articles 54 and
55 of
the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova would be applied only in cases
strictly specified by law, in special situations, such as the defence of
national security or order, and the prevention of calamities, catastrophes, etc.
In such cases, restrictions need to be proportional
to the situation that
determined them, and cannot touch the existence of those rights or liberties
(art. 54 (2) of the Constitution).
- In
the case that provisions of the legislation dealing with fundamental human
rights are in contradiction with the Constitution or with international
conventions on human rights, the courts will directly apply the provisions of
the latter documents.
- Returning
to these provisions, we need to mention that the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, the two International Covenants
on Human Rights and the European
Convention on Human Rights admit, under certain circumstances, the existence of
certain limitations
and restrictions, which are not specified separately, but
are formulated with certain rights and liberties, depending on their content.
Hence, it results that they can exist if they are provided for by the law, that
they are necessary in a democratic society for protecting
national security,
public order, public health and morals, the rights and liberties of others,
etc., and they need to be proportionate
with the cause that gave rise to
them.
- According
to article 15 of the Constitution, in the Republic of Moldova, citizens of
the country as well as foreign and stateless citizens, who have the same rights
and responsibilities
as the citizens of the Republic of Moldova, with exceptions
provided by law (art. 19), are recognized as holders of constitutional
rights, liberties and responsibilities.
- When
the States adhered to the International Covenants on civil and political rights,
and on economic, social and cultural rights,
of 1996, they pledged themselves to
respect and guarantee the rights recognized by the Covenants to all
individuals living in their territory, and who are under their jurisdiction,
with no discrimination based on race, sex, language, political or other kind of
opinion, national or social origin, welfare, birth,
or any other criterion
(article 2.2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
adopted by the United Nations General
Assembly on
16 December 1996, New York).
- From
the moment of adhesion to the European Convention on Human Rights, in accordance
with article 1, the signatory parties “shall
secure to everyone
within their jurisdiction” the rights and liberties recognized in the
Convention. This principle is equally
valid for rights and liberties recognized
in Protocol Nos. 1, 4, 6 and 7. The Republic of Moldova, like all States
parties to the
Convention, recognizes these rights not only to its citizens, but
also to the citizens of other signatory States and nationals of
States which are
not a party to the Convention, as well as to stateless people (European
Commission for Human Rights, Decision No.
788/60, of
11 January 1961).
- The
general rule formulated in article 29 of the Vienna Convention on the Law
of Treaties (1969) stipulates that an international
treaty is binding upon
each party in respect of its entire territory. Taking into account that the
European Convention on Human
Rights sets forth that the signatory parties need
to recognize rights and liberties to all individuals “within their
jurisdiction”,
it results that a State, as is the case of the Republic of
Moldova, cannot be responsible for violations of human rights committed
in a
territory over which that State does not exercise real jurisdiction.
Article 63 of the Convention allows the exclusion of a
certain portion of
the signatory State from the application of the Convention.
- Taking
into account the situation in the territory on the left bank of the Nistru River
(eastern region of the Republic of Moldova),
the Parliament of the Republic of
Moldova, at the moment of ratifying the European Convention on Human Rights,
considered that it
was necessary to formulate a declaration to the effect that
the Republic of Moldova denied any responsibility for acts committed
in the
territory of the selfproclaimed Nistrian Republic and would maintain that
position until the final solution of the conflict
in that
region.
- The
World Conference on Human Rights, held in Vienna in 1993, pronounced in favour
of creating and consolidating human rights institutions.
In documents adopted
by the Conference, it is mentioned that each State is entitled to institute
those structures which will fully
correspond to its needs.
- In
the past two years, the legislative and executive authorities of the Republic of
Moldova have paid special attention to issues
relating both to the respect of
constitutional human rights and liberties, and to their protection by the State,
in cases of violation.
We can certainly state that the legal and judicial
reform carried out in the country has been aimed first of all at perfecting the
court protection of human rights.
- This
is confirmed by the change in the judiciary structures and in the way of
constituting them and in the prosecutor’s role
and functions. Also, a new
Law on Notaries was adopted, and a new law on advocacy is being
drafted.
- In
the Parliaments of the last and the last but one legislature, the Commission for
Human Rights, Minorities and Religion worked together
with other permanent
commissions.
- Since
1991, the Department for International Relations and Languages Functioning has
been working within the Government. The basic
functions of this department are:
dissemination of experience gained in implementing legislation for the
accomplishment of State
policy in the field of national minorities;
coordination, together with the Parliamentary Commission for Human Rights,
Religion and
National Minorities and with central and local public authorities,
of the activity of creating conditions for the satisfaction of
the ethnic
minorities’ needs in the field of education, culture, language and
traditions. The Department drafts and submits
to the Government proposals for
improving the sociopolitical situation of the country, supports the
implementation of cultural and
educational programmes for Moldovans living
outside the Republic of Moldova and provides assistance to the latter in
establishing
and developing connections with their historical
homeland.
- In
the spring of 1996, the 2nd International Conference of Ombudsmen and Human
Rights Institutions was held at Chişinău,
during which problems
encountered in creating institutions for the protection of human rights in
various countries were discussed.
The fact that such a prestigious forum was
held in the Republic of Moldova speeded up the elaboration of a draft law on the
institution
of human rights protection in our country. In the elaboration of
the draft law regarding human rights defenders, the experience
of several
European countries in the field was taken into consideration.
- In
October 1997, the Parliament adopted the Law on Ombudsmen. In conformity with
this law, the Parliament appointed three Ombudsmen
who, together with their
staff, constitute an independent legal institution, the Centre for Human Rights,
which can have affiliates
in various localities of the country. Ombudsmen
activity is oriented towards ensuring guarantees for the respect of
constitutional
rights and liberties by the central and local public
administration bodies, by institutions, organizations and companies with
different
forms of property, as well as by nongovernmental organizations.
- The
Ombudsmen contribute to the rehabilitation of citizens, to the improvement of
legislation in the field of respect for human rights
and to the improvement of
the legal education of the population. In their activities, they follow the
Constitution and other laws of the Republic of Moldova, the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and other international instruments to which
the
Republic of Moldova is a party.
- The
Ombudsmen examine petitions addressed by citizens of the Republic of Moldova, by
foreign citizens who live temporarily or permanently
in the country, as well as
by stateless persons, regarding the violation of their legitimate rights and
interests in the Republic
of Moldova.
- The
Ombudsmen can start, on their own initiative, examining identified cases of
violation of human rights and liberties. If violation
of the plaintiff’s
rights is established, the Ombudsman will submit his conclusion to the
appropriate decisionmaking body or
factor, with recommendations regarding the
immediate rehabilitation of the plaintiff. Also, he can address the court,
asking for
the defence of the citizen’s rights.
- On
the basis of the conclusion written after the examination of citizens’
petitions, the Ombudsman can submit to Parliament
his proposal for improving the
current legislation in the field of protecting human rights and liberties. If
serious violations
of constitutional rights and liberties were identified, he
has the right to present a report in Parliament and to recommend the
constitution
of a parliamentary commission to examine these
cases.
- The
Ombudsmen have the right to address the Constitutional Court and to request
monitoring of the constitutionality of the normative
documents adopted by the
Parliament or by the Government, through the prism of their accordance with
general principles and international
instruments regarding human
rights.
- Every
year, the Centre for Human Rights submits a report to Parliament on the respect
of human rights in the Republic of Moldova.
The report refers to the areas of
social relations in which the most serious violations of human rights and
liberties were identified,
to their causes, as well as to measures taken for
their elimination, to improving legislation and to the legal education of the
population.
The report is made known to citizens by its publication in the
Oficial Monitor of the Republic of Moldova.
- In
accordance with article 39 of the Law on Ombudsmen, an Expert Council,
composed of specialists in the field of constitutional human
rights and
liberties was created within the Centre for Human Rights, for the purpose of
providing consulting assistance. The Council
elaborates recommendations to
improve drafts of legislation in the field of human rights and to harmonize it
with international legal
instruments ratified by the Republic of Moldova, drafts
and initiates projects of collaboration with international organizations
acting
to protect human rights, working closely with the mass media and nongovernmental
organizations. In conformity with the abovementioned
Law, affiliates of the
Centre were opened in Balti and Comrat town.
- The
Centre for Human Rights of Moldova has paid special attention to the protection
and promotion of children’s rights. On
the basis of petitions addressed
to the Centre, materials published in the mass media, communications from
lawyers, doctors, teachers,
scientists, public officers, analysts and
representatives of nongovernmental organizations, the Ombudsmen have submitted
concrete
proposals for the improvement of the situation to the Parliament, the
President and the Government.
- As
a result, a series of steps have been taken regarding the effective monitoring
of national legislation and its adjustment to the
requirements of the
international legal instruments to which the Republic of Moldova is a party; the
elaboration of State programmes
and the adoption of normative documents
referring to the satisfaction of children’s vital needs, among which we
can mention:
the National Programme for GeneticMedical Assistance Improvement,
the National “Child Nourishment” Programme, the Programme
for
Education Development and a series of draft laws, such as on the minimum living
requirements, on the State social facilities,
on the State allowance for
children and social assistance for invalid children, etc.
- Currently,
the National Strategic Plan for the Salvation of the Young Generation is being
drafted. It contains several subprogrammes:
training in the field of human
rights; recovery and integration of homeless children; deinstitutionalization of
orphan children;
inclusion of all children in the education system; employment
for young people.
- For
the purpose of fulfilling its obligations as a party to United Nations
conventions and to other international conventions on human
rights, a National
Commission for Social Problems, headed by one of the vicePrime Ministers, was
constituted. This Commission has
as an objective the elaboration of the initial
and periodic reports of the Republic of Moldova under the United Nations
conventions
and other international conventions on human rights and their
submission to the authorized international institutions. Also, the
Commission
has the task of coordinating activities for the legal education and training of
the population in the field of human rights.
- Regarding
this we inform the Committee on the Rights of the Child that the abovementioned
Commission does not receive any funding
from external sources. In the context
of the serious economic crisis our country is going through, at this stage of
transition to
a market economy, the financial support of international bodies
for such activities would contribute largely to the effectiveness
of the
implementation of international conventions and of the reporting process, and it
would be highly appreciated by the Government
of the Republic of
Moldova.
- We
need also to mention that, on 18 June 1998, the first National
Conference for Human Rights was held in Chişinău, under
the aegis of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Moldova, the National Centre
for Human Rights and the Chişinău
office of the United Nations
Development Programme. Representatives of State institutions (the Government,
Parliament and the President’s
Office), nongovernmental organizations,
universities and international organizations, as well as representatives of
diplomatic missions
accredited in Chişinău participated in the
Conference. Within the four working groups of the Conference, the national
report of the Republic of Moldova, “Human rights: for a sustainable
development”, was concluded and was afterwards presented
to the regional
human rights conference held in Yalta (Ukraine) from 1 to
4 September 1998.
B. Information and publicity
1. General aspects
- In
the Republic of Moldova there is a diverse and plural information market, in
conformity with the role and position that the mass
media should have in a State
in which the rule of law prevails.
- The
press, television and radio are the main beneficiaries of the right to
information. Their public functions impose obligations
on the mass media, which
have the duty to make sure that the State accomplishes its duty to honour and
guarantee respect for fundamental
human rights and liberties.
- The
right of citizens to be informed and to have free access to and use of public
information is indispensable in a country with democratic
ideals. Citizens of
the Republic of Moldova do not today feel as isolated and manipulated as they
were during the Soviet regime.
- The
right to information is a fundamental right, which conditions social, economic
and political efficiency, and determines it in
the exercise of the liberties
provided by the Constitution, including the liberty of thinking, opinion,
creation, public expression, speech, image or any other way. This presupposes
also
the possibility of receiving information on social, political, economic,
scientific, cultural life, etc.
- One
cannot consider the mass media and access to information separately, but only in
the general context of the citizen’s access
to public interest
information. Formulas such as “free access to information”
or “the right to information” are penetrating the
citizen’s conscience more and more clearly.
- We
must also admit that, in the Republic of Moldova, certain segments of society
are not sufficiently emancipated to insist on obtaining
public information or on
using such information for the purpose of intervening in public activities on
which their existence depends.
In a process of permanent change, the capability
of the society to control State institutions depends on the extent to which
public
opinion is aware of the substance of their activity and of their
decisions, and has been increasing since the Declaration of
Independence.
- In
the period since the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child,
concrete steps were taken to improve knowledge
of human rights, in which State
bodies, especially the Government of the Republic of Moldova, made a great
contribution.
- The
Government of the Republic of Moldova, in collaboration with UNICEF, published
in 1997 the “Mother and child situation”
report, and this year
the second “Family and child situation” report will be
published.
Convention on the Rights of the Child was published in Chişinău in
1994, with the support of the UNICEF representative in
the Republic of Moldova,
the SOROS Foundation and Save the Children International;
The Centre for Human Rights of the Republic of Moldova has, among its other
objectives, the dissemination of information and training
of the population in
the field of human rights. For this purpose pamphlets and brochures entitled
“Child rights: against
abuse” were published;
Also, with the support of Save the Children International, separate brochures
entitled “Rights of children between the age of
5 and 8” and
“Rights of children between the age of 9 and 12” were published in
1998;
The texts of other conventions and human rights treaties to which the
Republic of Moldova is a party have been published. A complete
collection of
these treaties and conventions was issued by the Ministry of Justice and the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs in coordination
with the Law Centre of
Moldova.
- The
abolition of the absolute doctrine, which dominated the mass conscience all
during the period of Communist dictatorship, according
to which the State was
regarded as a “donor” and not as a “protector” of human
rights, is of great significance.
- Accurate,
detailed and accessible information on trends and realities in the modern
informational society, characteristic of all consolidated
democracies, cannot
but be welcomed by the whole society. Currently, one can certainly state that
the Republic of Moldova includes
itself, more and more determinedly, in a space focused on the principles of
free provision, circulation, receiving of and access to
information, on
condition that other fundamental values are respected.
- Unfortunately,
in the eastern region of the Republic of Moldova, controlled by the Tiraspol
separatist regime, the functioning of
the mass media differs essentially from in
the rest of the territory. Freedom of expression and access to information are
more precarious.
The anticonstitutional authorities of this region largely
suppress the mass media, which are inconvenient for the policy of the
separatist
regime. There is no political party or newspaper to oppose the regime in this
region. The circulation rate of national
publications is very low. Free
circulation of information will be possible in this region when the
Transnistrian conflict is definitively
solved, the Russian Federation withdraws
its troops and weapons, and our State independence and sovereignty is
consolidated.
2. The existing legal background and its evolution
- On
11 February 1999, the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova adopted
Decision No. 277XIV “On the concept of State support
and promotion of
the mass media in the period 19992003”, submitted as a draft by the
Union of Journalists of the Republic of
Moldova. It was considered a step
forward in the realization of the State’s intention to consolidate the
liberty and independence
of the press in the country.
- According
to the “Legislation” section of the abovementioned decision, the
Parliament, by mutual agreement with the Government
and civil society, including
the Union of Journalists, is called upon to draft and adopt a set of normative
documents orientated
to promote a basic national policy in the
field.
- Currently,
the Law of the Press, which was enforced in 1995, is being reexamined in the
Parliament. Also, the Law on Access to Information
and the Law on Foundations
have been adopted at first reading.
- As
for the Law on the Organization and Functioning of Television in the Republic of
Moldova, its draft is already being discussed
in the Parliament. In its turn,
the Law on the AudioVideo Public Institution will be included as a separate
section of the abovementioned
law.
3. Access to accurate information
- In
accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, the right of an individual
to have access to any public interest information cannot be limited. Public
authorities, according to
their competence, have the obligation to assure
accurate information of the citizens on matters of public and private interest.
The mass media have the obligation to assure the public correct and accurate
information. However, the right to information must
not prejudice measures for
the protection of children or national security.
The mass media
- For
the purpose of protecting children against the negative influence of certain
information or materials broadcast on television,
special provisions are
contained in the Decision of the Coordinating Council of AudioVideo, on
publicity addressed to children.
According to this decision, prejudice to the
interests of children must be avoided and their sensitivity permanently taken
into account,
through respect of the following rules:
Not to recommend that children purchase a product, request a service or
practise an activity, taking advantage of their lack of experience
and
credulity;
Not to encourage children to convince their parents or other persons to
purchase the respective goods or services for them;
Not to exploit children’s trust in their parents, their teachers or
other people;
Not to present, without a wellgrounded reason, children in dangerous
situations or situations on the verge of vulgarity.
- To
these special provisions on publicity addressed to children, other provisions
are added which stipulate the following general aspects
that publicity must not
contain, aspects that have an impact also on children, in the context of their
protection and of ensuring
an appropriate environment for their harmonious
development:
It must not contain obscene scenes, against morals;
It must not prejudice a person’s dignity, honour or private life;
It must not incite to violence or national, racist, social or religious
hatred, and must not include discrimination based on race,
sex or
nationality;
It must not stimulate behaviour that could prejudice health and safety;
It must not encourage behaviour that could prejudice the environment.
- The
same aspect of children protection is primarily taken into account in the
advertising of certain goods, such as tobacco products,
liquor, drugs and
medical treatments, as well as films and performances forbidden to children.
Some of the main regulations concerning
these issues are:
Advertising of tobacco products is not allowed;
Advertising of liquor of any kind must not be addressed especially to
children and no minor person must be associated with advertising
liquor;
During the peak audience hours, advertising of alcoholic drinks is allowed,
on condition that it is not accompanied by drinking gestures,
but it cannot be
broadcast during shows for children and sports games;
Advertising of drugs and medical treatments that cannot be obtained without a
prescription is not allowed;
Broadcast advertising of movies and performances forbidden to children, as
well of movies containing shocking or extremely violent
scenes is not
allowed.
