CHAPTER I
GENERAL
PROVISIONS
Article 1. Purpose of the law
The purpose of this Law is to
guarantee the exercise of the freedom of assembly by each individual, as
provided in the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova and by the
international treaties to which Moldova is a party.
Article 2. Object of the law
(1)
This Law regulates
the procedure of organizing and holding the assemblies held outside the
buildings.
(2)
This Law does
not regulate organization and holding of:
a)
religious assemblies,
in the form of public worship or other traditional manifestations;
b)
sport, cultural
and artistic events and other entertainment activities;
c)
commercial events.
Article 3: Main Definitions
An assembly shall mean
a temporary and intentional presence of a number of individuals, who gathered
together to express certain ideas or attitudes;
An assembly with a limited number
of participants is an assembly where maximum 50 persons participate;
A spontaneous assembly shall mean
an assembly, that has been initiated and organized as a direct and immediate
response to social events, and which, in the opinion of participants, cannot be
postponed, and as a result the usual notification procedure is not possible;
Simultaneous assemblies shall mean assemblies organized in the same
place and time, which may or may not have the same grounds and purposes, and
whose organizers may have similar, different or controversial opinions.
Article 4. Main principles
This Law applies with respect of the
following principles:
1)
Proportionality,
according to which while applying any restriction on the freedom of assembly, public
authorities shall observe the balance between the necessity of such a
restriction in a democratic society and the exercise of the right to assembly.
2)
non-discrimination,
according to which the right to assembly is guaranteed to everyone, regardless
of their race, nationality, ethnic origin, language, religion, gender, opinion,
political affiliation, wealth, social origin or any other criteria;
3)
legality,
according to which as justifying reasons for prohibition or limitation of the
freedom of assembly shall serve only the legal provisions, without possibility
for public authorities to question the opportunity of an assembly.
4)
presumption
in favour of organizing an assembly, according to which at the examination of a
prior request to hold a meeting, any
doubts will be interpreted by the public authorities in favour of exercising
the right to assembly.
Article 5. Place of assembly
(1)
Assemblies
may be held in any place open to the public, outside the buildings or other
sites closed to free access.
(2)
Assemblies
may be held in a single place or the participants may move.
(3)
In case of
holding some official events or repair works, at the request of the interested
authorities, local public administration authority may declare temporarily
closed to the public access some sites that are usually open for the unlimited
access of all people.
Article 6. Assembly organisers
(1)
Organizers of
assemblies may be individuals with full legal capacity, groups of persons, as
well as legal entities.
(2)
Minors who
have reached the age of 14, as well as persons declared disabled, may organize
assemblies only together with a person vested with full legal capacity.
Article 7. Participants at the assemblies
(1)
Any person
is free to actively participate or assist at an assembly.
(2)
Nobody can
be compelled to participate or assist in an assembly.
Article 8. Prohibited assemblies
The following assemblies shall be prohibited when
they have the purpose of:
a)
Instigation
to aggression war, national, racial, ethnic or religious hatred;
b)
Instigation
to public discrimination or violence;
c)
Undermining the
national security or the territorial integrity of the state, perpetration of
crimes, violation of public order or organization of mass riots, violation of public
morality, violation of rights and freedoms of other persons or endangering
their lives or health.
Article 9. Technical equipment for holding assemblies
(1) During holding the assemblies, any
graphic or sound device for expression of attitudes or ideas, any special sound
amplifiers and other objects specific for an assembly may be used.
(2) Temporary constructions may be set for
the purpose of holding assemblies. In this case, organiser shall take the necessary
measures in order not to create any disproportionate inconveniences to the participants
or by-passers, and in order not to damage the environment, as well as shall ensure
their dismantling immediately after the end of the assembly.
CHAPTER II
NOTIFICATIONS REGARDING HOLDING AN ASSEMBLY
Article 10. Notification procedure
(1) Any person intending to hold an assembly
shall notify in writing, by a prior declaration, the authority of local public administration
from the respective territorial-administrative unit, with at least five days prior
to the date of the assembly.
(2) Prior declaration shall contain the name,
or (in case of a legal entity) the title of the organiser, contact data of the
organiser, purpose of the assembly, date and hour the assembly starts and duration
of the assembly, the route of the assembly (in case necessary), the form of
organizing the assembly, an estimative number of participants, services
requested from the local public administration authorities.
(3) The local public administration authority
shall register the prior declaration and issue to the organiser a stamped copy
of it, which should contain the number, date and hour of registration of the
declaration.
