Convicted persons to no longer escape punishment in Moldova: parliament tightens rules, expands electronic monitoring

Convicted individuals will have fewer opportunities to evade the execution of their sentences or to leave Moldova before court rulings are enforced. The parliament has adopted, in the second reading, a package of legislative amendments that strengthen monitoring mechanisms and introduce new tools for law enforcement authorities.

The draft, developed by the Ministry of Justice, aims to eliminate existing legislative gaps between the moment a sentence is pronounced and the actual execution of the punishment, so that convicted persons can no longer take advantage of this interval to hide or leave the country.

One of the most important amendments obliges courts to order, ex officio, the search and apprehension of convicted persons who are not present at the pronouncement of the sentence. At the same time, a “notice of restriction” (consemn) will be applied, a measure that will allow the limitation of their movement and reduce the risk of evading the execution of the punishment.

Another new element is the criminalization of escape from house arrest. Currently, the Criminal Code sanctions only escape from places of detention, and the absence of a regulation for house arrest has created, according to the authors, a legislative vacuum.

“This legislative inconsistency generates a regulatory gap that prevents the application of proportional criminal sanctions in cases of violation of house arrest, seriously affecting the authority of court decisions and the security of criminal proceedings,” the explanatory note to the draft reads.

The new provisions will allow law enforcement bodies to intervene immediately in the event of a breach of house arrest, including by conducting searches and applying special investigative measures provided by law.

The legislative package also expands the use of electronic monitoring. Electronic bracelets may be applied not only in cases of house arrest, but also to persons prohibited from leaving their locality or the country, as well as those temporarily released under judicial control. At the same time, clear rules are introduced regarding the intervention of authorities in cases of alerts, technical malfunctions, or damage to monitoring devices.

The amendments also provide for an increase in the financial guarantees deposited by organizations that offer bail for defendants. While they currently range between 15,000 and 50,000 lei, the new rules set a threshold between 50,000 and 150,000 lei. Authorities believe that this measure will provide the state with stronger property guarantees and reduce the risk of the merely formal use of bail.

At the same time, bail funds will be managed by the Criminal Asset Recovery Agency, through the Automated Information System “Register of Confiscated Criminal Assets.”

The draft also introduces the institution of the “notice of restriction” (consemn) into criminal procedure legislation, both in the form of information and in the form applied at the border, to ensure the rapid exchange of information between judicial bodies and the authorities responsible for border control.

According to the Ministry of Justice, the new measures will strengthen the enforcement of court decisions, reduce the possibilities of evading criminal liability and increase the efficiency of the justice system.

The legislative amendments will enter into force three months after their publication in the Official Journal.