PART TWO
III. GENERAL MEASURES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE
CONVENTION
A. Legal framework
- Adjusting
the national legal framework to the Convention on the Rights of the Child was
initiated in the Republic of Moldova through
the drafting of a set of normative
texts:
Law No. 338XII on Child Rights, of 12 December 1994;
Law No. 499XII on the State Social Pension for Certain Categories of
Citizens, of 14 July 1999;
Decisions of the Government of the Republic of Moldova:
No. 571, of 2 September 1992, approving a programme of
measures with a view to improving the situation of women, and mother and child
protection;
No. 749, of 29 November 1993, on the Committee for Adoption of
the Republic of Moldova;
No. 764, of 8 December 1993, approving a programme for
organizing the International Year of the Family in the Republic of Moldova;
No. 62, of 3 February 1994, on adoption of children by foreign
citizens;
No. 679, of 6 October 1995, approving a State programme
concerning the assurance of children’s rights;
No. 456, of 15 May 1997, on additional social protection
measures for families with many children;
No. 42, of 25 January 1999, modifying Government Decision
No. 198 of April 1993;
No. 395, of 21 April 2000, approving the programme of activity
for the Year of the Child.
- At
the moment, a series of normative texts are being drafted with the purpose of
improving the legislation on children rights. They
are to be submitted for
approval to the Government and the Parliament. Among them, the Law on the
Protection of Children in Difficult
Situations and the Law on State Pensions for
Families with Many Children should be mentioned, as well as a series of
amendments provided
for in the new Family Code, which at present is being
examined by the Parliament.
B. Institutional framework
- In
the period under review, steps were taken to establish an institutional
framework which will allow the implementation of the relevant
legislation and
the improvement of the situation of children in the Republic of
Moldova:
(i) The Committee for the Adoption of the Republic of Moldova was constituted in
1993;
(ii) The Sector for Family, Woman and Child Protection was created in 1997,
within the State Chancery;
(iii) The Direction for Family Policy and Equal Opportunities was created within
the Ministry of Labour, Social Protection and the
Family, in
1998;
(iv) The National Council for Child Rights Protection an interministerial body
authorized to coordinate and monitor activities and
policies carried out in the
interest of the child, was constituted in 1998; also, such councils were also
instituted at a local level;
(v) Child protection sections were created in the counties, in
1999.
National Council for Child Rights Protection
- By
Decision No. 106 of the Government of the Republic of Moldova, of
30 January 1998, the National Council for Child Rights Protection
was
created. Its purpose is to monitor and ensure respect for the Convention on
Rights of the Child and the implementation of the
provisions of the Law of the
Republic of Moldova on Child Rights.
- The
Council is a governmental body that contributes to the elaboration and
application of the policy of promoting the major interests
of the child in
society. The Council is headed by the VicePrime Minister in charge of social
problems. Representatives of central
and local public administration
authorities, and public officers, whose field of activity includes
children’s issues are members
of the Council.
- The
basic responsibilities of the Council are:
To ensure integral respect of the provisions of the Convention on the Rights
of the Child in the Republic of Moldova;
To elaborate governmental policies with a view to the implementation of
children’s rights at the national level;
To consolidate social cohesion in the field of child rights
protection.
- The
Council contributes essentially to the accomplishment of State policy in the
field of child protection, through the elaboration
of governmental policies to
improve the living conditions of children in the family and in the child
protection institutions:
Drafting strategies, programmes and normative documents, with a view to
updating the legislative framework and harmonizing it with
the international
legislative framework, including the Convention on Rights of the Child;
Publicity at the national level for child protection priority and education
of the population in the spirit of respect for child rights.
- In
its activity, the Council collaborates with ministries and departments, and
local public administration bodies. Collaboration
of the Council with
international organizations and nongovernmental structures has a special
significance, as the latter (UNICEF,
UNDP, the World Bank, the European Trust
for Children and Save the Children) keep track of the situation of children all
over the
country. Vital support is provided by these organizations, through the
implementation of joint programmes of national interest,
such as programmes for
child immunization, the creation of alternative child protection institutions,
the prevention of child abandonment,
the training of specialists,
etc.
- On
the basis of a decision of the National Council for Child Rights Protection,
councils for child rights protection were created
in the counties, which ensure
respect for child rights at a local level. The county councils are direct
mechanisms for the promotion
of child policy at a high level.
C. Mechanisms planned for the implementation of the
Convention
- Revision
of the legislative framework in the field of child protection, in the spirit of
full respect for the principles and provisions
of the Convention on Rights of
the Child constitutes a priority in the development and implementation of a
strategy of family and
child social protection. Reform of the system of child
rights protection, initiated by the Government of the Republic of Moldova
at the
beginning of 1999, is based on the following principles:
Principle of priority of the best interests of the child;
Nondiscrimination principle, which allows any child whose development,
security of physical or moral integrity are endangered to benefit
from the
protection measures provided by law;
Decentralization of decisionmaking and of responsibilities in this field to
the local public administration level;
Favouring familytype alternatives for the residential protection of children
in difficulty.
- This
strategy will have the following objectives:
Reform and development of the legal framework;
Reform of the administrativeorganizational framework;
Development of a social assistance system, focused on the family and the
child;
Development of special programmes oriented towards priority problems.
IV. CONCEPT OF THE CHILD
- According
to article 1, paragraph 2, of Law No. 338XIII on Child Rights,
of 15 December 1994, a person is considered a child from
the
moment of his birth until he reaches the age of 18.
- The
age of 18 is provided by the legal framework as the age of majority. According
to article 11 of the Civil Code, the citizen’s
full capacity to
exercise rights and to assume obligations through his acts comes with the age of
majority, when a person reaches
the age of 18.
- In
accordance with the Marriage and Family Code, the minimum age for marriage is 18
for men and 16 for women. This age can be lowered,
in exceptional cases, but by
no more than two years (art. 16). If the law allows a citizen to marry
under the age of 18, the citizen,
even being under 18, has full capacity to
exercise rights and assume obligations at the moment of his marriage
(art. 11, para. 2
of the Civil Code).
- In
accordance with Law No. 547 on Education, of 21 July 1995, the compulsory
education period is nine years. Obligatory attendance
of school ceases at the
end of the school year when the student reaches the age of 16 (art.
9).
- Pre-school
education is obligatory from the age of 5 and is carried out in preparatory
groups in kindergarten, in school or, on parents’
request, in the family
(art. 17, para. 7).
- Primary
education consists of grades 1 to 4. Primary schools can function as separate
units within secondary schools. Children aged
6 or 7 at the beginning of the
school year are accepted in grade 1. Education in school becomes obligatory at
the age of 7 (art.
18, paras. 2 and 3). Gymnasium education is obligatory
and is organized as stationary for grades 5 to 9
(art. 19, para. 1).
- The
State guarantees professional education for graduates from the gymnasium who are
under 16 and do not attend high school (art.
21, para. 2).
- Parents
or trustees are obliged to ensure the inclusion of their child in an obligatory
education structure (State or private) or
to carry out his education in the
family (art. 60, para. 2 (a)).
- Law
No. 338-XIII on Child Rights of 15 December 1994, stipulates, that a child has
the right to independent work, according to his
age capacities, his health and
his professional training (art. 11, para. 1).
- The
Labour Code of the Republic of Moldova provides that employment of people under
the age of 16 is not allowed. In exceptional
cases, by mutual agreement with
the union committee of the company, institution or organization, persons who
have reached the age
of 15 can be employed. For professional training of
teenagers in production, individual work contracts may be drawn up with students
of secondary professional technical professional and speciality schools for
performance in their spare time of easy activities that
do not cause damage to
their health and education, if they have reached the age of 14, with their
parents’ or guardians’
agreement (art. 181).
- Minors,
in their work relations, have equal rights with adults, and benefit from some
facilities in the area of work protection or
vacations (art.
182).
- It
is forbidden to require people who are under 18 to perform hard work, in harmful
or dangerous work conditions underground, or in
activities relating to liquor
fabrication, storage and trade. It is also forbidden to use minors in moving or
carrying heavy objects,
that exceed the maximum norms set for them (art.
183).
- Involving
minors in any activity that is dangerous for their health or prevents them from
carrying out their education or damages
their physical, intellectual, spiritual
or social development, leads to fines in the amount of up to 20 times the
minimum wage (art.
41/1 of the Code of Administrative
Contraventions).
- According
to the Labour Code, all individuals under 18 will be employed only after a
preliminary medical examination (art. 184).
A probation term is not set when
persons under 18 are employed (art. 23.3).
- A
36-hour work week is set for people between 16 and 18 years old, and a 24-hour
week for people between 15 and 16 years old (and
for students working during
their holidays) (arts. 48 and 187).
- It
is forbidden to use employees under 18 for night work, for overtime work and for
work during weekends and legal holidays (art.
185).
- For
employees under 18, production norms proportional to their shorter working hours
are set, taking into account the norms for adult
employees. Reduced production
norms can be set for young people newly employed in a company or organization
after graduating from
secondary schools, technical professional schools or
training courses.
- Employees
under 18 will be entitled to one month’s vacation in summer, or, with
their consent, at any time of the year. Employees
under 18, with shorter work
hours, will receive the same payment as employees in the respective category
working full-time. Students
who combine work with education will be paid
proportionally with the time they work, or will receive piece wages (arts. 188
and 195).
- In
accordance with Law No. 968-XII, on Obligatory Military Service, of 17 March
1992, all male citizens of the Republic of Moldova
who have reached the age of
16 will be registered in the military register of the local military authority.
From the moment of their
registration in the local military records, citizens
have the status of recruits (art. 7). Citizens of the Republic of Moldova who
have reached the age of 18 are to be conscripted for the obligatory term of
military service (art. 15).
- In
the event of war, young people are conscripted to participate in the conflict,
at the moment they reach the age of majority.
- Criminal
liability of minor persons is provided for by the current legal framework of the
Republic of Moldova. Thus, article 10 of
the Criminal Code establishes criminal
liability for persons who, at the time the offence was committed, had reached
the age of 16.
Juveniles who have not reached the age of 14 bear no criminal
liability.
- Persons
between 14 and 16 who commit a crime, are criminally liable only in cases of
murder, intentional harm to bodily integrity
causing damage to health, rape,
theft, robbery, serious theft of private property, for serious and exceptionally
serious hooliganism,
intentional destruction or deterioration of private
property, theft of drugs, weapons, ammunition or explosives, as well as for
intentional
acts that can cause a train derailment.
- In
accordance with article 60 of the Penal Code, educational steps can be taken
against a juvenile who is criminally liable by making
him apologize publicly in
front of the harmed person, or in another form set by the court, such as a
reprimand or severe reprimand,
a warning, the obligation of a juvenile who has
reached the age of 15 to repair damaged caused, if the juvenile has his own
income
and if the damage does not exceed the amount of a minimum wage,
entrusting the juvenile for strict supervision to his parents or
guardians, or
to a work collective or a civil organization, with their consent, or internment
of the juvenile in an educational or
medical institution.
- The
State, through article 24 of the Constitution, guarantees the right to life and
to physical and psychic integrity of each and every citizen. Through Law No.
677-XIII on the Modification
and Completion of the Criminal Code, the Criminal
Procedure Code and the Code of Execution of Criminal Sanctions, of 8 December
1995,
the death penalty was abolished and replaced with a life sentence.
- Article
23.2 of the Criminal Code provides that, as punishment for a person who, at the
time when a crime was committed, had not reached
the age of 18, a prison
sentence cannot exceed 10 years and, in the case that a juvenile between the
ages of 16 and 18 committed
a crime for which a life sentence is provided, the
jail term cannot exceed 15 years.
- Hearing
of a juvenile witness in civil and criminal cases will be carried out in
accordance with the current legislation. Thus, a
teacher will be called to
assist a 14-year-old juvenile and, in situations where the court considers it
appropriate, juveniles between
14 and 16 will also be assisted. If necessary,
parents, trustees or adoptive parents are called (arts. 173 and 174 of the Civil
Procedure Code and arts. 132 and 139 of the Criminal Procedure Code).
- In
compliance with the Civil Code of the Republic of Moldova, the civil capacity of
a citizen to obtain, through his acts, civil rights
and to assume civil
obligations, begins when he attains the age of 18.
- If
the law allows marriage before a citizen reaches the age of 18, that citizen,
even aged under 18, acquires full capacity to exercise
his rights as of the time
the marriage is concluded (art. 11).
- Juveniles
between 15 and 18 can conclude agreements with their parents’,
guardians’ or adoptive parents’ consent.
For juveniles under 15,
agreements are concluded on their behalf by their parents, adoptive parents or
guardians. Agreements that
do not comply with the provisions of the law
including those that damage juveniles’ personal and property rights, can
be annulled
by the court, at the juveniles’ request (arts. 13, 14, 50, 53,
56).
- Property
protection by the State is stipulated by article 127 of the Constitution.
Through this, the State guarantees the exercise of property right in the forms
requested by the holder, on condition that they
are not in contradiction with
the interests of society.
- According
to article 46 of the Constitution, the right to private property, as well as the
right to make claims against the State are guaranteed. No one can have their
property
expropriated, unless for a public utility cause, set forth in the law,
with previous and fair compensation. The right to inherit
private property is
guaranteed.
- Article
570 provides for “right to an obligatory share of the inheritance”.
It stipulates the following: “Juveniles
or children (including adopted
ones) of the person who left the inheritance who are incapable of work and were
supported by the deceased,
will inherit, irrespective of the content of the
will, at least two thirds of the share due to each of them, in the case of legal
succession (obligatory share). In setting the obligatory shares, the value of
the assets is composed of the furniture and domestic
equipment in the house.
- The
Civil Procedure Code provides that rights and interests protected by law of
juveniles between the ages of 15 and 18, as well as
of citizens with limited
capacity to exercise their rights, will be defended in the court by their
parents, adoptive parents or guardians.
However, in such situations, the court
has the obligation to subpoena the juvenile or the person with limited capacity.
In cases
arising from legal aspects regarding work, marriage and the family, as
well as from agreements on the disposal of earned profit,
juveniles have the
right to personally defend their legally protected rights and interests in the
court. The court will decide if
it is necessary to subpoena the
juveniles’ parents, adoptive parents or guardians to assist them. Legally
protected rights
and interests of juveniles who have not reached the age of 15,
will be defended in the court by their legal representatives - parents,
adoptive
parents or guardians (art. 52).
- In
conformity with the Code on Administrative Contraventions, persons who, at the
time when they committed the contravention, had
not reached the age of 16 can be
made civilly liable (art. 12). For persons between 16 and 18 who committed
administrative contraventions,
measures provided by the Regulations for
Juveniles will be applied (art. 13). Administrative arrest cannot be applied to
people
who had not reached the age of 18 (art. 31).
- Articles
164, 167,169, 170 and 292 of the Code on Administrative Contraventions
stipulates administrative liability for:
Hooliganism or less serious hooliganism committed by juveniles between 14 and
16, brings about application of fines on parents or
on persons substituting for
them, in an amount of up to three minimum wages;
The appearance of juveniles under 16 in a state of inebriety in a public
place, as well as their consumption of liquor, bring about
the application of a
fine in an amount of up to one half of one minimum wage on parents or on persons
substituting for them;
Bringing the juvenile in a state of inebriety by his parents or by other
persons, brings about application of a fine in an amount
of up to five minimum
wages;
The failure of parents or of persons who substitute for them to fulfil their
duty to supervise, educate and train juveniles, and the
consumption of drugs by
juveniles without a doctor’s recommendation, brings about a warning or the
application of a fine on
parents or on their substitutes, in an amount of up to
three minimum wages.
V. GENERAL PRINCIPLES
- State
protection of children constitutes a primary political, social and economic
concern in the Republic of Moldova.
- State
policy in the field of children’s rights is aimed towards ensuring the
accomplishment of the basic principles provided
by the Convention on the Rights
of the Child, with no discrimination, irrespective of race, colour, sex,
language, religion, political
opinion or any other kind of opinion of the child
or of his parents or legal representatives, irrespective of their national,
ethnic,
social or material situation, or of their handicap, their birth or any
other condition.
- According
to constitutional provisions, all citizens of the Republic of Moldova are equal
before the law and the public authorities,
irrespective of their race,
nationality, ethnic origin, language, religion, sex, opinion, political
orientation, real estate or social
origin. It is obvious that children also
benefit from these provisions of the supreme law, all the more so in that these
regulations
are also provided in the Law on Child Rights, which states:
“all children are equal in rights, irrespective of their race,
nationality, ethnic origin, sex, language, conviction, real estate or social
origin”.
- The
State, through the Law on Education, guarantees the right to education,
irrespective of nationality, sex, age, origin, social
status, political or
religious orientation or criminal record. Thus, all children, including those
belonging to national minorities,
are offered equal opportunities to benefit
from education.
- In
localities densely populated by national minorities, at the request of parents,
study of their mother tongue (Gagauz, Bulgarian,
Ukrainian, etc.) is organized.
In Chişinău, on communities’ initiative, Sunday schools function
for the study of
foreign languages: Lithuanian, Polish, German,
Azeri.
- The
State assures equal rights to all children, irrespective of their nationality,
to study the official language. They are offered
the opportunity to go to their
countries of origin and study their ethnic history and language.
- The
existing legal framework provides for the support of national minorities by the
State in developing their mother tongue and culture.
The State contributes to
opening kindergartens, schools, gymnasiums and high schools with education in
the language of national
minorities and in the official language. In
Chişinău and other towns and county centres, libraries with books in
the Russian,
Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Gagauz, Yiddish, Hebrew and Belarusian
languages have been opened. Also, the broadcasting of radio and television
shows and the distribution of the written press in languages of national
minorities is supported, as well as the establishment of
permanent contacts
between representatives of ethnic minorities and of ethno-cultural organizations
with their historic homeland
(for further information, see sect.
