Legal Aid Law Adopted in Moldova
CHISINAU, Moldova—The Moldovan parliament voted unanimously last week to approve a new legal aid law, taking an important step in the country's process of improving access to justice.
The law significantly increases access to legal aid by guaranteeing qualified legal aid for all poor defendants, prompt access to counsel for all detained defendants, and up to one hour of primary legal aid for any person in need of legal advice. The new legal aid system will be implemented gradually over the next five years.
Under the law, the Ministry of Justice has responsibility for making legal aid policy and a new quasi-independent institution—the National Legal Aid Council—will manage the system. The law calls for a diverse delivery system meant to stimulate competition among providers and increase the quality of services. Qualified legal aid will be delivered by public defenders and private lawyers accepting legal aid appointments, as well as non-governmental organizations meeting certain criteria. Duty lawyers will provide legal aid promptly after arrest for all defendants or administrative offenders. Paralegals and nongovernmental organizations will provide primary legal aid.
The former system of publicly-funded legal services suffered from a series of shortcomings, including: unclear responsibility for ensuring access to and the quality of legal aid, poorly defined eligibility criteria, lack of admission criteria for lawyers providing legal aid, and lack of any mechanism to monitor the quality of legal aid services. The new law addresses these shortcomings by introducing clear responsibilities for managing and delivering legal aid, requirements for lawyers' admission to the system, and a mechanism for monitoring the quality of services.
The reform is part of a broader effort to improve the legal aid system in Moldova, begun in 2004 by the Ministry of Justice in partnership with the Soros Foundation-Moldova. The law was developed by a legal aid working group which benefited from extensive consultations with the Open Society Justice Initiative, national and international experts, and other partner organizations, including the Council of Europe and European Commission Joint Program for Moldova, OSCE Mission in Moldova, ABA Rule of Law Initiative in Moldova, and JUSTICE UK.
Moldova's first pilot public defender office—established in 2006 by the Soros Foundation-Moldova in cooperation with the Justice Initiative—provided invaluable advice and information to the legal aid working group. The public defender office will be integrated into the legal aid scheme and consulted in setting guidelines for the new system. Strengthening the legal aid system in Moldova remains a priority for the law program of the Soros Foundation-Moldova.