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                                                                                                                       Honorable Mr. Chairman of Parliament,
Esteemed Members of Parliament,

In recent years, Moldovan civil society worked closely with Parliament to improve the act of creating legislation, and was convinced that this cooperation would ensure a higher legitimacy of bills. Out of these reasons and beliefs, civil society representatives drafted bills and cooperated with the legislative body whenever necessary.

Usually MPs are or at least seem to be open to these proposals, participating in public debates and discussions on them. In words, they support civil society initiatives, but avoid assuming political responsibility once these bills are sent to the Parliament. The legislative proposals of the civil society seldom come to be recognized as legislative initiatives and be examined in the Parliament.

We note another problem connected with proposals that have been registered as legislative initiatives and received all needed advisory notes, but are not included in the Parliament agenda for debate and approval. Various reasons are cited: lack of a majority willing to vote for the project, other priority projects, and others.

According to data presented by the Parliament, 510 legislative initiatives were registered in 2012, and 542 – in 2013, and only around 60% were included on the agenda of the plenary sessions and examined, while the rest remain “in work”. Accumulation of “legislative arrears” is possible because there is no law that requires Parliament to consider all registered legislative initiatives.

Astfel sunt create premise pentru tergiversarea procesului legislativ în cazul inițiativelor legislative incomode unei/unor fracțiuni sau unui grup de deputați. Din acest motiv, un număr mare de proiecte înaintate în Parlament își pierd din actualitate, fiind incluse tardiv sau chiar deloc pe ordinea de zi. Ca rezultat, proiectele neexaminate în decursul legislaturii în care au fost înregistrate devin nule.

The Parliament Regulation does not contain an express stipulation of a limit in which the bill discussed in a Standing Committee shall be included on the agenda of Parliament sessions. This created prerequisites for delaying the legislative process in the case of initiatives that deemed inconvenient by a faction or various factions of deputies. This is why many bills submitted to Parliament lose their topicality as they end up included late or not at all on the agenda. Moreover, bills that are not examined during the term of the legislature in which they were registered become void.

We believe that the lack of a fixed period required to include bills in the agenda of Parliament can foster political trade and backstage games. The opportunity or lack thereof of legislative initiatives should be established in plenary debates. The voter has the right to know the position of each member of the party on the issues discussed.

However, in order for the civil society and the public to understand the legislative process and the basis for adopting or rejecting legislative initiatives, we believe that the approval or rejection of bills needs to be motivated. This will empower MPs and streamline communication between Parliament and the NGO sector.

Given the above, we REQUEST Parliament Members:

1. To be more open to legislative drafts submitted by the civil society, discuss them in the standing committees, and take fair and transparent decisions of their approval or rejection;
2. In order to strengthen the coherence and mutual trust, decisions regarding the acceptance or non-acceptance of civil society bills submitted to Parliament should to be substantiated, and a written notification should be sent to the sender.
3. To remove the legal vacuum by setting a fixe term in the Parliament Regulation for inclusion on the agenda of the plenary sessions of legislative initiatives after their discussion in the standing committees.

Signed by:

Center for Independent Journalism
Association of Electronic Press
“Acces-info Center
Association of Independent TV Journalists
Center for Journalistic Investigations
Center of the Young Journalist
Committee for Press Freedom
Promo-LEX
Transparency International Moldova
National Youth Council of Moldova
Institute for Defense of Basic Human Rights and Freedoms
Human Rights Institute
Human Rights Embassy
Association of Women for Environment Protection and Sustainable Development
Keystone Moldova
Caritas Moldova
PAS center
PTH League of the Republic of Moldova
Alliance of Organizations for Persons with Disabilities
Center for Rehabilitation and Social Integration of Children with Mental Disabilities ”CULTUM”
Association „MOTIVAŢIE”
Association of Deaf Children of Moldova
Association for Rehabilitation and Social Integration of Children with DOWN Syndrome
Association for Support of Children with Special Needs
Association for Support of Children with Physical Handicap of Moldova
Association of persons with Hearing Deficiencies „Cantemir”
Association „Verbina”
Center for Legal Assistance for Persons with Disabilities
Center “Speranța”