The parties “Alternative Force and Salvation of Moldova”, “Heart of Moldova” and “Great Moldova” lost the dispute in the Constitutional Court. They challenged the legislation that allowed the Ministry of Justice to request the court to suspend the activities of these parties due to suspicions of connection with the unconstitutional Shor party. The President of the Constitutional Court, Domnica Manole, explained this decision at a briefing on June 30.
The Chairperson of the Constitutional Court recalled that three political parties challenged the articles of the law concerning the status of the successor of a party declared unconstitutional, as well as the criteria for establishing this status and limiting the activities of political parties as an interim measure.
The Constitutional Court recognized that assigning this status to the party is constitutional. Manole explained that Parliament prohibited the creation and registration of a new political party, as well as the use of an already registered political party to continue or resume as a successor party the activities of a party declared unconstitutional.
“Parliament considered that such activity constituted an abuse of the right of political association. In this regard, the parliament regulated the procedure for identifying political parties that are the successors of a party declared unconstitutional, determined the circumstances that could be taken into account by the court, and provided a time frame for assessing the behavior in question,” she noted.
According to her, the Constitutional Court considered that parliament did not introduce a new category of restrictions on freedom of association, but clarified the constitutional requirement for the fair exercise of fundamental rights. It established a number of criteria that must be taken into account by authorities and the judiciary. These criteria do not apply on their own and do not automatically confer such status. They must be considered in totality, in context and in connection with the grounds that served as the reason for recognizing the unconstitutionality of the party.
“The court found that these criteria were formulated with sufficient precision and objectivity, since they involve an analysis of specific facts, such as political programs, public statements or joint activities. In particular, the use of the wording “form a totality” demonstrates the fact that parliament did not allow the establishment of succession on the basis of isolated actions, but demanded a comprehensive assessment of the behavior of a political party. The criteria are predictable in terms of their consequences and satisfy the condition of legality as long as they are interpreted as symptomatic elements or signs of continuity,” Manole said.
She believes that by prohibiting the continuity of parties declared unconstitutional, the authorities are fulfilling their obligation to protect the constitutional order and democratic values from fraudulent strategies to maintain the activities of such parties and their “reincarnation” in existing or new political formations.
She also explained why the Court considered the possibility of dissolving the successor party constitutional. First of all, Manole noted that dissolution is not an automatic measure, and the application of this measure is possible only after an individualized judicial assessment. “Dissolution can be ordered only after the court, based on the evidence collected, determines that the activities of a political party fall within the category of prohibited conduct,” she added.
Manole clarified that if the court finds that the violations are not serious enough to justify the dissolution of the party, it may, as an alternative measure, order the activities of the party concerned to be limited. In this context, the Constitutional Court noted that the possibility of individualizing a measure is an important procedural guarantee, since it ensures that there is a reasonable balance of proportionality between the severity of the violations identified and the measure prescribed by the court.
The court also spoke about the constitutionality of restricting the activities of parties as a punitive measure. Manole noted that Parliament regulated a mechanism to limit the activities of political parties, establishing both substantive and procedural conditions under which such a measure could be imposed.
“There are situations that allow for urgent government intervention: large-scale bribery of voters, etc. The court held that these provisions satisfied the condition of legality. The restriction measure is temporary, its maximum duration is 12 months. The law allows for the resumption of the activities of a political party after eliminating the inconsistencies that served as the basis for state intervention,” said the chairman of the Constitutional Court.
In conclusion, the Constitutional Court rejected requests to review constitutionality submitted by the parties “Alternative Force and Salvation of Moldova”, “Heart of Moldova” and “Greater Moldova”. At the same time, it is important to note that the decision of the Constitutional Court does not mean that these three parties are the successors of the Shor party.
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In 2025, the Ministry of Justice, based on new provisions of the law on political parties, appealed to the Chisinau Court of Appeal with a request to limit the activities of the parties “Alternative Force and Salvation of Moldova”, “Heart of Moldova” and “Great Moldova”. The Ministry of Justice accused them of being successor parties to the unconstitutional Shor party – that is, using the same sources of funding, the same leadership and coordinating their actions with the same center.
In response, these three parties appealed to the Constitutional Court. They tried to prove that the very mechanism that allows the Ministry of Justice to quickly restrict the activities of parties through ordinary courts violates the right to association and is contrary to the Constitution. They insisted that these restrictions were excessive and violated the rights of members of these parties, who are in no way connected with the Shor party.
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