9.3).
- The
child’s right to psychic and physical inviolability is guaranteed by the
State, both in the Constitution and in the Law on Child Rights. All actions
concerning a child take into account his best interests. The State ensures
appropriate
care to a child, in the event of his parents or their substitutes
failing to provide it.
- Thus,
the Marriage and Family Code stipulates that parental rights cannot be exercised
in contradiction of a child’s interests.
- If,
as a result of marriage annulment or due to other reasons, parents do not live
together, they are to agree with whom their minor
children will live. If they
fail to reach agreement, the dispute will be solved by the court, taking into
consideration the child’s
interests; if a child has reached the age of 10,
the court will take into account his own wishes.
- Parents
have the right to require any person to give them back their minor children who
are kept without a legal ground or without
a court decision. The court has the
right to reject the parents’ request, if it reaches the conclusion that
giving the child
back to his parents runs counter to the child’s
interests.
- The
authorities can refuse to grant a parent permission to see the child in cases
where the parent’s contact with the child
can cause physical or psychic
damage to the latter, if it is obvious that the parent is incapable of such a
contact, if, for certain
reasons, the contact is contrary to the child interests
or if, during the court sessions, the child expressed serious objections
to
seeing the parent who lost his or her parental rights.
- Adoption
is allowed only as far as minor children are concerned and only in their
interest.
- When
adoptive parents fail to reach agreement on the child’s citizenship, the
court will decide, taking into consideration the
child’s interests.
- Any
child has the right to know his parents, to benefit from their care and to live
with them, except in cases where separation from
one parent or from both is
necessary in the child’s interest.
- The
State protects the inviolability of the child, defending him from any form of
exploitation, discrimination and physical or psychological
violence by
forbidding cruel, rude, contemptuous behaviour and insults, towards children and
mistreatment of them, etc.
- Respect
for children’s opinions is reflected in the current legislation. The
Marriage and Family Code sets forth the right
of any child who has reached the
age of 10 to change his name and, in all cases, this will be done only with the
child’s consent.
- Giving
a family name to, as well as changing the last name of, an adopted child who has
reached the age of 10 can be done only with
his consent, expressed in the court,
except in cases where the child’s father maintains his rights and
obligations with respect
to the child.
- Adoption
cannot be annulled if, at the moment a case for annulment is initiated, the
adopted person has reached the age of majority,
except in cases where, the
mutual consent of adoptive parents, parents and the adopted person himself for
such an annulment exists.
- For
adoption, the consent of the parents, provided their parental rights have not
been withdrawn, will be asked for, as well as the
consent of the adopted person
himself expressed in court, if he has reached the age of 10.
- The
registration of paternity for persons who have come of age will be allowed only
with their consent.
- The
State guarantees to a child capable of formulating his own opinion, the right to
express it freely on any issues concerning him.
A child’s opinion will be
considered, bearing in mind his age and his level of maturity. For this
purpose, the child is offered
the opportunity to be heard in legal or
administrative sessions concerning him, either directly, or through an
appropriate representative
or authority.
- The
State guarantees to invalid children and to children with physical or mental
handicaps free medical assistance, specialized psychological
help, general and
professional education, jobs in accordance with their capacities and
resocialization, to enable them to enjoy a
decent life, in conditions that
facilitate their active participation in social life.
State invalidity pensions for invalid children
- Through
the Law on Child Rights, the State guarantees to each and every child the right
to an appropriate standard of living for his
physical, intellectual, spiritual
and social development. At the same time, the State takes steps with a view to
providing support
to parents, as well as to other persons responsible for the
education and development of children.
- All
children are offered equal opportunities and conditions for the appropriation of
cultural values. For this purpose, various State
and civil institutions have
been created to contribute to the development of children’s creative
capacities, and children are
guaranteed access to such institutions. The State
supports the publication of newspapers, magazines and books for children, and
the making of films and radio and television broadcasts for children.
- In
the past few years, the network of libraries for children has faced a series of
difficulties in complementing their stock with
new literature for children,
maintaining the libraries and providing them with financial
resources.
- At
present, in Moldova (except for institutions of this type in the eastern
counties), 84 school institutions are functioning, attended
by 50,000
pupils (statistics as of 1 January 1998), constituting 7.8 per cent of
the total number of pupils in pre-university educational
institutions. They
include 48 creative centres, attended by 3,753 children; 15 technical
creation centres, with 7,895 pupils; 12
tourism centres attended by 5,362
children and young people; and 9 centres for young naturalists with 2,771
children. The out-of-school
artistic education system is designed to discover,
to develop and to promote young talent.
- Over
the past decade, considerable changes occurred in the activity of out-of-school
institutions. Former clubs and social-political
groups were replaced with
ethno-folkloric, handicraft, erudite clubs, and other forms of spending spare
time. A constant interest
is manifested for specialized skills, sports and
tourism. Groups with an artistic/cultural profile continue to be overtaxed.
This
situation can be explained by the fact that out-of-school institutions have
also the task of filling in the gaps in the institutional
artistic
education.
- Aiming
at pleasant and useful organization of spare time and offering educational
services, generally for free, out-of-school institutions
provide a favourable
environment for the positive affirmation of children coming from families with
modest incomes, from socially
vulnerable families and for children who need
increased educational supervision.
- In
spite of all their economic and social disadvantages, out-of-school institutions
provide a fairly constant flow of out-of-school
activities. Choirs, folklore
festivals, fine arts, photography, handicraft exhibitions, choreography, sports,
alpinism competitions,
activities for young naturalists, etc. have become
traditional. Numerous teams of the out-of-school institutions had successful
performances in various international exhibitions and festivals in Bulgaria,
Romania, Germany, France, Turkey, Poland and elsewhere.
VI. CIVIL RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES
- In
the Republic of Moldova, a child’s right to a name is regulated by the
current legislation. Thus, article 5 of the Law on
Child Rights provides that,
from the moment of birth, a child has the right to a name and is registered in
accordance with provisions
of the Marriage and Family Code.
- The
Marriage and Family Code provides that a child born of a marriage will receive
his parents’ family name. If the parents
do not have the same family
name, the child will bear his father’s or his mother’s family name,
on the basis of his parents’
mutual agreement. In the absence of such an
agreement, the trusteeship authority in the area where the child resides will
decide
on the name he will bear. The child will be given a simple forename or
one composed of two or more names, according to his parents’
wishes.
- The
change of both parents’ family name will bring about a change in the
child’s family name. If one of his parents changes
his name, the
child’s family name can be changed with his parents’ agreement. In
the absence of such an agreement, the
issue of changing the child’s name
will be solved by the trusteeship authority in the area where the child resides.
The change
of both parent’s family name or of one of them, does not bring
about an automatic change of name for the child who has reached
the age of 18.
- Cessation
of his parents marriage or its annulment does not involve the change of the
children’s family name. If, after the
annulment of the marriage, the
parent living together with the child wants to give the latter his family name,
the trusteeship authority
in the area where the child resides can solve this
problem, taking into account the child’s best interests, even when the
other
parent is against changing the family name of the minor.
- When
the child’s parents are not married and the father’s family name and
data were registered on the birth certificate
as a result of the establishment
of paternity, trusteeship authority in the area where the child resides can
solve this problem,
taking into account the child’s best interests, even
when the other parent is against changing the child’s family name.
- Changing
the family name of a child who reached the age of 10 will be done in all cases
only with his consent.
- A
child’s right to citizenship is regulated both by the Law on Child Rights,
which stipulates that all children have the right
to citizenship, and by the Law
on Citizenship. In accordance with the Law on Citizenship, a child born in the
territory of the Republic
of Moldova is a citizen of the Republic of
Moldova.
- Also,
citizens of the Republic of Moldova are those who:
(i) Were born in the territory of the Republic of Moldova, even though only one
of the parents is a citizen of the Republic of Moldova;
(ii) Were born abroad and both parents or only one of them has the citizenship
of the Republic of Moldova;
(iii) Were born in the territory of the Republic of Moldova to stateless
parents;
(iv) Were born in the territory of the Republic of Moldova to parents having the
citizenship of other States, in cases where the
respective States do not provide
their citizenship.
- A
child found in the territory of the Republic of Moldova becomes a citizen of the
Republic of Moldova if neither of his parents is
identified.
- A
child who is a foreign citizen or lacks citizenship acquires the citizenship of
the Republic of Moldova by adoption, if the adoptive
parents are citizens of the
Republic of Moldova and the adopted child has not reached the age of
16.
- A
child who is a foreign citizen or lacks citizenship, adopted by spouses one of
whom is a citizen of the Republic of Moldova and
the other lacks citizenship
becomes a citizen of the Republic of Moldova, on the basis of an agreement
between adoptive parents.
In the case that adoptive parents fail to reach an
agreement, the court will decide on the minor’s citizenship, taking into
consideration his best interests. For children who reached the age of 14, their
consent is necessary.
- If
a single person adopts a child, and this person is a citizen of the Republic of
Moldova, the child will acquire the citizenship
of his adoptive parent.
- A
child who is a citizen of the Republic of Moldova and is adopted by a foreign
citizen or by spouses, one or both of whom are foreign
citizens, will keep the
citizenship of the Republic of Moldova.
- A
child, citizen of the Republic of Moldova, who is under the trusteeship or
guardianship of citizens of the Republic of Moldova,
whose parents or whose
single parent lives in the territory of the Republic of Moldova and do not
participate in his education, will
keep the citizenship of the Republic of
Moldova.
- The
State pledges itself to protect and, if necessary to rehabilitate, the basic
aspects of a child’s identity. The Constitution of the Republic of
Moldova provides that no one can be arbitrarily deprived of his citizenship or
of the right to change it. The
Law on Citizenship stipulates that the fact that
a citizen of the Republic of Moldova lives abroad, irrespective of the length of
his stay there, does not bring about loss of the citizenship of the Republic of
Moldova.
- According
to the Supreme Law, any citizen is guaranteed liberty of thinking, of opinion,
as well as liberty of public expression through
speech, images or in any other
possible way. Liberty of expression must not prejudice the honour, dignity or
the right of opinion
of another person. The Law on Education sets forth that
pupils and students have the right freely to express their opinions, convictions
and ideas.
- The
right of any person to have access to any information of public interest is not
limited. Public authorities, in conformity with
their competences provide
accurate information to citizens on public affairs and on private interest
issues.
- Freedom
of thought and conscience is regulated by the current legal framework. Thus,
the Law on Child Rights states that “the
right of a child to freedom of
thought, opinion and religion cannot be violated in any way”. No child is
obliged to hold any
opinion, or to adhere to any religion, contrary to his
convictions. The freedom of conscience of a child is guaranteed by the State
and is manifested in a spirit of religious tolerance and respect. Parents and
their surrogates have the right to educate their children
in accordance with
their convictions.
- The
right to association in civil organizations is guaranteed. Children have the
right to associate in civil organizations. The
State offers material support to
children’s civil associations, provides premises and also fiscal
facilities. The involvement
of children in political activity and their
membership in political parties is forbidden.
- The
State guarantees any child the right to life and to physical and psychological
integrity. No child shall be submitted to torture
or to cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment (article of the Law on Child Rights, No.
338-XIV of 15 December 1994).
- The
Legislation of the Republic of Moldova sets forth legal liability for actions or
failure to act regarding child abuse, depending
on the condition of pregnancy
state, the seriousness of the consequences and other circumstances. Thus, the
Criminal Code (art.
88) qualifies “murder committed by taking advantage of
the victim’s incapability to defend himself” as murder one
with
aggravating circumstances and it is punished with life imprisonment or with a
jail sentence of between 10 and 15 years.
- Instigation
to commit suicide or to attempt suicide of a person who depends financially or
in an other way on the instigator, either
through cruel behaviour, or through
systematic humiliation of the personal dignity of the victim shall be punished
with a jail sentence
of between one and five years (article 92 of the Criminal
Code).
- Harm
to bodily integrity is also punished by articles 95 to 99 of the Criminal Code.
Torture, systematic beating or any other actions
of the nature of torture are
punished by a jail sentence of up to three years, but the same actions committed
against minors are
punished with a jail sentence of up to five years (article
101 of the Criminal Code).
- Intentional
causing of slight bodily injury, maltreatment, hitting, and other violent
actions that cause physical pain are punished
with a fine of between 10 and 15
minimum wages, or by preventive arrest of up to 15 days (article 169 of the Code
on Administrative
Contraventions).
- According
to data of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, a few cases of child maltreatment
have been identified.
VII. FAMILY ENVIRONMENT AND ALTERNATIVE CARE
- Parents
have the right and the obligation to educate their children and to take care of
their children’s health, physical, spiritual
and moral development,
education and professional training.
- Defence
of the rights and interests of the minor is incumbent upon his parents, who are
his legal representatives, without special
authorization.
- Parental
rights cannot be exercised contrary to the child’s best interests. If
both parents (or either of them) do not properly
fulfil their educational duties
towards their children or abuse their parental rights, children have the right
to address the trusteeship
authorities for the defence of their rights and
interests.
- Father
and mother have equal rights and duties concerning their children’s
education, even in cases when their marriage was
annulled. All issues referring
to the children’s education are resolved on the basis of mutual agreement
between the parents.
If they fail to reach agreement, any litigation will be
resolved by the trusteeship authorities, with the parents’ participation.
- The
parent who lives separately from his minor children has the obligation to
participate in their education and has the right to
communicate with them. The
parent with whom minor children live does not have the right to prevent the
other parent from communicating
with his children or from participating in their
education. Trusteeship and guardianship authorities can deprive the parent
living
separately from the child of the right to communicate with him for a
certain term if such communication prevents the normal education
of the child
and exercises a negative influence on him.
- Both
parents, equally, or their surrogates, bear the main responsibility for the
physical, intellectual, spiritual and social development
of the child, taking
into account, above all, his best interests.
- Parents
or the children’s legal representatives have the obligation to ensure
inclusion of the child in a form of compulsory
education (public or private) or
to ensure his education in the family and to create appropriate conditions for
study, for the development
of his skills, for outofschool activities and for his
self-education.
- Parents
or their legal surrogates bear responsibility for the lack of permanent
supervision of children of very young age.
- Parents
have the obligation to support minor children and major children who are
incapable of working and who need help.
- When
a child is looked after by a State institution, because of having been abandoned
or having been taken ill as a result of failure
to respect a doctor’s
recommendations, both parents will pay compensation for his support and
treatment.
- Decreased
parental rights do not relieve the parents of the duty to support their
children. Payment for the support of their children
requested of parents, will
be as follows: one fourth of their income for one child; one third of their
income for two children;
and half their income for three or more children.
- Parents
who pay for the support of their minor children can be obliged to contribute
towards additional expenses, caused by exceptional
circumstances (serious
illness, mutilation of the child, etc.).
- In
cases when the parent obliged to make maintenance payments has an irregular
income and does not receive a monthly wage, as well
as in other cases, and
determining the payment proportionally with his income is impossible, or creates
difficulties, the payment
can, at the request of the person concerned, be set at
a fixed amount to be paid monthly.
- Money
from parents for the support of children interned in State institutions, will be
transferred into their personal accounts, opened
at the Banca de Economii, if,
by law, the parents must pay for their children’s support.
- A
person who has the right to maintenance payments can submit an application to
the court, irrespective of the time that has elapsed
since the right to such
payments was acquired. Maintenance payments will be adjudged for the period
following the submission of
the application in the court. Maintenance payments
for the period prior to the submission of the application in the court can be
sought for a term of up to three years, if the court finds that, until the
submission of the application, measures were taken to
receive maintenance
payments, but they were not made owing to the fact that the person who had this
obligation shirked it. In such
cases, parents can be obliged to pay for their
children’s support, even if the latter have reached the age of majority.
- A
person obliged to pay maintenance has to communicate to the bailiff, within
three days, any change in job or residence, as well
as any additional income
received (for overtime work, etc.).
- Payment
of maintenance arrears can be sought on the basis of an executive order, for a
maximum period of three years prior to the
issuance of the order. Minors who,
at the moment of their adoption have the right to receive maintenance or support
from State or
civil organizations, related to the loss of their sponsor,
maintain this right also in the case of adoption.
- Avoidance
of payment of the amounts set by a court decision for the support of underage
children is punished in accordance with the
current
legislation.
- Adoption
is allowed only as far as children are concerned and only in their best
interest. Adoptive parents can be citizens of both
sexes who have reached the
age of 25. Between adoptive parents and the adopted person, there must be a
difference of at least 15
years. On the basis of well-grounded reasons, when
the adoption application is examined, this term can be reduced, but by no more
than five years. For adoption, the consent of parents who have not lost their
parental rights will be requested, as well as the
consent of the adopted party,
expressed in court, if he has reached the age of 10. An adoption concluded
without the consent of
the child’s parents, or without the consent of the
spouse of the adoptive parent, can be cancelled in court on the basis of
action
initiated by the child’s parents or by the spouse of the adoptive parent,
if the court finds that the child’s
return to his parents corresponds to
his interests. If adoption is cancelled at the parents’ request, in cases
when the adopted
child has reached the age of 10, his wishes are also taken into
account (articles 101, 102, 117 of the Marriage and Family Code).
- Trusteeship
applies to children under the age of 15, and guardianship to children
over 15. After a person under trusteeship reaches
the age of 15, the
trusteeship ceases and the person performing the function becomes, without a
special appointment, the minor’s
guardian. Guardianship ceases after the
minor under guardianship reaches the age of 18. It ceases also when a person
under the
normal minimum age for marriage, but above the minimum reduced age
provided for by the legislation (arts. 128, 129, 153) marries.
