European Court of Human Rights finds out infringement of right of access to court in case of former prosecutor general

Chisinau, 24 October /MOLDPRES/ - The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has found out, in the case of former Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo, the ‘’infringement of the right of access to court – impossibility for the Prosecutor General to appeal his suspension, prompted by the criminal procedures initiated against him.’’ ECHR published a decision to this effect today.    

The Court’s decision in the case of Stoianoglo against Moldova, unanimously ruled ‘’the violation of Article 6, paragraph 1, of the Convention, right of access to a court.’’   

The Court noted that the prosecutor general’s suspension could be, on principle, justified by the status of the claimant of prosecutor general, who had wide powers to supervise the criminal investigations and that the enforcement of such a measure against the Prosecutor General could not, in itself, prompt a problem from the viewpoint of the Convention.  

Nevertheless, the Court warned about the fact that the procedural guarantees were needed to be implemented, in order to make sure that the mechanism of suspension is not used arbitrarily. In this respect, the Court noted the enhancement of the importance assigned to the equity of the procedure in the cases on dismissal of prosecutors, including the intervention of an independent authority in the decisions which affect their appointment or dismissal.    

Thus, ECHR found out that the claimant had not been given any form of judicial protection in connection with his suspension; this deprived him of possibility to fulfill the obligations and of the salary for more than two years.   

Also, the Court provided the claimant a sum of 3,600 euros as costs and expenses.

In early 2022, Alexandr Stoianoglo submitted two complaints against Moldova at ECHR, stating that his suspension from office would have been illegal. Stoianoglo took over the leadership of the Prosecutor General’s Office in November 2019 and the criminal prosecution started against him in October 2021.  

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