(4) Public
authorities shall take the necessary measures for rendering the services
requested by the organiser, which are normally rendered by the bodies in their
subordination and by the enterprises administered by them.
Article 11. Declaration of holding simultaneous assemblies
(1) If more applicants submitted prior declarations
regarding organization of some assemblies in the same place and time, the
competent body of the local public administration authority shall organize a
sitting with the participation of all applicants in order to find the adequate
solution for organization of all simultaneous assemblies.
(2) If, considering the intended place for
holding assembly and the estimated number of participants at the assembly, participants
at the sitting reach the conclusion that it is possible to organize all
simultaneous meetings, the organisers shall be given recommendations as to the
portion of the territory where the assembly can be held, as well as indications
to police for maintaining public order.
(3) If after the discussions between the competent
authority and organisers of the assemblies, the conclusion is reached regarding
the impossibility to organize all declared assemblies simultaneously in the
requested place and with the estimated number of participants, the competent
authority shall propose the organisers to change the hour, place or form of the
assemblies. This proposal is to be made orally during the sitting for the
present organizers and shall be sent in written, within maximum 24 hours since
the end of the sitting, to those who did not participate.
(4) If after the discussions as stipulated in
par. (3), none of the applicants accepts to change the hour, place or form of
the assembly, priority shall be given to the organiser who had first submitted
the prior declaration.
Article 12. Exceptions to the notification procedure
(1) In case of spontaneous assembly,
notification is admissible even without respecting the conditions regarding the
written format or the time limit provided in art. 10 (1); in this case it is
sufficient to provide information on the date, hour and place of the meeting, purpose
and organisers of the assembly, as well as services requested from the local
public administration authorities.
(2) Organisers shall exercise the right to
assembly as stipulated in par. (1) with good faith and shall inform the local
public administration authorities about the intention to organize an assembly immediately
when this intention has become known, in order to facilitate the granting of the
requested services by the local public administration authorities.
(3) Local public administration authority shall
take all necessary measures to ensure the secure holding of the spontaneous
assembly.
(4) Local public administration authority may
file lawsuits in order to challenge conditions of holding spontaneous assemblies.
(5) It is not mandatory to notify the local public
administration authority through a prior declaration in case of assemblies with
a limited number of participants. If organisers of such an assembly require
certain services from the local public administration authorities or wish to set
temporary constructions, they shall submit a prior declaration in this regard
at least one working day prior to the date of the assembly.
Article 13. Notification of the public
Anyone has the right, even before submitting
the prior declaration, to disseminate information regarding the organisation of
the assembly, place, time, hour and its purpose or any other relevant
information, to encourage the public to take part at the assembly through
speeches, flyers, announcements, information campaigns, other legal methods.
CHAPTER III
LIMITATION OF THE RIGHT TO ASSEMBLY
Article
14. Modification of conditions for holding assemblies and prohibition of the assemblies
(1) During the examination of a prior declaration
or a request, as well as during the insurance of the public order during the
assembly, public authorities shall act in order to eliminate only illicit elements
of the assembly, guaranteeing, to the extent possible, the right to assembly.
(2) If, based on the prior declaration or any
other information available, it results that the purposes or the format of the
envisioned assembly are in contradiction with the Constitution of the Republic
of Moldova or may lead to violation of the legislation, local public
administration authority shall inform without delay the organiser about his/her
obligations in this capacity, as well as draw his/her attention to the existing
legal framework.
(3) In case local public administration
authority considers it necessary for ensuring a peaceful holding of the assembly,
it may recommend the organisers to modify the conditions of holding the
declared assembly in what concerns the hour, place or form for holding the assembly.
The organiser shall take the final decision regarding the changing of time or
place or form for holding the assembly.
(4) If local public administration
authorities hold convincing evidence that the envisioned assembly will be
organised in violation of the provisions of article 8, it may file a lawsuit,
requesting the prohibition of the respective assembly, or modification, by
case, of the hour, place or form of its holding. Initiation of the lawsuit does
not suspend the right to hold the assembly.
(5) The court shall examine the request for prohibition
of the assembly or modification, by case, of the hour, place or form of its
holding and adopts a decision within maximum three days form the date when it
was submitted.
(6) The court may take one of the following
decisions:
a)
prohibition
of the declared assembly or modification of the hour, place or form of holding the
assembly;
b)
maintaining
the right to hold the assembly.
Article 15. Challenging the court decision
Any party is
entitled to challenge, in maximum 3 days since the pronunciation, the court
decision in conditions of article 14.
CHAPTER IV
HOLDING OF ASSEMBLIES
Article 16. The manner of holding the
assemblies
(1)
The
assemblies shall be held only in a peaceful manner.