- Trustees
and guardians have the obligation to live with those under their care. In some
cases, trusteeship and guardianship authorities
can approve a trustee or
guardian and the person entrusted to their supervision who has reached the age
of 16 living separately,
if this does not have a negative impact on the
education, rights and interests of the young person. Trustees and guardians
have
the obligation to communicate any change of residence to the trusteeship
and guardianship authorities. The State commits itself
to offer special
protection to children deprived of a family environment and ensures them
appropriate care in another family, or
within an institution.
- Trusteeship
and guardianship are instituted for the education of under-age children who, as
a result of the death of their parents,
loss of parental rights, their
parents’ illness or for other reasons, remain without parental care, as
well as for the purpose
of defending these children’s private and real
estate rights and interests.
- Trusteeship
is instituted for children who have not reached the age of 15 and for persons
declared incapable by the court, owing to
their mental alienation or
debility.
- Guardianship
is instituted for under-age persons between the ages of 15 and 18. Guardianship
is also instituted for grown-up capable
persons, if, due to their state of
health, they cannot defend their rights. For this last category of persons,
guardianship can
be instituted only at their request.
- Guardianship
is also instituted for individuals who have been declared by the court as having
limited capacity, due to alcohol or
drug abuse.
- Trustees
and guardians will be appointed neither for children whose education is entirely
carried out in children’s institutions,
nor for grown-ups who need
trusteeship or guardianship and who are interned in health or social assistance
institutions. The performance
of the functions of trustee or guardian for these
persons will be the task of the administration of the institution where they are
interned.
- Trustees
and guardians have the obligation to take care of grown-up persons under their
trusteeship or guardianship, to create proper
living conditions for them, to
ensure their medical care, and to defend their rights and interests.
- Besides
this, trustees of some retarded persons have the obligation to ensure permanent
medical care for the person under their trusteeship.
If the person gets well,
the trustee has the obligation to address the court, asking it to find that the
person under his trusteeship
is capable and to cancel the trusteeship instituted
on that person.
- The
existing legal framework provides for criminal liability for the use of
trusteeship or guardianship for the purpose of obtaining
profit or for the use
of patronage to the detriment of the person under trusteeship, and for leaving
children under trusteeship without
supervision and the necessary financial
support.
- If
the court finds it appropriate not to impose a criminal punishment on an
under-age person, who has committed a crime, it can decide
that the under-age
person should be interned in a special educational institution or in a medical
educational institution.
- Placement
of a child in a special educational institution will be made only in conformity
with a court decision, on the recommendation
of the authorized bodies of the
local public administration.
- A
child in a special educational institution has the right to human treatment, to
health protection, elementary or professional education,
meetings with his
parents, relatives or other interested persons, to vacation and
mail.
- A
mandatory condition in holding children in special educational institutions is
reeducation with a view to their return to a normal
life. According to the
legislation, children who are temporarily or permanently deprived of their
family environment or who, in
their own interest cannot be left in this
environment, benefit from State protection and special help.
- In
cases where the placement of a child without a family in another family is not
possible, he will be placed in an orphanage or similar
State institution. The
placement will be made in compliance with the current legislation. Children
placed in such institutions
are provided with the conditions for their physical,
intellectual and spiritual development, and for the preservation of their mother
tongue, their national culture, traditions and costumes, at the same time as
being taught skills for an independent life.
- If
both parents have forfeited their parental rights, the child is to be entrusted
to the care of trusteeship or guardianship authorities,
or to a boarding-type
institution. According to court information, in the five-year period 1990-1995,
587 persons were stripped
of their parental rights. Restoration of parental
rights is not allowed if the child is adopted.
- The
court can pronounce a decision, on the basis of which a child can be taken away
from his parents and be entrusted to the care
of trusteeship and guardianship
authorities, even if the parents have not been stripped of their parental
rights, if leaving the
child in his parents’ care represents a danger for
him. If the causes that served as the grounds for taking the child away
are
eliminated the court, at the parties’ request, can pronounce a decision
that the child can be restituted to his parents.
- Orphan
children or those who are without parental care will be adopted or placed either
in a different family or in a State institution
for children.
- Adoption
by foreign citizens is performed in compliance with the legislation, if an
appropriate solution cannot be found in the Republic
of Moldova. In finding a
solution, the necessity of ensuring continuity in the child’s education,
his ethnic, religious, cultural
and linguistic origin, and the child’s
wishes will be taken into account.
- Adoption
is made in a legal way, at the request of the person who wants to adopt a child.
Acting as unofficial intermediary in assisting
the adoption of children will not
be allowed, except in the cases provided for by law.
- For
adoption, the consent of parents who have not forfeited their parental rights,
as well as of the adopted child, if he has reached
the age of 10, expressed in
the court, will be requested.
- If,
prior to the submission of the adoption application, the child has been living
in the family of his adoptive parent and does not
know that the adoptive parent
is not his natural parent, adoption can be made, as an exception, without the
consent of the adopted
child.
- Parental
consent needs to be expressed in a statement authenticated by a notary or by the
administration of the State institution
for children in which the child is being
educated and taken care of. By the submission of the adoption application in
the court,
the consent statement can be withdrawn by parents at any moment.
- The
parents’ consent will not be required if they have lost their parental
rights or they have been declared, in the way established
by law, incapable or
missing.
- If
parents shirk from contributing to their children’s education, adoption
can take place, as an exception, without their consent.
- Adoption
can also take place without the parents’ consent, if they have not lived
together with their child for more than six
months and if, without good reason,
they do not participate in the child’s education and support, and do not
manifest parental
attention and care towards their child.
- If
a child is adopted by a married person but not by both spouses, the consent of
the other spouse will be required. The consent
of the other spouse will not be
required for adoption, if this spouse has been declared incapable in the manner
established by law,
as well as if the spouses have not lived together for more
than one year and the place of residence of the other spouse is not known.
- For
the adoption of children educated and supported by State institutions for
children, in the case that the parents’ consent
is not required, the
consent of the administration of the respective institution will be necessary.
In accepting a child in an institution,
the administration of that institution
has the right to ask the child’s parents whether they consent to the child
being adopted
in the future, without nominating the adoptive parent. The
consent can be given no earlier than one month after the child’s
birth,
or, in exceptional cases, before the expiry of this term.
- If
the parents have given such consent, in an authenticated form, confirmed consent
will not be required by the court, when examining
the adoption file.
- For
the adoption of an under-age person under trusteeship (guardianship), the
written consent of the trustee (guardian) will be required.
If the trustee
refuses to give his consent, the issue of adoption will be solved by the
trusteeship and guardianship authority.
- Adoption
of children who are citizens of the Republic of Moldova by foreign citizens will
be allowed, if these children are registered
in the records of the Committee for
Adoption of the Republic of Moldova and could not be taken into trusteeship or
adopted in the
country within at least six months of being registered. In
exceptional cases, taking into account the vital interests of a child
suffering
from a serious disease, curable only abroad, the Committee for Adoption of the
Republic of Moldova, with the approval of
the Ministry of Health, can decide
that the child can be adopted by the expiry of the six-month period.
- For
adoptions by foreign citizens, in parallel with approval of the trusteeship and
guardianship authorities in the adopted residence
area, the approval of the
Committee for Adoption of the Republic of Moldova is necessary.
- The
adoption of a child who is a citizen of the Republic of Moldova is also
considered valid if this adoption was made by the State
authorities in the
territory in which the child lives, on condition that prior authorization for
the adoption was obtained from the
Committee for Adoption of the Republic of
Moldova.
- A
child who is a citizen of the Republic of Moldova can be adopted by a foreign
citizen only if, in accordance with the law of the
country he is to leave, he
will benefit from equivalent guarantees and norms to those he would have had if
he had been adopted in
his own country, as well as if the laws of the respective
country guarantee the child rights equal to those provided by the legislation
of
the Republic of Moldova.
- The
Committee for Adoption of the Republic of Moldova, with the contribution of
diplomatic and consular representatives of the Republic
of Moldova, and in other
ways accepted by international norms, is called upon to obtain guarantees from
the authorities and bodies
of the State whose citizens adopted a child who is a
citizen of the Republic of Moldova that the child will benefit from norms and
guarantees equivalent to those he would have had if he had been adopted in his
native country.
- Before
a child can be adopted by foreign citizens, repeated meetings are held with the
persons close to the child, including the biological
parents. Thus, of the
total number of children registered in the records of the Committee for Adoption
(children who were not requested
for adoption by families in the localities
where they were born), one fourth found a family in the country (either they
went back
to their biological family or were adopted by national families).
Most orphan children adopted by foreign families suffered from
diseases.
- The
Criminal Code of the Republic of Moldova stipulates that acceptance of a reward
of any kind by the parent, trustee (guardian),
any other legal protector of the
child, or by any other person for giving his consent to adoption or for other
purposes related to
adoption, either the transfer of the child to other persons
who are not the child’s parents, in any other way than that provided
by
law, or presentation of inaccurate data for the child’s identification,
will be punished with a jail sentence of between
3 and 10 years, with
confiscation of the reward received.
- The
exercise of pressure of any kind on a parent, trustee (guardian) or other legal
protector of a child for the purpose of obtaining
his consent to adopt or to
give the child away, as well as for the purpose of presenting inaccurate
data on the child’s identity,
for the purpose of his transfer to
other persons, will be punished with a jail sentence of between 7 and 15
years (art. 112 (2)).
VIII. BASIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
- Articles
47, 48, 49, 50, 51, title II, chapter 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of
Moldova sanction the right of the family, mother and child to special assistance
and protection, the right of
children and young people to benefit from a special
assistance regime in realizing their rights and the right of children to
necessary
social allocations and of ill or handicapped people to
assistance.
- With
a view to implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Parliament
of the Republic of Moldova adopted, on 15 December
1994, the Law on Child
Rights, which regulates the current legal framework concerning child protection,
establishes the child’s
legal status as an independent topic, provides for
the assurance of the child’s physical and spiritual health and the
moulding
his civic conscience, on the basis of national and general human
values, paying special attention to providing social protection
to children
temporarily or permanently deprived of their family environment or who find
themselves in extreme or unfavourable conditions.
- For
the purpose of implementing the Law on Child Rights, the State Programme on
Child Rights was drafted, and approved by the Government
through Decision of the
Government of the Republic of Moldova No. 679, of 6 October 1995. The Programme
sets forth a series of measures
that oblige the State structures to create a
favourable environment for children’s upbringing and development.
- An
increase in the number of congenital anomalies and cases of trauma has led to an
increase in the number of invalids. There were
11,200 invalids under the age of
15 in 1999, compared to 8,900 in 1992. This increase has resulted in serious
socio-economic problems
related to their support by society.
Table 9. Invalid children
|
1992
|
1993
|
1994
|
1995
|
1996
|
1997
|
Number of invalids under the age of 16 registered with the State insurance
bodies
|
8 858
|
10 036
|
10 475
|
10 752
|
11 009
|
11 529
|
Number of children in boarding institutions for invalid children
|
526
|
551
|
552
|
493
|
515
|
529
|
Source: Ministry of Labour, Social Protection and the
Family.
- One
of the primary rights of the child is that to full health and access to sanitary
and medical services, stress being laid on basic
and preventive care, on
education for health, and on rational nourishment.
- In
the Republic of Moldova, the law recognizes mother and child health protection
as a priority activity of all State bodies. In
accordance with the Law on Child
Rights (1994), child health protection is provided initially in the antenatal
period. The child
benefits from medical assistance, with the most advanced
technologies existing in the country. For the first time, the obligations
of
parents in child health protection were legally emphasized.
- However,
unfortunately, the transition period generated some rather negative processes
and tendencies that considerably affect the
situation of children in the
country.
- The
institutional structure of the health protection system is currently subject to
modifications related to the reform of the health
protection system in general,
which is aimed at increasing the population’s access to medical
assistance, improving its quality,
and costs optimization in the health
protection system.
- Medical
assistance of the population, including children, is assured, at a primary
level, by family doctors (family doctor centres,
health centres, and family
doctor offices). Hospital medical assistance is assured by sector and county
hospitals. Specialized
and high qualification medical assistance is provided by
republican medical institutions. Child health and care issues are coordinated
at a ministry level by the Mother and Child Medical Assistance Department within
the Ministry of Health.
- Obviously,
the extended socio-economic crisis has also affected the state of mother and
child health. Lack of rational nourishment
of young pregnant women, tense
situations both in the family and in society, unlimited work hours, often in
noxious conditions, and
diminished possibilities of diagnosis and treatment in
medical institutions have led to a considerable increase in morbidity,
especially
among pregnant women and children. Every second pregnant woman
suffers from anaemia, every third pregnant woman suffers from chronic
diseases
of the urogenital or cardiovascular system. This state of things represents a
serious danger both for the woman’s
health and life and for the normal
development of the foetus.
- The
dissatisfactory state of health of women of fertile age, increasing alcoholism,
drug addiction and smoking among young women have
contributed to an increase in
the obstetrical risk level and, as a result, 5.3 per cent of babies are born
premature, 6 per cent
are born with hypertrophies, 12 per cent with
hypovitaminosis, and 20.8 of 10,000 born alive, are born with congenital
diseases;
366 newborn babies out of every 1,000 are already
ill.
- Worsening
of child care and nutrition has led to about 20 per cent of children suffering
from anaemia in their first year of life,
35.5 per cent from rickets and 20 per
cent from diseases of the nervous system.
- Over
the past five years, there has been an increase in mortality among children
under 14, from 6,374, 7 in 1994 to 5,892 per 10,000
children in 1999. Mother
and child access to free medical care diminished considerably.
- It
is necessary to mention here that the real morbidity rate is much higher, a
situation that can be explained by the fact that, in
the last few years,
consultation of doctors by parents with ill children diminished considerably,
and by the fact that there are
no financial means to purchase and to ensure a
sufficient supply of medicines for the medical institutions for
children.
- In
the period 1995-1999 morbidity among children under 14 increased, essentially
because of infectious diseases, diseases of the urogenital
system, anaemia,
diseases in the antenatal period, congenital malformations. The percentage of
physically retarded children increased
from 1.3 per cent in 1995
to 1.4 per cent in 1999.
- On
the other hand, in 1999, compared to 1995, the number of cases of trauma,
intoxication, burns and food poisoning among children
decreased.
- Over
the past three years, a gradual diminution of infantile mortality was obtained.
The indices were the following: 19.8 per 1,000
new live-born children in 1997;
17.4 in 1998 and 18.2 in 1999. Most of the infantile mortality is caused
by: antenatal diseases,
pathologies of the respiratory system, congenital
malformations, trauma and food poisonings. We need to mention that about 65 per
cent of these children simultaneously suffered from malnutrition. However, the
problem of children’s rational nourishment
remains actual and still
unsolved at a national level.
- Nowadays
we regretfully witness the amplification of a tragic social phenomenon -
abandonment of newborn children. Every year, about
350 such babies are
abandoned; due to lack of maternal affection and care, they are at permanent
risk of being taken ill or of death.
Their staying in medical institutions
leads to somatic and psychic retardation.
- In
the Republic of Moldova a situation was created in which children born with
certain pathologies that lead to invalidity cannot
be cured in due time and
cannot qualify for subsequent social integration.
- At
the beginning of 1999 there were 14,469 invalid children registered in the
medical records. We need to mention that in the past
10 years, the number of
invalid children doubled, 65 per cent of them suffering from
psycho-neurological and orthopaedical pathology.
There is a high level of
traumatism among children. All these children need long rehabilitation
treatment.
- Over
the past five years, the creation of the Republican Centre for the Recovery of
Seriously Ill Children has been discussed at various
levels, but, unfortunately,
so far, this question is still unresolved, due to the lack of financial means.
- Taking
into account current diminished possibilities of the State budget for the entire
funding of the health protection system, State
programmes were elaborated to
address the key problems in health protection, especially in mother and child
health protection, and
have been adopted by the Government of the Republic of
Moldova:
National Programme for the Strengthening of Antenatal Medical
Assistance;
National Programme for Improving Genetic-Medical
Assistance;
National Child Nourishment Programme;
National
Programme for Children’s Oral Health;
National Imunoprophylaxy
Programme;
Programme of Action for the Year of the Child;
National Programme for Improvement of Family Planning and Reproductive
Health Protection Assistance.
- In
view of the pressing problems mentioned above, improvement measures were taken,
aimed, first of all, at the reform of primary medical
care. This will allow the
volume and quality of medical care to be increased, mainly to pregnant women and
children, at home. Also,
possibilities for optimizing costs in medical
institutions are being sought that will create the opportunity to improve access
to
qualified primary and hospital assistance, and to a better medicine
supply.
- Over
the past years, the Ministry of Health, with the support of UNICEF and the World
Health Organization, has been successfully implementing
projects to combat acute
diarrhoea and respiratory diseases in children, and to promote breastfeeding and
has started implementing
Integrated Management of Childhood Illness projects,
which support the State Strategy for the Development of the Health Protection
System in the Country.
- For
the purpose of accomplishing child social protection objectives, a series of
normative documents were drafted that provide solutions
for the most severe
family, mother and child problems and for improving the degree of social
protection for families with children
that are less protected.
- Article
48 of the Labour Code establishes a diminished work programme of 36 hours
per week for employees aged between 16 and 18 years,
and of 24 hours per
week for pupils aged between 15 and 16 years. Article 53 provides for a
part-time work programme for pregnant
women and for mothers with children up to
the age of 14 or invalid children up to the age of 16.
- When
the Law on State Social Insurance Pensions came into force, a social pension for
invalid children was not established. Consequently,
this category of children
remained in the care of the State. For this purpose, through Parliament
Decision No. 499-XIV, on 14 July
1999, the Law on State Social Allocations for
Certain Categories of Citizens was adopted. Article 3 (c, d) of
this law sets forth
that the beneficiaries of this allocation shall be invalid
children up to the age of 16, with first, second or third degree invalidity,
and
children who have lost their sponsor. Allocations established in conformity
with the above-mentioned law are paid from State
budget sources, through the
State insurance budget. Article 8 of the law sets forth the amount of the
allocation in a percentage
proportional to the minimum pension for the age
category:
Children with first degree invalidity - 100 per
cent;
Children with second or third degree invalidity - 85 per
cent.
