Amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure and reports of the PMR Prosecutor's Office and the Commissioner for Human Rights in the PMR for 2019

The opportunity to consider criminal cases remotely, in a video conference format – such amendments of the Supreme Court to the Code of Criminal Procedure were considered today by deputies of the Committee on Legislation. According to the author of the legislative initiative, this can reduce the cost of ensuring the attendance of participants in the process, including the escort of defendants in custody for the duration of the criminal case. Deputies of the relevant committee, taking into account the fact that during the quarantine period the state authorities switched to the remote mode of operation, generally support this initiative. But at the same time, they talk about the lack of technical capabilities for remote meetings to date. In current conditions, the issue of finding a source of financing to ensure the material and technical base is rather complicated. In addition, the deputies focused on observing the principle of equality and the competitiveness of the parties when considering cases by courts, ensuring the protection of the rights of defendants. Deputies consider it necessary to hold an additional meeting on the law-in-draft proposed by the Supreme Court with the participation of representatives of the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Finance, the Judicial Department and other interested parties to discuss all issues related to the implementation of the legislative initiative.

Deputies at the Committee meeting discussed the report of the Human Rights Ombudsman in the PMR for the past year. Totally in 2019 the Ombudsman examined 814 appeals. To study the issue of observance of human rights, visits were made to military units, orphanages and boarding schools, to medical institutions, temporary detention facilities of the republic’s internal affairs bodies, pre-trial detention centers and penal institutions.

A report on the results of activities for the past year was presented by the PMR Prosecutor's Office. 4742 complaints about the violation of human rights and freedoms were considered in 2019. This is 2% more compared to 2018. The report provides information regarding the implementation of general supervision by the prosecution authorities, supervision of the enforcement of laws by state authorities, as well as participation in the improvement of legislation.

The issues considered at the meeting of the Legislation Committee will be discussed by deputies at the upcoming plenary meetings.