(2)
The
organiser shall ensure the access to buildings.
(3)
During the assembly,
it is forbidden to hold weapons, explosives, any other forbidden substances or
other objects that can endanger people’s health or life.
(4)
In case of
the assemblies held between the hours 23.00 and 07.00, it is forbidden to use
sound devices or any sound amplification equipment.
Article 17. Registration of assemblies
(1) Any person may register the assemblies on
audio or video devices.
(2) Access of the press to the assemblies shall
be ensured by the organisers of the assembly and public authorities.
Article 18. Duties of the organiser
(1) The organiser of the assembly shall have
the following duties:
a) to hold the assemblies only in the form,
at the place and within the period mentioned in the prior declaration and shall
not allow any significant deviations from these conditions;
b) to designate a coordinator of the assembly
and to provide his/her name to the local public administration authorities
within a reasonable time.
(2) Organiser may set his/her own body
responsible for maintaining the public order during holding the assembly, whose
members shall bear distinctive signs in order to be easily identified.
Article 19. Duties of participants
(1) Participants at the assembly shall have
the following duties:
a) to respect legislation, public order and
legitimate requests of the organiser
b) to abstain from actions that would impede
holding of the assembly and from instigation to such actions
c) to leave the assembly at the request of
the organiser, and/or of the representative of the local public administration authority
or police, in conditions envisaged by art. 21 and 22.
Article 20. Rights and obligations of local public administration authorities
(1) Local public administration authorities
shall have the following duties:
a) to create all conditions for peaceful
holding of assemblies
b) to designate a person responsible for the legal
holding of the assembly and provide the name and contact data of this person to
the organiser and police.
(2) Local public administration authority may
prohibit, during holding the assembly, commercialising and consuming of
alcoholic beverages at the place of holding the assembly, and/or in its
immediate proximity.
(3) Local
public administration authorities may not request fees for rendering of services
for holding of assemblies, which are, normally rendered by the bodies in their
subordination and by the enterprises administered by them.
Article 21. Ensuring the public order. Ceasing
of the assembly
(1) If during the holding of the assembly, some
participants violate the public order or the provisions of article 8, the
organiser, or in case of necessity together with police, shall remove them.
(2) If during the holding of the assembly, the
actions are taken that seriously violate the provisions of article 8, the
representative of the local public administration authority shall request the
organiser to immediately cease the assembly. This is an exceptional measure, which
can be used only if other measures are not sufficient to ensure legal holding of
an assembly.
(3) The lack of the prior declaration is not
a reason for ceasing the assembly.
Article 22. Forced Dispersal of an
assembly
(1)
If the
organiser of the assembly does not comply with the request of the representative
of local public administration authority or is not able to cease the assembly,
the representative in question shall ask the participants to diffuse.
(2)
If the participants
in an assembly do not leave the place of the assembly at the request of the
representative of the local public administration authority, police will warn
the participants about the possibility of using special means and about forced
dispersal of the assembly, providing reasonable term to comply to this request,
after which police will repeat the request to disperse the participants.
(3)
If after the
repeated request to disperse, the participants at the assembly do not leave the
place of the assembly, at the request of the representative of local public
administration authority, police will carry out legal means to disperse the
meeting.
(4)
In case of
forceful dispersal of the assembly, police shall prepare minutes, where they
shall indicate the reason and ground of dispersal.
CHAPTER V
LIABILITY FOR VIOLATION OF THIS LAW
Article 23.
Liability of organisers and participants
(1) Upon the
case, participants may be subjected to civil, administrative or criminal
liability, for their actions, in compliance with the legislation.
(2) The
organiser may be held administratively liable for holding an assembly without submitting
a prior declaration as provided by the present law or for holding the assembly contrary
to the provisions of the declaration.
(3) The
organiser shall be held liable for the actions of participants only if it is
proved in court that the participants acted upon the calling or instigation
from the organiser.
CHAPTER VI
FINAL AND TRANSITORY PROVISIONS
Article 24.
(1)
With the
coming into force of the present Law, the Law No. 560-XIII of 21 July, 1995 on
Organizing and Holding of Assemblies shall be annulled.
(2)
Until the
elaboration of special normative acts, the actions envisaged in art. 2, par.
(2) shall take place in conformity with this law. In case of commercial actions,
local public administration authorities are entitled to gather fees for
rendering the requested services by the organisers.
(3)
The
Government shall submit to the Parliament, within 6 months, the proposals on
bringing the legislation in force in compliance with the provisions of this
law.
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