- Article
9 of this law stipulates that the allocation for children who have lost their
sponsor shall be paid if the deceased person
did not fulfil the conditions for
acquiring the right to a State social insurance pension. The allocation for
children who have
lost their sponsor will be provided for persons under the age
of 18 (pupils and students in secondary educational institutions and
university
- until their graduation, but no later than the age of 23), if they are not
entirely supported by the State and do not
have any assured income.
- Allocation
for children who have lost their sponsor is set at 75 per cent of the minimum
pension for each age category, but without
exceeding the amount of 1.5 times the
minimum pension for the age category. In the case of the loss of both parents,
the amount
of the allocation will be doubled.
- The
Republic of Moldova inherited from the Soviet period a series of institutions
where orphans, abandoned, mentally and physically
handicapped children, children
coming from families with complex social problems are taken care of. According
to the latest statistics,
about 15,000 children live outside their family.
- Children
with health or social problems are taken care of in the following
institutions:
Homes for children between 0 and 7
years;
Special kindergartens;
Homes for children between 7 and
18 years;
Homes for children with mental deficiencies;
Boarding
gymnasiums for orphan children and for children without parental
care;
General boarding gymnasiums;
Auxiliary boarding
schools;
Special schools for children with chronic
diseases;
Special schools for children with physical deficiencies;
Special schools for children with sensorial
deficiencies;
Special schools for children with behaviour
deviations;
Sanatorium schools.
- The
causes of children being placed in institutions are, generally, social in
character. The children come from families with multiple
social problems, which
are amplified by the transition period difficulties. Excessive dependency on
institutions is, to a great
extent, due to the existing services supporting the
families in crisis, as these families resort to placement of the children in
institutions as the best form of social protection. The measures taken to
prevent separation of children from their parents are
rather limited, due to the
financial state of such families. The necessary steps have not been taken and
the State has not ensured
the creation of conditions for the care, education,
recovery and social integration of these persons.
- It
is necessary to develop a complex system of prevention of placement of children
in institutions and of encouraging alternatives:
family consolidation,
temporary or long-term placement in other families or adoption,
etc.
- Within
the governmental strategy in the field of child rights protection, a major
objective is the restructuring and diversifying
of child protection
institutions, by turning existing institutions into family-type institutions and
by creating maternal centres,
day centres and social, medical and educational
protection centres for children with deficiencies, for the purpose of
maintaining
them within their biological family.
- Structural
reform in the field of child protection requires both financial and human
resources. As a result of a study on the domestic
budget, carried out with the
financial support of the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme
in Moldova, Strategies
for Diminishing Poverty and a National Programme for
Diminishing Poverty were drafted. Analysis of the results of this study on
the
domestic budget, shows that the largest socially vulnerable category threatened
or already affected by poverty is that of children.
The Programme contains a
special component, with measures to protect children against poverty. Drafting
of subprogrammes such as:
“Our children”, “Orphan
children”, “Invalid children” is planned. Measures are aimed
at providing
families with many children with material support in different
forms (money, products and subsidies for utilities).
Table 10. Morbidity: Some contagious diseases affecting
children under 14 (1998-1999)
|
Number of persons affected
|
Per 100,000 inhabitants in the under-14 age group
|
1999
|
1998
|
1999
|
1998
|
Salmonelosis
|
463
|
558
|
45
|
53
|
Bacterial dysentery
|
2 145
|
3 041
|
210
|
286
|
Scarlet fever
|
435
|
690
|
43
|
65
|
Diphtheria
|
5
|
2
|
0.5
|
0.2
|
Whooping cough
|
36
|
173
|
4
|
16
|
Measles
|
181
|
514
|
18
|
48
|
Meningococcus infection
|
77
|
100
|
8
|
9
|
Viral hepatitis
|
1 853
|
2 433
|
182
|
229
|
of which, viral hepatitis type B
|
127
|
219
|
12
|
21
|
Epidemic parasitism
|
2 399
|
7 201
|
235
|
678
|
Flu and acute infections of the upper respiratory tract
|
184 093
|
219 083
|
18 042
|
20 625
|
Pediculosis
|
8 928
|
13 479
|
875
|
1 269
|
Scabies
|
2 519
|
3 825
|
247
|
360
|
Source: Department of Statistics and Sociological
Analysis.
- Children
under 14 constitute 68 per cent of the total number of patients with acute
intestinal infections; 51 per cent of those with
salmonelosis; 56 per cent of
those with viral hepatitis; 62 per cent of those with acute infections of the
upper respiratory tracts;
64 per cent of those with pediculosis; and 52 per cent
of those with scabies.
- One
of the pressing problems is the high level of infantile mortality. The level of
infantile mortality in Moldova is three to four
times higher than in other
countries. In the past three years, a slow but constant decrease in infantile
mortality can be noticed:
from 23.7 deaths under the age of 1 year per 1,000
live-born babies in 1994, to 19.8 in 1997.
- The
main causes of infantile mortality are diseases which originate in the antenatal
period (36 per cent) and respiratory diseases
(26 per cent of deceased
children under 1 year).
Table 11. Deceased persons aged between 0 and 15, by main
cause of death, 1998-1999
|
|
1999
|
Total
|
22.3
|
23.6
|
Congenital malformations
|
5.94
|
5.9
|
Respiratory diseases
|
4.83
|
5.8
|
Trauma and poisoning
|
4.69
|
5.8
|
Source: Department of Statistics and Sociological Analysis.
Table 12. Index of mortality among children under 14, 1999
(per 10,000 inhabitants)
|
|
Total
|
13.7
|
Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal anomalies
|
2.42
|
Respiratory diseases
|
2.73
|
External causes of death
|
3.21
|
Diseases originating in the antenatal period
|
2.56
|
Source: Department for Statistics and Sociological
Analysis.
- Deaths
due to accidents, poisoning and trauma accounted for one fourth of the deaths in
the age group 0-14.
IX. EDUCATION, LEISURE AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES
1. The structure and objectives of the educational
system
- In
the Republic of Moldova, the Law on Child Rights and the Law on Education
regulate a child’s right to education. This right
is concretized in three
forms:
The right of any child to free education in elementary and secondary schools,
and to continue his education in professional schools,
high schools, colleges,
superior education institutions;
The right to education in special
schools for any child with a physical handicap;
The right of orphan children and of those without parental care to free
education and support in all educational institutions.
- In
accordance with article 12 of the Law on Education, the educational system is
organized in levels and steps, with the following
structure:
(v) Pre-school education;
(vi) Primary education;
(vii) Secondary education;
(a) General secondary education:
Gymnasium
education;
High school education;
(b) Professional secondary education;
(viii) Academic education:
Short-term
(colleges);
University.
- The
pre-school education system has as its objective the creation of conditions for
the development of a child in his national cultural
environment, on the basis of
general human values and of national spirituality, and the building of a free
and creative personality,
through moulding the child’s conscience. The
educational process is guided by the principle of childdifferentiated and
individual
treatment as a first step towards national conscience; also,
child-differentiated and individual treatment in an interdisciplinary
framework.
In this context, stimulation, development and capitalization of the psychic,
physical and intellectual potential of a
child are extremely important.
- Pre-school
education, as the first level in the national educational system structure, has
the role of preparing children for the
activity of learning, this fundamental
objective being accomplished taking into account the real situation, the
necessities and the
concrete possibilities. Pre-school education is usually
carried out in the family, up to the age of three, and in pre-school
institutions
between the ages of 3 and 6 (7).
- In
the last few years, pre-school education has recorded a permanent decline. At
the beginning of the 1998/99 school year, 1,400
pre-school institutions
were functioning with 126,000 children (out of a total 293,400 children -
44.8 per cent). The activity of
152 kindergartens which were closed
as their premises had deteriorated has remained suspended for the past three
years and, in addition,
another 196 kindergartens have been temporarily closed
in wintertime.
- The
closing of kindergartens exclusively affected pre-school institutions in rural
areas. Once closed, they are neglected, without
utilities, and thus
deteriorate. In most of the localities, the functioning conditions of
pre-school institutions are precarious.
Repairs of premises are left to the
teachers and parents. Soon, the entire technical-material basis of pre-school
institutions
will be completely worn out, as technical and prophylactic
assistance is totally missing. In the cold period of the year, kindergartens
are not supplied with fuel and electricity.
- It
is alarming that school preparatory groups do not function because kindergartens
are closed. Under such circumstances, psycho-pedagogical
preparation of
children between the ages of 5 and 7 for successful integration into school and
social activity, becomes impossible,
a fact that considerably affects their
school education.
- As
far as nourishment is concerned, we are confronting a serious situation. Due to
the shortage of food products, to constantly increasing
prices and to lack of
financial means, children do not have the necessary intake of calories for
normal growth and development.
This inevitably leads to alimentary imbalance
and to malnutrition which, in its turn, generates avitaminosis, anaemia, stomach
ulcers
and psychic and physical fatigue.
- Another
pressing problem is that of the provision of teaching materials, the
insufficient supply of which is hindering the organization
and carrying out of
the education-training process. At present, the publication of programmes and
didactic materials, drafted on
the basis of modern educational technologies, is
rather difficult.
- Under
the circumstances, when about half of the children of pre-school age do not
benefit from organized educational services, there
is an urgent need to take
measures to provide parents with pedagogical knowledge.
Table 13. Pre-school institutions
|
|
1993
|
1994
|
1995
|
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
1999
|
Number of permanent preschool institutions
|
1 940
|
1 877
|
1 774
|
1 668
|
1 581
|
1 480
|
1 399
|
1 201
|
Number of places in preschool institutions (thousands)
|
218
|
217
|
206
|
194
|
183
|
177
|
167
|
52.4
|
Number of children in permanent pre-school institutions
(thousands)
|
213.8
|
202.3
|
182.5
|
161.3
|
146.9
|
138.8
|
126.0
|
101.0
|
Teachers (thousands)
|
22.8
|
21.8
|
19.6
|
17.6
|
15.0
|
14.7
|
13.2
|
9.8
|
Degree of ensuring permanent pre-school institutions for
children, (percentage of the total number of children between 1 and
6)
|
55
|
51
|
46
|
45
|
43
|
43
|
40
|
33
|
Number of children per 100 places in permanent pre-school
institutions
|
98
|
93
|
89
|
83
|
80
|
78
|
76
|
66
|
Number of children per teacher
|
9
|
9
|
9
|
9
|
9
|
9
|
10
|
10
|
Source: Department for Statistics and Sociological Analysis.
Note: Figures indicated in the table refer to public,
private and mixed institutions.
- Secondary
general education is composed of two stages: gymnasium education (5th
to 9th grade) and high school education (10th to
12th
grade).
- Primary
and gymnasium education is compulsory (nine grades). Compulsory education
ensures the development of a pupil’s skills
and intellectual capacities
and is perceived as a defining stage in personality shaping, in professional
orientation and in preparation
for high school or professional education.
- On
1 September 1996, a new primary education curriculum, drafted on the basis of
new didactic exigencies, was initiated, and new didactic
methods and materials
were provided for students and teachers. Alternative textbooks were drafted
that allow diversification of
options for various types of
contents.
- Compared
to other stages of education, primary education was favoured in regard to the
publication of didactic materials related to
the implementation of new contents.
But the insufficiency of financial means created difficulties with respect to
the publication
and distribution of the textbooks. For the same reason, the
necessity of requiring payment for textbooks (totally or partially)
arose, a
fact that handicaps families with diminished financial possibilities.
- Revision
of education plans allowed diminishing the students’ load and created the
possibility of organizing teaching activity
in a five-day week regime.
- For
the purpose of improving the pre-school and primary education network, a new
type of mixed institution “kindergarten-school”
was created. If
didactic aspects present some advantages for students, the persistence of the
problem of ensuring conditions for
educational activity has the tendency to
diminish even those real, positive effects.
- In
accordance with educational objectives, some key values are included in school
curricula, such as:
Aspiration to democracy;
Respect
of human rights, including child rights;
Environmental
balance;
Tolerance and peace;
Cultural traditions, etc.
- In
gymnasium education, these values are approached in the context of universal
history, State policy, and political and social programmes
of different
countries. In the context of national history, these values are included not
only in the State programme, at its current
stage, but also, in a comparison of
respect and education of these values in other countries of the world. The
Declaration of the
Rights of the Child is studied separately, within the topic
of “Marriage and family” during classes on “Bases of
State and
law”.
- High
school education provides a basic theoretical education and a wide general
culture, necessary for the continuation of education
in higher education
institutions or in secondary professional education institutions. High school
education ends with the Maturity
examination.
- During
this cycle of education, general human values are broached through the teaching
of philosophy, economy and Romanian literature.
In collaboration with the
Society for Training and Education in the Field of Human Rights (SIEDO) the
curriculum for civic education
in high school is being drafted. In this
curriculum, the stress will be laid on international documents referring to
human and child
rights.
- Regarding
school education of children between the ages of 6 and 16,
on 10 December 1998, there were 4,377 children out of school
(0.58 per cent) in our Republic. Compared to the situation on 15
September 1998, we note a decrease of 787 in the number of children
out of
school. At the same time, it is alarming that a great part of children out of
school are of primary school age (1,080 - 24.7
per cent).
- Among
the causes of non-schooling of children, parents’ refusal and the
precarious financial state of many families prevail.
Due to these reasons, on
10 December 1998, 3,117 children (71.21 per cent of the total number of
children out of school) did not
attend school.
- Children
of families in a precarious financial state are compelled to work in order to
support themselves, thus diminishing their
school attendance and possibilities
to study and graduate.
- Shortage
of heating fuel, electricity cuts, malnutrition, worn-out school equipment and
reduced financial means hinder considerably
the process of child personality
moulding and development.
- Secondary
professional education is organized as stationary or night education in
polyvalent and in professional schools. Professional
polyvalent schools provide
professional training for a wide range of qualifications - from workers’
to technicians’-
simultaneously providing high school studies.
- University
education has as the following purposes: moulding of a multilaterally developed
and creative personality, high-level training,
perfectioning and recycling of
specialists and scientists in different fields. University education includes
colleges, institutes,
universities and academies. Admittance to the university
education institutions is carried out through contests, on the basis of
the
Maturity diploma and of the secondary school graduation certificate. The
duration of studies is two to three years in colleges
and four to six years in
universities.
- In
the past few years, the number of paying students in both private and State
institutions has been increasing.
Table 14
|
Average number of
institutions, (including those funded from the State budget and local
ones)
|
Average number of pupils/students (including at institutions funded from
the State budget and local ones) (thousands)
|
Annual expenditure (thousands of lei), (State budget and local
budgets)
|
Average annual expenditure (lei/person), (State budget, local
budgets)
|
Pre-school institutions: 1996 1997 1998
|
1 596 (1 222) 1 497 (1 246) 1 399 (1 303)
|
146.9 (117.5) 138.8 (115.9) 126.0 (122.5)
|
192 812.1 198 753.4 139 254.4
|
1 640.5 1 713.5 1 137.1
|
Primary schools, general secondary schools, gymnasiums, high schools,
incomplete secondary schools: 1996 1997 1998
|
1 530 (1 469) 1 536 (1 464) 1 549 (1 470)
|
649.5 (632.2) 652.7 (635.7) 650.7 (638.8)
|
353 337.1 384 950.0 314 339.8
|
358.9 605.5 492.0
|
Secondary general, night schools: 1996 1997 1998
|
10 (11) 9 (9) 7 (9)
|
2 956 (2.9) 2.7 (2.8) 2.5 (2.9)
|
1 236.9 1 107.5 1 010.0
|
418.4 389.1 346.4
|
Secondary boarding schools: 1996 1997 1998
|
20 (20) 21 (21) 16 (16)
|
7 426 (7 426) 7 655 (7 655) 6 514 (6 514)
|
22 333.0 23 433.0 21 964.1
|
3 007.0 3 061.1 3 371.8
|
Professional technical schools: 1996 1997 1998
|
68 (68) 68 (68) 52 (52)
|
30 408 (30 408) 28 860 (28 860) 24 297 (24 297)
|
48 308.8 57 079.5 46 707.0
|
1 588.7 1 977.8 1 922.3
|
Professional schools: 1996 1997 1998
|
4 (4) 4 (4) 19 (19)
|
612 (612) 611 (611) 4 556 (4 556)
|
988.0 1 675.0 9 475.0
|
1 614.4 2 741.0 2 079.3
|
Table 14 (continued)
|
Average number of institutions, (including
those funded from the State budget and local ones)
|
Average number of pupils/students (including at institutions funded from
the State budget and local ones) (thousands)
|
Annual expenditure (thousands of lei), (State budget and local
budgets)
|
Average annual expenditure (lei/person), (State budget, local
budgets)
|
Secondary professional institutions: 1996 1997 1998
|
81 (72) 80 (72) 87 (71)
|
34.0 32.7 32.5
|
|
|
Short-term university education institutions (colleges): 1996
1997 1998
|
51 (44) 53 (44) 56 (44)
|
33.3 (27.5) 32.8 (24.6) 29.7 (22.7)
|
37 850.1 47 699.9 37 518.3
|
1 376.6 1 935.1 1 651.4
|
University institutions: 1996 1997 1998
|
24 (12) 28 (12) 38 (12)
|
58.3 (31.9) 65.6 (37.4) 72.7 (30.5)
|
65 406.1 72 803.1 65 031.8
|
2 050.7 1 944.1 2 126.3
|
Family-type children’s homes: 1996 1997 1998
|
35 (35) 34 (34) 34 (34)
|
207 (207) 198 (198) 196 (196)
|
252.2 294.6 265.0
|
1 218.4 1 487.9 1 352.0
|
Republican children’s homes: 1996 1997 1998
|
3 (3) 3 (3) 3 (3)
|
204 (204) 201 (213) 188 (213)
|
784.9 1 184.6 1 250.0
|
3 847.5 5 561.5 5 868.5
|
Source: Department for Statistics and Sociological
Analysis.
