Prosecutor's office coming up with new initiative to amend legislation

Chisinau, 20 September /MOLDPRES/- General Prosecutor Alexandr Stoianoglo announced today that the institution he leads proposes that driving a car being drunk without serious consequences for the person's life or health should be transferred from the category of criminal offenses to that of contraventions, for which a harsher sentence should be set.

During a briefing, the head of the PG mentioned that the initiative with which the General Prosecutor's Office intervenes is broad and aims to make the fight against this scourge more efficient.

"First of all, it saves tens of millions of lei from the state budget, has as an adjacent objective the elimination of corruption and what is most important, makes the punishment effective. Namely, we come with the initiative that within 30 days from the commission of the offense, those caught drunk or drugged at the wheel to receive their deserved punishments. Specifically, we propose that the action of driving a drunk car, without serious consequences for the life or health of the person, be transferred from the category of criminal offenses to that of contraventions, for which a harsher punishment should be provided ", said Stoianoglo .

He specified that in order to achieve this conceptual reform in a sustainable way, it is necessary to adopt some collateral decisions, namely, the imposition of a ban on the unjustified stopping of the vehicle by the traffic officer.

"The stop will be allowed only in case of obvious violation of the rules of road traffic, which will allow to ensure, to a full extent, the presumption of innocence and other constitutional rights. The factor of corruption is very high in cases of unjustified stopping of cars, and on the other hand, it does not influence in any way the traffic safety ", added Stoianoglo.

The prosecutor said it is necessary to connect the minimum blood alcohol level to international and regional standards, for which the driver can be held accountable, and reiterated that the institution he leads is against increasing and aggravating liability for this type of offense.

Stoianoglo said that during this week, the General Prosecutor's Office will submit this initiative to the Government for the initiation of the appropriate legislative procedures.