Criminal liability to be able to be transferred after reorganization of legal entities in Moldova

Criminal liability will be able to be transferred when a legal entity is reorganized after committing an offense. The provision is included in a draft law adopted by the parliament in the first reading today.

The legislative initiative was developed by the Justice Ministry, in order to implement the conditions set out in the National Regulatory Plan, in the context of harmonizing Moldova’s legislation with European Union rules. The main goal of the draft is to strengthen mechanisms for preventing and combating criminal acts.

The document stipulates that the transfer of criminal liability will be carried out proportionally, depending on the value of the assets taken over by the reorganized legal entity from the dissolved entity that committed the offense. The amendments to the Criminal Code specify that, when establishing and individualizing the penalty applied to a reorganized legal entity, the court will take into account three criteria: the turnover of the legal entity that committed the offense, the value of its assets and the share of the assets transferred to each legal entity participating in the operation.

The authors of the draft law emphasize that the successor is not considered guilty of committing the criminal act, but bears criminal liability because it has taken over the economic identity of the legal entity that committed the offense.

The draft law also introduces new types of sanctions applicable to legal entities, in accordance with European directives. They include exclusion from the right to benefit from state aid or benefits, restriction of access to public funds, including public procurement procedures, grants and concessions, as well as the liquidation of the legal entity. When penalties are applied to a legal entity, the court will send the decision to the Public Services Agency, which will enter in the relevant public registers notes on the conviction and the penalty applied.

The document provides for the introduction of new aggravating circumstances for the offense of money laundering, the establishment of criminal liability for legal entities involved in a criminal organization, as well as for cases of passive corruption.

The draft law on strengthening the criminal liability of legal entities is to be examined by the parliament in the second reading. After adoption, the new legislative provisions will enter into force within six months following their publication in the Official Journal.