- At
present, 38 universities, 56 colleges and 87 professional schools are
functioning, including the private ones. The number of students
in 1998 was
about 135,000 (82 per cent of the number of students in 1990) as follows: in
universities - 72,700 (133 per cent), colleges
- 29,700 (59 per cent),
professional colleges - 32,000 thousand (55 per cent). The percentage of
students paying for their studies
in State institutions is 21 per cent, and that
of students paying for their studies in private institutions is 16 per
cent.
- Training
of staff with budget financing was reduced in 1998 (it was only 59 per cent
compared to 1990) because of diminishing budget
allocations, which, according to
the statistics amounted to 586.7 million lei in 1998, or 79 per cent of the
planned budget, including
176 million lei (77 per cent) for the State
budget and 410.5 million lei (80 per cent) for the territorial administrative
unit budgets,
while for the year 1999, only 89 per cent of the budget executed
in 1998 was provided.
- Children
with educational problems constitute a significant part of the infantile
population and include: children with sensorial
deficiencies, with locomotory
system deficiencies, children with speaking deficiencies, with mental
deficiencies, etc. These children
need additional assistance and are
distributed in the special education system. Each child, unique in his way,
needs help in order
to progress and to adapt. In this context, all the children
are special and the personal participation, of both the child and of
his parents
is required in overcoming difficulties encountered in the child’s psychic
and physical development and in his social
integration.
- In
the Republic of Moldova, special education represents an integral part of the
unitary public education system.
- At
present, the education and training of children with special needs is carried
out by several ministries. Two boarding schools
for children with mental
deficiencies, located in Orhei and Hincesti, with 291 and 196 pupils
respectively are subordinate to the
Ministry of Labour, Social Protection and
the Family.
- For
children of school age, 64 boarding-type institutions for orphans, for children
without parental care, and for children with various
physical or psychic
deficiencies, function under the Ministry of Education and
Science.
- Of
the total number of children being educated in orphanages and children’s
homes, 362 are orphans and 1,580 are children whose
parents suffer from
various psychic diseases or children who were taken away from their parents by
court decision.
- Training
substance, educational curricula, programmes, and teaching materials are based
on individual and differentiate attitude and
correspond, to a great extent, to
primary and secondary exigencies of the specifics of cognitive and practical
activities of children
with deficiencies.
- For
children with physical and mental handicap, 37 special boarding schools were
functioning in 1997, with 5,336 pupils. For the support
of these institutions,
16.6 million lei were allocated from the consolidated budget.
- The
increase in the number of children in these schools from 5,139 in 1996 to 5,336
in 1997, meant that the amount of money spent
per child decreased from
3,631 lei in 1996 to 3,531 lei in 1997, even though the overall amount
allocated increased from 18.6 million
lei in 1996 to 18.8 million lei in
1997.
- In
this period the State provided financial support in the amount of 0.7 million
lei from the State budget to a sanatorium boarding
school for 206 children with
diseases of the cardiovascular system.
Table 15
|
Average number of institutions
|
Average number of pupils/ students
|
Annual expenditure (thousand lei)
|
Average annual expenditure per person (lei)
|
Special boarding schools:
|
|
|
|
|
1996
|
38
|
5 139
|
18 662.2
|
3 631.5
|
1997
|
37
|
5 336
|
18 841.3
|
3 531.0
|
1998
|
37
|
5 425
|
16 977.5
|
3 129.5
|
Sanatorium boarding schools:
|
|
|
|
|
1996
|
1
|
233
|
793.1
|
3 403.9
|
1997
|
1
|
206
|
715.5
|
3 473.3
|
1998
|
1
|
206
|
780.7
|
3 789.8
|
Source: Department for Statistics and Sociological
Analysis.
- In
order to ensure the right to education for orphan children and for children
without parental care, 777 children studying in State
educational institutions
benefited from the financial and material support of the State. For these
institutions, the following amounts
were allocated from the State budget: 2.0
million lei in 1997, 3.38 million lei in 1998 and 8.5 million lei
in 1999.
- According
to the statistics, on 1 March 2000, there were 4,300 orphans and children
without parental care under trusteeship and 5,300
adopted children in the
country. Besides them, 2,800 orphaned and abandoned children are educated in
boarding schools. Also, during
1999, 589 orphans or children without
parental care were taken into trusteeship and 41 children were adopted in the
country. Between
1992 and 1999, foreign citizens adopted 467
children.
Table 16
Children and teenagers between the age of 7 and 16 who were not
studying in
schools, gymnasiums and high schools at the beginning of the
school year
|
Total
number of children and teenagers between 7 and 16 who do not study in schools,
gymnasiums, high schools
|
Including:
|
Children dispensed from study because of illness
|
Graduates of grade 9 who left school in grade 10 or 11 (of 12)
|
Non-schooled children of those possibly to be included in secondary
incomplete education (nine grades)
|
Total
|
% of the total number of children between 7 and 16 who do not study in
schools, gymnasiums, high schools
|
1993/94
|
14 675
|
1 535
|
8 069
|
5 078
|
35
|
1994/95
|
13 393
|
1 274
|
7 251
|
4 868
|
36
|
1995/96
|
13 834
|
1 179
|
8 005
|
4 650
|
34
|
1996/97
|
10 829
|
1 003
|
5 049
|
4 777
|
44
|
1997/98
|
11 156
|
1 005
|
5 659
|
4 492
|
40
|
1998/99
|
9 696
|
776
|
4 188
|
4 732
|
49
|
Source: Department for Statistics and Sociological Analysis.
- The
economic crisis in the country created difficulties in the organization of the
education and recovery of children in boarding
schools. Children’s homes
and boarding schools are not funded in compliance with all the provisions, and
payments are made
with great delays and only partially. This state of affairs
makes the support of children with special needs and the creation of
better
conditions for their life and health protection more
complicated.
- Sexual
education. Carrying out of sexual education in schools does not constitute an
obligation imposed by law. Topics related to
this kind of education (including
infection with HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases) are approached in
some general education
classes, either by teachers or by guest specialists
(doctors, psychologists, etc.). Most of the schools where sexual education is
undertaken are located in urban areas; this kind of education is completely
lacking in rural areas.
- Besides
classes in school, various international non-governmental organizations, such
as: the SOROS Foundation, UNICEF, “Save
the Children”, the Society
for Family Planning and others, support sexual education programmes, either
addressed directly to
children or devoted to the training of certain
professional categories (teachers) who work with children, so that they, in
turn,
are able to provide necessary information, depending on the level of
understanding of each age category. Some of these programmes
are targeted at
the population in the rural areas; they are among the few initiatives in the
field addressed to the rural population.
2. Leisure and spare time activities
- In
accordance with article 3 of the Law on Education of the Republic of Moldova,
the State guarantees children the right to rest,
spare time, play and
recreational activities that are offered by educational
institutions.
- The
Law on Child Rights provides for a child’s right to develop his
intellectual capacities in various out-of-school institutions.
Currently, in
the country, there are 84 out-of-school institutions, attended by about 50,000,
representing 7.8 per cent of the total
number of pupils in pre-university
education: 48 creativity centres, attended by 33,753 children; 15 technical
centres, attended
by 7,895 children; 12 children and youth tourism and travel
centres, attended by 5,362 children; and 9 centres for young
naturalists,
attended by 2,771 children.
- Over
the past decade, considerable changes have occurred in the activity of
out-of-school institutions. Former social-political clubs
and organizations
were replaced with ethno-folkloric, handicraft, erudites clubs, and other forms
of spare time activity. There
is special interest in the technical, sports and
touristic fields. Cultural artistic ensembles continue to be overtaxed. The
situation
is becoming more complicated owing to the fact that out-of-school
institutions have the task of making up for the lack of institutionalized
artistic education.
- Aiming
at a pleasant and useful organization of spare time by offering educational
services, generally free of charge, out-of-school
institutions provide a
favourable environment for the positive affirmation of children coming from
families with modest incomes,
of children from socially vulnerable families and
of children who need special educational care.
- In
spite of all the economic and social problems, out-of-school institutions
provide outofschool activities on a relatively stable
basis. A choir, folklore
festivals, fine arts, photography, handicraft exhibitions, choreography
contests, sports, tourism, technical-sports
competitions, activities for young
naturalists and alpine expeditions in the Fagaras Mountains (Romania), the Rila
Mountains (Bulgaria),
the Olympus Mountains (Greece) have become a tradition.
Numerous teams from the out-of-school institutions have performed successfully
in various international competitions, exhibitions and festivals in Bulgaria,
Germany, Romania, France, Turkey, Poland and other
countries.
- Currently,
there are 118 out-of-school artistic institutions in the Republic of Moldova:
music, dance and fine arts schools, attended
by about 19,905
pupils.
- On
the basis of Government Decision No. 76, of 2 February 1999, 50 per cent of the
cost of training children in the above-mentioned
institutions will be borne by
the institution concerned. The difference between annual planned expenditure
and actual expenditure
will be covered from the local budget.
- Because
of the increase in education taxes and the precarious economic situation, a
decrease in the number of pupils is to be noted,
as it is impossible to pay
study taxes on time.
- The
out-of-school artistic education system is designed to discover, develop and
promote young talents. In this context, pupils of
music, dance and fine arts
schools have performed well in both national and international
contests.
- In
the Republic of Moldova, there are four artistic education high schools: the
“Ciprian Porumbescu” Republican Music
High School (444 pupils), the
“Serghei Rachmaninov” Republican Music High School (292 pupils), the
Choreography Republican
High School (170 pupils) and the Fine Arts
Republican High School (164 pupils). Their activity is oriented towards the
development
of the child’s personality and talent, and cultivation of the
child’s aesthetic taste, and respect and knowledge of national
and
universal values.
- In
the 1997/98 school year, pupils of the above-mentioned high schools
won 97 prestigious awards in international and national contests
and
in the 1998/99 school year, they won 147 awards. Twenty-five pupils of the
artistic education institutions benefited from grants
provided by the
“Brindusele Sperantei” Children’s Fund in the 1998/99 school
year, and 50 pupils in the 1999/2000
school year.
- Currently,
in our country, there are about 200 out-of-school libraries for children and
teenagers. In the past few years, the children’s
library network has been
facing difficulties regarding increasing their stock of books, maintenance and
obtaining funds. These difficulties
are partially overcome by extrabudgetary
funding and sponsorships.
- There
are about 40 children’s artistic ensembles active in the country, such as:
the “Focusor” Folk Dance Ensemble,
the
“Moştenitorii” Ethno-folkloric Ensemble, the “Florile
dalbe” Folk Ensemble of Chişinău
City, the
“Ciobănaşul” Folk Dance Ensemble of Cantemir Town, the
folk dance ensembles for children of Baimaclia
village, the
“Arţăraşul” Ensemble of Pelenia village, the
Răşcani village ensemble, the “Cimbrişor”
of Drochia
Town, etc.
- The
Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Moldova not only supports the education
process in out-of-school artistic institutions,
high schools and colleges, but
also various children’s activities in studios, creation centres and
artistic groups.
- In
1997, 25.5 million lei were allocated from all budget levels for the purpose of
ensuring the functioning of 288 out-of-school institutions.
- Besides
this, for the organization of summer holidays for children at boarding schools
and for those from socially vulnerable families,
1 million lei were allocated in
1998 from the Government Reserve Fund.
Table 17
Out-of-school institutions for children (at the end of the
year)
|
|
1992
|
1995
|
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
1999
|
Technical creation clubs
|
50
|
48
|
48
|
47
|
47
|
46
|
Young technician stations
|
32
|
16
|
15
|
15
|
11
|
10
|
Young naturalist stations
|
19
|
9
|
9
|
9
|
7
|
6
|
Autonomous touristic bases
|
25
|
11
|
12
|
11
|
9
|
8
|
Music and fine arts schools
|
127
|
123
|
119
|
119
|
118
|
115
|
Libraries for children
|
304
|
227
|
226
|
211
|
206
|
184
|
Sports schools for children and teenagers
|
129
|
100
|
87
|
83
|
83
|
79
|
Table 18
Children benefiting from these institutions’ services
(thousands)
|
|
1995
|
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
1999
|
Technical creation clubs
|
39.0
|
35.7
|
33.8
|
32.6
|
33.0
|
28.8
|
Young technician stations
|
16.6
|
7.3
|
7.9
|
8.2
|
6.3
|
6.0
|
Young naturalist stations
|
6.9
|
3.1
|
2.8
|
2.8
|
2.4
|
2.3
|
Autonomous touristic bases
|
10.5
|
5.1
|
5.4
|
4.8
|
3.6
|
2.7
|
Music and fine arts schools
|
25.8
|
21.6
|
20.9
|
20.4
|
19.9
|
16.3
|
Libraries for children
|
312.5
|
239.3
|
223.4
|
216.3
|
211.7
|
203.7
|
Sports schools for children and teenagers
|
54.4
|
41.0
|
37.5
|
35.3
|
34.1
|
32.7
|
Source: Department for Statistics and Sociological Analysis.
- Because
of the lack of financial means, in the past six years a series of out-of-school
institutions have been shut down.
3. Minority children
- The
State policy of the Republic of Moldova in the field of child rights is aimed at
guaranteeing implementation of the basic principles
of the Convention on the
Rights of the Child, with no discrimination, irrespective of race, language,
religion, national, ethnic
or social origin, or other
situation.
- Article
30 of the Convention, according to which national minorities “cannot be
denied the right to have, together with other
members of their group, their own
culture, to use their own language” is a constitutional norm in the
Republic of Moldova (art.
10 of the Constitution) and is a component of the Law
on Education of the Republic of Moldova, which provides equal opportunities for
all children, including
minority children (640,400 children), to benefit from
education.
- Currently,
there are 1,086 Moldovan language schools (459,700 pupils), 257 Russian language
schools (121,200 pupils), 125 mixed schools
(58,900 pupils) where 32,200 pupils
are taught in the Moldovan (Romanian) language, 26,400 in the Russian language,
and some 330
in the Ukrainian language. In the districts densely populated by
national minorities, on parents’ request, education is organized
in their
mother tongue (Gagauz, Bulgarian, etc.). In Chişinău, on the
initiative of communities, Sunday schools are functioning
where the Lithuanian,
Polish, German and Azeri languages are studied.
Table 19
Distribution of schools and pupils, by language of
study
|
|
1993/94
|
1994/95
|
1995/96
|
1996/97
|
1997/98
|
1998/99
|
Total number of schools
|
1 432
|
1 444
|
1 458
|
1 470
|
1 485
|
1 493
|
1 505
|
Of which, number of schools with teaching in the:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Romanian (Moldovan) language
|
1 020
|
1 031
|
1 047
|
1 065
|
1 081
|
1 097
|
1 115
|
Russian language
|
311
|
282
|
279
|
281
|
277
|
277
|
266
|
Romanian (Moldovan) and Russian languages
|
99
|
123
|
123
|
113
|
115
|
111
|
114
|
Ukrainian and Russian languages
|
-
|
6
|
7
|
7
|
8
|
3
|
3
|
Bulgarian and Russian languages
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
Hebrew language
|
2
|
2
|
2
|
2
|
2
|
2
|
2
|
English language
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
Table 19 (continued)
|
|
1993/94
|
1994/95
|
1995/96
|
1996/97
|
1997/98
|
1998/99
|
Turkish language
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
1
|
Total pupils, thousands
|
609.4
|
614.9
|
623.9
|
636.9
|
643.7
|
647.1
|
645.0
|
Of which, studying in the:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Romanian (Moldovan) language
|
431.5
|
444.9
|
458.5
|
477.4
|
485.0
|
492.0
|
495.1
|
Russian language
|
177.5
|
168.9
|
163.6
|
156.9
|
156.4
|
153.9
|
148.4
|
Ukrainian language
|
-
|
0.6
|
1.3
|
2.2
|
1.7
|
0.3
|
0.3
|
Bulgarian language
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
0.03
|
0.03
|
0.06
|
0.06
|
Hebrew language
|
0.4
|
0.5
|
0.5
|
0.3
|
0.5
|
0.6
|
0.6
|
English language
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
0.1
|
0.1
|
0.1
|
0.1
|
Turkish language
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
0.2
|
0.2
|
Of the total number of pupils, those studying their mother tongue as
a discipline:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gagauz language
|
25.7
|
19.9
|
31.3
|
29.2
|
32.1
|
31.8
|
32.2
|
Bulgarian language
|
6.8
|
6.1
|
6.8
|
7.1
|
7.8
|
8.3
|
7.8
|
Ukrainian language
|
1.3
|
0.6
|
1.3
|
1.8
|
2.4
|
2.9
|
2.3
|
Polish language
|
0.02
|
0.03
|
0.04
|
0.06
|
0.06
|
0.04
|
0.1
|
German language
|
-
|
0.05
|
0.1
|
0.4
|
0.5
|
0.1
|
0.1
|
Turkish language
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
0.1
|
-
|
Source: Department for Statistics and Sociological
Analysis.
- The
State equal right to learn the official language is ensured to all children,
irrespective of their nationality. They are offered
possibilities of going to
spend holiday time in their countries of origin, where they study their ethnic
language and history.
- In
the Republic of Moldova, a series of presidential decrees and government
decisions have been adopted that provide for State support
of national
minorities in the development of their culture and in studying their mother
tongue. As a result, kindergartens, schools,
gymnasiums, and high schools with
teaching in minority languages and in the official language have been opened.
In Chişinău
and other localities, libraries with book collections in
Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Gagauz, Yiddish, Hebrew and the Belarusian
languages have been established. There are also newspapers and radio and
television programmes in minority languages. Representatives
of ethnic
minorities and of ethno-cultural organizations have been supported in
establishing permanent contacts with their historical
homeland.
- One
such form of collaboration is the activity of the Department for National
Relations and Languages. In accordance with a decree
of the President of the
Republic of Moldova, the Nationalities House - where the administrative centres
of some ethno-cultural organizations
are located, and events and activities are
carried out - was created as an affiliate of the Department.
- It
has become a tradition every year for festivals of National Culture on the theme
of the International Day of the Child to be organized
during the Christmas
holidays at the Department for National Relations and Languages, in which
children of different nationalities
participate. Also, exhibitions of the art
of talented children are held at the Department.
4. Cultural activities
- The
Children’s and Teenagers’ Programme editorial staff of the National
Radio produce and broadcast a series of shows
regarding popularization and
respect of child rights. In collaboration with the Centre for Information and
Documentation on Child
Rights, reportages reflecting this topic, made in schools
and high schools, were broadcast. A series of live shows, entitled “We
also have rights”, were produced, offering children the possibility to ask
representatives of UNICEF and of the central public
authorities questions
regarding their rights and respect for their rights.
- On
the International Day of the Child every year, shows entitled “Children
change the world” are produced, which include:
A message addressed to children by the President of the State;
Children’s questions concerning the respect of their rights, addressed
to public authorities in the field of education, health
and social
assistance;
“Flight of hope” - children have dreamed of the future of their
country, what would they change for the better, if they
were president, prime
minister, a minister?
- Also,
the Children’s and Teenagers’ Programme editorial staff of Moldova
Radio, in collaboration with the Centre for Information
and Documentation in the
Field of Child Rights, put on the “Aventurile lui Ghiocal”
(“Ghiocel adventures”)
show at the National Opera House. Every
year, on 1 June, the “Dulce vis, copilaria” (“Childhood, a
sweet dream”)
republican children’s holiday is held at Radio House.
This year, about 500 children participated and enjoyed the diverse programme
of
the holiday. During the live show, the start of the “Together we can do
more” charity action was announced. The
purpose of this action was to
collect funds for the purchase of wheelchairs for invalid children. This
charity action, which was
carried out for a sixmonth period, was organized in
collaboration with the UNICEF office and the Centre for Handicapped
Children’s
Recovery.
- In
the Republic of Moldova several publications for children and teenagers are
issued regularly:
Florile dalbe - a weekly magazine for children and teenagers. It
covers school topics, issues regarding education in out-of-school institutions,
creativity centres for children, libraries, music schools, fine arts schools and
hobby clubs;
NOI - a literary-journalism magazine for teenagers, issued every
month;
Alunelul - a pre-school magazine, reflecting issues related to
pre-school institutions;
a - an illustrated magazine for children and teenagers, published by a
private company;
2 ore plus trei iezi - a magazine published by the Chişinău
Culture Department, “Noi” Association and “Abecelusi”
Publishing
House.
- A
fact worth mentioning is that in high schools magazines and newspapers are
produced by the pupils: Creangă verde, produced by the Ion
Creangă High School; Dante, produced by the Dante Alighieri High
School; Argonauţii, produced by the Boris Cazacu High School in
Nisporeni, and others. On national television, regular shows are broadcast,
such as
From 5 to 10, a telemagazine aimed at promoting young
talent.
X. SPECIAL PROTECTION MEASURES
1. Social allocations
- The
State pays special attention to children whose parents were exposed to war risks
and to accidents that had implications for their
health.
- In
compliance with article 11 of Law No. 909-XII on Social Protection of Citizens
who Suffered from the Chernobyl Catastrophe, of
30 January 1992, family members
who are incapable of working who were supported by a participant in the clean-up
after the Chernobyl
accident, have the right to a monthly compensation of 50 per
cent of the minimum age-category pension, in the case of losing their
sponsor,
without taking into account the pension established for these persons. Children
who lost their sponsor will be paid a single
social compensation in the amount
of a minimum salary.
- On
25 February 1998, the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova adopted the Law on
the Modification and Completion of the Law on Social
Protection of Citizens who
Suffered from the Chernobyl Catastrophe. According to this law, certain
compensation, assistance and
facilities are established both for participants
and for children or families that lost their breadwinner as a consequence of the
accident.
- In
conformity with article 9 of the Law, families that lost their breadwinner as a
consequence of the Chernobyl catastrophe benefit
from a single compensatory
payment, equivalent to 15 average salaries.
- For
the purpose of ensuring social protection and medical assistance to children
born after 26 April 1986, one of whose parents suffered
from the Chernobyl
catastrophe, as well as to children removed from the “dead zone”,
until the age of 18 a series of
facilities are provided, such as: annual free
tickets for resorts and sanatoriums, located in the territory of the country -
or,
if this is not possible, financial compensation in an amount of the average
cost of the ticket - free medicine, free round-trip transportation
by car,
train, plane or ship to the respective resort or sanatorium for them and for one
of their parents or parental substitutes.
In the case of serious illness of
haematopoietic organs (acute leukosis), the thyroid gland (adenoma, cancer) and
of other organs
with malignant tumours, children and teenagers have the right to
facilities provided under article 7 of the present Law.
- Parents
of children under the age of 14 benefit from the following
facilities:
(ix) Payment of medical leave to one parent for child care (when they submit a
medical leave certificate), 100 per cent, irrespective
of their length of
service;
(x) Admittance to the treatment institution of one of the parents of the ill
child (on a doctor’s recommendation) for the entire
treatment period, with
payment of medical leave.
- At
the same time, we have to admit the fact that guarantees provided are not always
respected entirely. Because of the insufficiency
of funds, there are currently
considerable delays in the payment of indemnities and compensation, and in
supplying reimbursable medicines
prescribed by doctors.
2. Abuse prevention
- Since
January 1997, the National Centre for the Prevention of Abuse of Children has
been operating in Moldova. This is a civil institution
having as its main field
of activity the protection of children subjected to various forms of
maltreatment. The mission of this
organization remains the improvement of
children’s and adults’ living standards through diminishing the
level of violence
towards people, through promoting ideas of a constructive
education and inter-human relationships, based on humanism, good will and
generosity.
- At
present, CNPAC is successfully implementing the Abused and Neglected Child
Psychosocial Assistance Network project. The objective
of this project is to
provide psychosocial assistance services for maltreated children after it was
found necessary to institute
specialized services to assist abused and neglected
children. The demand for services of this type is increasing. Among the basic
services provided are:
Identification of abused and neglected children;
Assessment of the psychosocial state of children in risk situations;
Study of the families and social network of abused and neglected
children;
Investigation and psychological recovery of the abused child;
Monitoring children who are in risk situations;
Organizing activities for parents and children for the prevention of child
abuse and neglect.
The goals of this project are:
Increasing and
improving psychosocial services for:
(xi) Children submitted to various forms of violence (physical, psychological,
sexual) and neglected children;
(xii) Families that use abusive disciplinary methods and in which children are
maltreated.
These goals are reached through accomplishing the
following objectives:
(xiii) Ensuring the functioning of psychosocial assistance offices for abused
children and for their families;
(xiv) Promoting collaboration and partnership relationships with the Education,
Science and Sports Department, Department of Child
Rights Protection, Department
of Health, and with the Public Order Department of the Chişinău Police
Inspectorate;
(xv) Continuous training of specialists involved in providing psychosocial
services to abused children;
(xvi) Facilitating the transfer of international practice in the field of
psychosocial assistance for abused children;
(xvii) Ensuring mutual collaboration among the Network offices;
(xviii) Rendering society sensitive to problems related to the maltreatment of
children; identification of abused and neglected children;
reporting of suspect
cases to the relevant authorities; providing assistance to victims of violence;
prevention of child abuse and
neglect.
- The
services created by CNAPC represent a multidisciplinary model for approaching
the problem of abuse. By 1 July 2000, about 50
specialists in various fields
were trained to ensure a multidisciplinary approach towards this problem.
During 2000, over 100 such
specialists will be trained. In collaboration with
other organizations, about 60 seminars were organized, in which more that 1,000
parents participated. Also, statistics on cases of child abuse and neglect will
be prepared.
3. Sexual exploitation and abuse
- The
Criminal Code of the Republic of Moldova establishes criminal liability for
offences of a sexual character. Thus, according to
article 102, rape, defined
as sexual intercourse by making use of physical force, threat or by taking
advantage of the victim’s
incapacity for defence, will be punished with a
jail sentence of between three and seven years.
- Group
rape or the rape of an under-age person will be punished with a jail sentence of
between 5 and 15 years.
- Rape
with extremely serious consequences, as well as the rape of a minor under the
age of 14, will be punished with a jail sentence
of between 10 and 25
years.
- Article
103 stipulates that satisfaction of sexual desire by physical force, threat or
by taking advantage of the victim’s incapacity
for defence, in perverse
forms, either committed by a person who previously committed such an offence, or
committed by a group, or
on an under-age person, will be punished with a jail
sentence of between 5 and 10 years.
- Perverting
persons who have not reached the age of 16 will be punished with a jail sentence
of up to three years (art. 104).
- Homosexual
acts committed either with an under-age person, or by making use of physical
force, or by taking advantage of the victim’s
incapacity for self-defence,
will be punished with a jail sentence of between two and five years (art.
106).
- Forcing
or assigning a person to prostitute, facilitating the practice of prostitution
or obtaining profit from a person’s practice
of prostitution, as well as
recruiting of persons for prostitution, or human trafficking for this purpose,
will be punished with
a jail sentence of between three and seven years or with a
fine of between 500 and 3,000 minimum salaries. The same offences, if
committed
against an under-age person or having serious consequences, will be punished
with a jail sentence of between 5 and 10 years
(art. 105/2).
- According
to data provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in the period
between 1993 and 1999, the following cases of sexual
abuse of
under-age persons were recorded:
Number of cases
|
1993
|
1994
|
1995
|
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
1999
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Recorded:
|
108
|
109
|
77
|
97
|
108
|
75
|
109
|
Investigated:
|
85
|
90
|
65
|
84
|
101
|
70
|
102
|
Committed by:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
men
|
55
|
86
|
71
|
47
|
97
|
63
|
62
|
women
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
3
|
-
|
3
|
-
|
minors
|
14
|
14
|
19
|
14
|
23
|
16
|
13
|
4. Drugs (art. 33)
- Articles
225 and 226-1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Moldova incriminates
trafficking in drugs, including illegal fabrication,
purchase, storage,
transport and delivery of drugs for the purpose of illegal trade, or illegal
poppy cultivation for opium or for
oil and the illegal cultivation of
cannabis.
- The
illegal fabrication, storage, transport and delivery of narcotics, without the
purpose of selling them, will be punished with
a jail sentence of up to three
years or with a fine of up to 50 minimum salaries (art.
225-5).
- The
illegal purchase or storage of narcotics in small quantities, without the
purpose of selling them, or the consumption of narcotics
without a
doctor’s prescription, committed for the second time, within one year
after the application of an administrative
sanction for the same offences,
will be punished with a jail sentence of up to two years or with a fine of up
to 30 minimum salaries
(art. 225-7).
- Article
225-4 provides that, inciting a person to consume narcotics will be punished
with a jail sentence of up to five years. The
same offence committed against
two or more persons or against an under-age person or committed by a person
previously convicted for
incitement to consume narcotics, will be punished with
a jail sentence of up to 10 years. The failure of parents or their substitutes
to fulfil their supervisory, educative and training duties with regard to the
consumption by minors in their charge of narcotics
without a doctor’s
prescription will entail a warning or the imposition on the parents or
substitutes concerned of a fine of
up to three minimum salaries (article 292 of
the Code on Administrative Contraventions).
- Drug
trafficking and addiction induce a subtle and perfidious form of slavery, within
which members of networks are organized according
to organized crime principles
and act in the spirit of a conspiracy imposed by force.
- In
the past few years, in spite of the modest financial state of the majority of
the population of the Republic of Moldova, alarming
trends towards the creation
of a “drug market” have been noted.
- According
to the statistics of the Republican Narcotics Dispensary of the Ministry of
Health, there are 4,436 registered drug consumers.
Among these, 59 per cent are
consumers of opium, 23 per cent of cannabis and marijuana, 6 per cent of
ephedrine, and 12 per cent
of other narcotic and psychotropic substances. The
statistics for drug consumers by age category are the
following:
Under 15 years: 20
16-18 years:
309
19-25 years: 2,128
26-30 years: 1,081
31-35 years
530
Over 35 years: 367
- Significant
efforts by the Ministry of Internal Affairs to fight drug trafficking and
illegal consumption resulted in the confiscation
in 1999 of 1,230 kilograms of
narcotics, among which:
Poppy capsules: 706
kg
Marijuana: 478 kg
Opium solution: 28 kg
Noxiron: 321
pills
Codeine: 682 pills
Ephedrine: 105 ml
Ephedrine: 9.134
kg
Others: 4.5 kg
- The
statistics by age of persons who committed drug trafficking offences in 1999,
are the following:
14-15 years: 2 persons
16-18
years: 84 persons
18-24 years: 326 persons
25-30 years: 114
persons
Over 30 years: 134 persons
- Analysis
of the effects of drug consumption on age segments of the population
show that: up to 15, the morbidity rate is 2.8 per
100,000;
between 15 and 18, 17.4; between 19 and 34, 292.6; and over 35,
15.3. Drug addicts are 88 per cent male.
- We
need to emphasize that lately, due to the lack of financial resources, the
section for drug intoxication investigation of the Centre
of Legal Medicine of
the Ministry of Health has not been working at full capacity, a fact that
diminishes the possibility of identifying
new types of drug
used.
- On
6 May 1999, the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova adopted Law No. 382-XIV on
the Circulation of Narcotic and Psychotropic Substances
and their Precursors.
The legislation of the country, particularly the Criminal Code, the Criminal
Procedure Code and the Code on
Administrative Contravention are adjusted in
accordance with the abovementioned Law.
- For
the purpose of fighting and preventing drug consumption and trafficking, the
Programme to Fight Drug Abuse and Trafficking has
been adopted by the Government
of the Republic of Moldova. Implementation of the Programme will lead to the
strengthening of the
efforts of all State institutions in fighting drug
consumption and trafficking, and to diminishing the danger of these plagues for
society.
5. Children in conflict with the law; sentence application for
under-age persons;
treatment of children deprived of their
liberty
- Article
25 of the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova guarantees individual freedom
and safety.
- Guarantee
of freedom is a rule of the criminal process. Any individual being under
criminal investigation or on trial, will be treated
with respect for his or her
human dignity.
- Article
10 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Moldova establishes criminal
liability for persons who, at the moment of committing
the offence, had reached
the age of 16.
- Persons
between 14 and 16 who committed an offence are criminally liable only for:
murder, intentional physical harm that leads to
damage to health, rape,
hold-ups, robbery, theft, exceptionally large embezzlement of private property,
serious or exceptionally
serious hooliganism, premeditated destruction or
deterioration of private property, embezzlement of narcotic substances, weapons,
ammunition or explosives, and intentional commission of acts that can cause a
train derailment.
- Article
23 (2) of the Criminal Code provides that a jail sentence for a person who, at
the time when the offence was committed, had
not reached the age of 18 cannot
exceed 10 years. In the case where a juvenile between 16 and 18 committed a
crime punishable by
a life sentence, the jail term cannot exceed 15
years.
- Article
60 of the Criminal Code stipulates that if the court considers that correction
of a person under 18 who committed an offence
that does not present a serious
danger for society is possible without application of a criminal punishment, a
series of educational
measures can be imposed on such a person, such as: the
obligation to apologize publicly, or in another way set by the court, to
the
damaged person; a reprimand or severe reprimand or warning; the obligation for
the juvenile who has reached the age of 15 to
pay damages, if the juvenile has
his own income, and if damages do not exceed a minimum salary; entrusting the
juvenile to his parents
or their substitutes for strict supervision; entrusting
the juvenile for supervision to a work collective, to a nongovernmental
organization,
with its consent, or to some citizens, at their request; or
internment of the juvenile in a special education institution or in a
medicaleducational institution.
- According
to article 25 of the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, “individual
freedom and security are inviolable” (para. 1);
“Searching, detaining or arresting a person are allowed only in cases,
and by the procedure, provided for by law.” (para.
2); “The period
of detention in custody cannot exceed 24 hours” (para. 3);
“Arrest will be carried out only on the basis of a warrant for a
maximum period of 30 days. The term of detention can be prolonged
to
a maximum 6 months, and, in exceptional cases, with the approval of
Parliament, to 12 months” (para. 4);
“The person detained in custody or arrested shall be informed without
delay of the reasons for his detention or arrest and the
charges against him.
The reasons for his detention or arrest and the charges shall be presented only
in the presence of a defence
attorney, selected by the defendant or assigned ex
officio” (para. 5);
“If the reasons for detention in custody or arrest have ceased to
exist, the person concerned must be released without delay”
(para.
5).
- Article
73 (3) of the Criminal Procedure Code indicates that, for juveniles, a personal
guarantee or an NGO guarantee or supervision
by parents, trustees or guardians
can be used as preventive measures and, for juveniles interned in educational
institutions, supervision
by the administration of that institution. Measures
of preventive detention can be applied for juveniles only in exceptional cases,
if the seriousness of the offence imposes it.
- For
juvenile defendants, who, on the date when the offence was committed had not
reached the age of 16, the term of detention can
be prolonged only to four
months. For juvenile defendants who, on the date when the offence was committed
had not reached the age
of 18, the term of detention can be prolonged only to
six months (art. 79 (3)).
- According
to article 21 of the Constitution, any person accused of an offence is presumed
innocent until his guilt is legally proved, in a fair trial in which all the
guarantees
for his defence were assured.
- Legal
assistance for the juvenile defendant or accused is compulsory (article 44 of
the Criminal Code).
- Presumption
of innocence, an important principle of the criminal trial, requires that proper
attention be paid to the respect of fundamental
rights and freedoms, and that
limitations of these rights, imposed after criminal investigation, not be
abusive or excessive.
- In
hearing witnesses aged under 14, and, when the court finds it necessary, also in
hearing witnesses between the age of 14 and 16,
a teacher will be called upon.
If necessary, the parents, trustees or guardians of the underage witnesses are
called upon. After
having been heard, a witness who has reached the age of 16
leaves the courtroom, except in cases where the court considers that the
presence of that witness is necessary (articles 170 and 173 of the Civil
Procedure Code; articles 132 and 139 of the Criminal Procedure
Code).
- We
need to mention that, nowadays, the negative influence of economic factors, has
led to a dramatic decrease in the level of welfare,
and to an aggravation of
poverty, which has become a mass phenomenon. An unfavourable family climate
forces children to abandon
their home and to live in the street, under the
influence of delinquents. Lack of money has made some parents use their
children
for abusive activities, classified as offences (prostitution, theft,
begging).
- Of
the population aged under 18, 23 per cent are aged between 0 and 4 and 77 per
cent are between 5 and 18; over 52 per cent are females
and 48 per cent males;
about 54 per cent live in rural localities and 46 per cent in urban localities.
More than one third of these
children come from poor families and constitute the
basis of “the risk group”. Their situation depends on their
parents’
income, which, under the circumstances of a prolonged economic
crisis, is getting worse and worse.
- Most
of the offences are against property (77 per cent). Cases of serious body
injury have increased by 88 per cent and blackmail
offences have multiplied
three times.
- In
1990, 1,595 juveniles were made criminally liable, of whom: 8 for first degree
murder and 1,241 for theft of private property.
In 1998, 1,582 juveniles were
made criminally liable, of whom: 6 for first degree murder and 1,348 for theft
of private property.
In 1999, 1,531 juveniles were made criminally liable, of
whom: 5 for first degree murder, 12 for intentionally causing bodily injuries,
17 for rape, 57 for hooliganism, 64 for drug consumption and 1,291 for
theft.
- The
juvenile sanctioning system comprises two forms of limiting the freedom of
juveniles:
An educative measure of interning them in a
re-education centre;
A jail sentence.
- Internment
in a re-education centre can be pronounced on juveniles until they reach the age
of 18. It can be prolonged for no more
than two years, if this is considered
necessary for the accomplishment of the educational purpose. There are two
reeducation centres
in the Republic of Moldova.
- Chapter
14 of the Code on Execution of Criminal Law Sanctions provides for the
application of a jail sentence to juveniles. Thus,
according to article 106 of
this Code, juveniles sentenced to imprisonment will serve in re-education
colonies.
- Article
116 of the Code sets forth the organization of the education and training
process. For the purpose of the correction of the
convicted juvenile and for
his preparation for work, a unique education and training process is organized
in the re-education colonies,
oriented to educating the juvenile convict in the
spirit of respect for the law, conscience and morality and for the improvement
of his general culture and professional training level. Educational work is
carried out, depending on individual particularities,
on the convict’s
personality, on the degree of his socialpedagogic neglect and on his life
experience.
- In
re-education colonies the education of convicts who have not finished their
studies is carried out, depending on the possibilities.
General and
professional education is carried out on the basis of the curricula of general
education schools and professional education
is carried out on the basis of the
programme of professional workshops in schools. Training in productive tasks
for a convict does
not exceed 10 hours. Technical input for the
educationtraining and
production process is provided by subdivisions of the Ministry of Justice.
Methodological guidance and control over the educationtraining
process is
assured by the Ministry of Education and Science.
- A
convict who has reached the age of 18 and who is not reformed, can be
transferred from a re-education colony to a penitentiary to
complete his
sentence. A convict who has reached the age of 20 is transferred to a
correction colony or a penitentiary, depending
on the danger of his offence and
on his behaviour, to complete his sentence. Transfer of the convict is decided
by the court, on
the basis of an approach made by the head of the
colony.
- In
re-education colonies, a convict, whose behaviour has started to improve, can be
transferred three months before the end of his
sentence from detention
conditions to resocialization conditions, in order to be prepared for his
release. In such cases, he lives
in social rehabilitation territory outside the
colony, without guards, but under surveillance. A convict in re-socialization
conditions
can be recommended in the manner established by law, for early
release on probation or for the cancellation of the unexecuted part
of the
sentence.
- The
detention period can be reduced through release on probation. Thus, if at least
one year has passed since the date of internment
in a re-education centre and
the juvenile has given convincing proof of rehabilitation, release on probation
can be ordered before
he reaches the age of majority. Juveniles convicted to a
jail sentence, when they reach the age of 18, if they have completed a
part of
the sentence, and strongly prove they have corrected themselves, can be released
on probation. For persons who have reached
the age of 18, the conditions for
release on probation are the same as for adults.
- There
is a Re-education Colony through Work for Boys in Lipcan Town. According to
data provided by the Department of Penitentiary
Institutions of the Ministry of
Justice, the situation with regard to the number of juveniles interned in the
colony is the following:
1 January 1993 253
1 January
1994 269
1 January 1995 231
1 January 1996 226
1 January
1997 183
1 January 1998 151
1 January 1999 148
1 January 2000
65
1 June 2000 76 (of whom 23 had attained the age of majority)
- In
1999, by a Decree of the President of the Republic of Moldova, a considerable
number of juvenile convicts were amnestied. The
statistics for juvenile
convicts as of 1 June 2000 was as follows:
By offence
committed:
Murder 16
Slight bodily injury 1
Rape 14
Theft 17
Robbery 19
Theft in exceptionally high proportions 4
Drug consumption and storage 1
Other offences 4
By length of jail sentence:
3 years 16 juveniles
5 years 15 juveniles
10 years 43 juveniles
15 years 2 juveniles
By education level:
Without studies 1
Medium incomplete studies 16
Medium studies 59
By criminal record:
17 With criminal record
59 Without criminal record
- In
the Re-education Colony, there is a normal school for the completion of medium
studies, as well as a technical school for obtaining
a qualification in a
handicraft. Juvenile convicts are provided with a sports complex, a cinema, a
concert room and a library.
The administration of the Colony organizes sports
competitions, concerts, meetings with missionaries of religious confessions and
an annual gathering with their parents. Parents have no restrictions on seeing
their children.
- The
living conditions of juveniles in the Colony are much better than those in the
penitentiaries for adults. In accordance with
a government decision, norms have
been set for food supply to juveniles in detention. They are provided with
three meals a day.
The reception of parcels destined to them is not restricted.
Juveniles are provided with clothes by the institution and are also
allowed to
wear clothes brought by their family. The administration of the Colony
distributes among the juveniles humanitarian aid
offered by national and
international charity organizations.
- The
Colony also has at its disposal agricultural land, where juveniles capable of
work are trained in cultivating agricultural products.
- Female
juveniles are detained in the normal regime section within the Penitentiary for
Adult Women of Rusca village. The number of
female juvenile detainees was as
follows:
1 January 1993 9
1 January 1994 14
1 January
1995 9
1 January 1996 12
1 January 1997 5
1 January 1998
8
1 January 1999 5
1 January 2000 5
1 June 2000 5
- Female
juvenile detainees also learn some handicrafts (mainly tailoring) and have the
same access to humanitarian aid, as well as
to meetings with their parents. But
they do not have the possibility of continuing their education.
6. Illegal removal of children
- The
Convention on the Rights of the Child establishes the obligation of all State
parties to take all necessary measures, bilaterally
and multilaterally, to
prevent the kidnapping and trade of children for any purpose and in any
form.
- The
existing legal framework does not provide special measures regarding
unaccompanied minors staying illegally in other countries.
From this point of
view, minors are treated in the same way as adults who enter a country illegally
and are repatriated in accordance
with bilateral agreements signed by the
Republic of Moldova.
- In
domestic law, the Constitution proclaims individual liberty and security as
inviolable (art. 25). The State takes all the necessary measures for the
prevention
of the kidnapping, sale and trafficking of children, for any purpose
and in any form (article 30 of the Law on Child Rights, No.
338 - XIV, of 15
December 1994).
- The
Criminal Code of the Republic of Moldova stipulates that acceptance of a reward
in any form by a parent, trustee (guardian) or
any other legal protector of a
child for giving his consent to adopt a child or for other purposes related to
adoption, or for transmitting
the child to other persons, who are not his
parents, in another way than that provided by law, as well as for giving
inaccurate data
concerning the child’s identity, will be punished with a
jail sentence of between 3 and 10 years, with confiscation of the
reward.
- Exercise
of pressure on a parent, trustee (guardian) or other legal protector of a
child, in any way, for the purpose of obtaining
his consent to adopt or to give
away the child, as well as for the purpose of making him give inaccurate data on
the child’s
identity, will be punished with a jail sentence of between 7
and 15 years (art. 112-2).
- Taking
a child out of the Republic of Moldova using fake documents or in any other
illegal way, as well as abandoning a child abroad,
will be punished with a jail
sentence of between 5 and 12 years (art. 112-3).
- Kidnapping
or substitution of a child is punished either with a jail sentence of up to
three years or with a fine in an amount of
up to 100 minimum salaries. The same
offences, if committed for profit, for revenge or for other low reason, will be
punished with
a jail sentence of between 5 and 15 years (art.
113).
- Sale
or trafficking of children, for any purpose and in any way, including by parents
or by their surrogates, will be punished with
a jail sentence of [text missing]
(art. 113-1). In the last few years, trade and trafficking of children has
spread worldwide.
Unfortunately, Moldova has not been spared. According to
data provided by the Information Department of the Ministry of Internal
Affairs,
in the period between 1993 and 1 May 2000, 21 cases of trafficking of children
were identified. The first case was identified
in 1998, 17 cases were
identified in 1999 and 3 cases were identified in the first five
months of 2000.
- Through
non-governmental initiatives (Save the Children in collaboration with
International Social Service), investigations were carried
out and programmes
were implemented for the purpose of determining the seriousness of this
phenomenon and assisting children who
escape from such situations. Through
these programmes, 69 international cases were identified, among which 17
involved girls between
the ages of 16 and 18. They had been illegally taken,
with fake identity documents, to Western countries (Italy, Germany, Greece),
as
well as to Albania and to the internationally administered region of Kosovo, and
forced into prostitution. With the support of
Save the Children, these
under-age girls were offered the opportunity to continue their education, to
learn a profession and to be
socially reintegrated.
7. Refugee children
- The
armed conflict which started in 1992 endangered the lives of thousands of people
who became the target of oppression owing to
their political convictions. Tens
of thousands of people had to leave their homes and flee the conflict area. The
Government of
the Republic of Moldova adopted Decision No. 172 on Some Urgent
Measures for Helping Refugees Who Were forced to Leave their Homes
Located in
the Territory of the Republic of Moldova, on the Left Bank of the Dniester
River, which the priority tasks of the local
selfadministration authorities in
creating basic living conditions for internally displaced people. On 26 March
1992, the Government
of the Republic of Moldova adopted Decision No.197 on the
Creation of a National Commission for the Coordination of Action for the
Material Supply of Refugees and on the Approval of the Regulations on the Order
for Assistance to Refugees who were forced to leave
their Homes, located in the
Territory of the Republic of Moldova, on the Left Bank of the Dniester River.
“Refugees”,
in this Decision, referred to people transferred against
their will in the interior of the country. The Ministry of Internal
Affairs
had to face the problem of temporary registration of transferred
families at their new address. At a meeting of the Commission
on
9 September 1992, the Head of the General Staff of Civil Defence of
the Republic of Moldova provided information on 2,620 people
involuntarily moved
in the country (including 1,310 children), of whom 400 remained without a
home. The number of registered people
continued to increase. On 21 November
1992, 3,601 people involuntarily transferred within the country were
registered.
- Consequently,
the problem of ensuring houses for people involuntarily moved within the country
became a priority, as thousands of
people were having to live in hostels, hotels
and sanatoriums. For the purpose of solving this problem, on 24 November 1993
Government
Decision No. 658, on Ensuring Houses to People of the Eastern
Districts of the Republic of Moldova Forced to Leave their Homes, was
adopted.
As a consequence of this Decision, the process of apartment distribution
started. By 1 January 1995, 1,042 families had
requested a place to live, 872
of which were allocated apartments in different towns on the right bank of the
Dniester River. There
are still 213 families of those registered in 1992 which
have not been allocated an apartment, either families of participants in
the
armed conflict or families who were forced to move for political
reasons.
- The
Ministry of Education, through its orders, has offered asylum applicants access
to primary education.
- For
the purpose of providing assistance to the Government of the Republic of Moldova
in establishing an adequate legislative framework
and procedure for assisting
people who need international protection, in accordance with international
standards, the Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) opened a branch office in the Republic of Moldova in 1997. The
Cooperation
Agreement, signed with the Government in 1998, stipulates that
UNHCR principles applying to humanitarian protection and assistance
to refugees
apply to asylum applicants and to internally displaced persons.
- In
1998, UNHCR expanded its programme, in order to assist people internally
displaced in the area controlled by the Government, as
a consequence of the
military conflict in Transnistria. The first projects involved the renovation,
in 1992, in Dorotcaia, a village
located on the left bank of the Dniester River,
of an abandoned block of flats, where 12 internally displaced families were
given
a place to live, and also the rehabilitation of a dilapidated primary
school. In 1999, UNHCR focused its efforts on the reconstruction
of hospitals
and educational institutions in Chişinău and in the area affected by
the 1992 conflict. Total costs amounted
to US$
170,000.
- Among
the schools that have benefited, we can mention: the “Ion
Creanga”-Romanian-English High School, Gymnasium Boarding
School No. 3
(both located in Chişinău) and schools in Cocieri, Chiperceni,
Malovata Nouã, Pârâta, Dubãsari
and Doroţcaia
villages. Under its programme of humanitarian assistance, UNHCR also purchased
furniture for schools in Ribnita,
Dubasari, Malovata Noua and
Cocieri.
- Among
other UNHCR activities for children, we can mention the evening party at
the end of 1998, organized in collaboration with UNICEF
and the Ministry of
Education for 55 refugee children, 130 children of internally
displaced families and 170 children orphaned as
a consequence of the armed
conflict. At the moment, assistance is provided to children younger than 2, to
single mothers and to
families with many children.
- At
the request of the Ministry of Health and of Chişinău Municipality,
UNHCR contributed financially to the rehabilitation
of the Municipal Emergency
Centre, hospitals in Criuleni and Rezina, the Pneumonological Clinic and
Hospital No. 3 for Children in
Chişinău City, which provide care
to refugees and to internally displaced persons, as well as to persons in other
social
categories.
- Currently,
about 1,000 NGOs are working in the Republic of Moldova, of which, 20 are
organizations of participants (and of widows
and mothers of participants) in the
1992 military conflict. In 1998, the Confederation of Organizations of
Participants in the Fight
for the Integrity and Independence of the Republic of
Moldova, which has as a purpose the protection of participants and veterans,
and
all people who suffered from the military conflict in the Eastern Region of the
Republic of Moldova - internally displaced persons
and the mothers, wives and
children of those who died - and assistance in solving their social, economic
and cultural problems.
8. Children in the separatist region (Transnistria)
- We
need to mention that there is a series of problems regarding the organization of
studies, education and leisure of children in
the Eastern districts of the
Republic of Moldova. Here, most of the pupils are not offered the opportunity
to study in the official
language. Also, kindergartens, schools, gymnasiums and
high schools are not supplied with adequate teaching materials.
- In
this context, it is necessary to mention that the Tiraspol separatist regime
imposed an abusive and discriminatory regime regarding
the use of languages on
localities over which it exercises its influence. An anticonstitutional law
imposed by this regime in 1992
provides for the use of the Cyrillic alphabet for
the Moldovan (Romanian) language. In 1994, in the eastern districts, teaching
based on the use of the Latin alphabet was forbidden. About 35,000 children are
denied the opportunity to study in the Romanian
language, on the basis of the
Latin alphabet in accordance with the education curricula of the Republic of
Moldova. Only in 8 of
the 77 educational institutions facing extremely great
difficulties do children have the possibility of studying in the Romanian
language, in conformity with the educational curricula of the Ministry of
Education of the Republic of Moldova.
- Through
such methods, the Tiraspol regime promotes a policy of cultural isolation and of
spiritual genocide against the native population.
In these districts, there is
no artistic or scientific literature published in the Moldovan (Romanian)
language in the Latin alphabet.
Children who complete their intermediate
studies in localities under the authority of the Tiraspol anticonstitutional
regime, confront
major obstacles in pursuing university studies, as
Moldovan schools that have Transnistria curricula are far from assuring an
educational
level compatible to that in the rest of the Republic of
Moldova.
References
- In
the present report, documents and statistical data of the following governmental
structures have been used: the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, the Ministry of
Economy and Reform, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Work, Social
Protection and the Family, the
Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education and
Science, the Ministry of Justice, the General Prosecutor’s Office and the
Department for Statistics and Sociological Analysis. Also, UNICEF, UNDP and
UNHCR representatives in the Republic of Moldova have
been consulted, as well
as some nongovernmental institutions: Save the Children, National Centre for
the Prevention of Abuse against
Children, Centre for Strategic Investigation and
Reform.
-----
WorldLII:
Copyright Policy
|
Disclaimers
|
Privacy Policy
|
Feedback
URL: http://www.worldlii.org/int/other/UNCRCSPR/2002/7.html