Moldovan government backs excluding MPs' immunity for corruption or money laundering cases

Chisinau, 18 May /MOLDPRES/ - The MPs’ immunity will be excluded in case of offences of active or passive corruption, influence peddling, excess or abuse of power, illicit enrichment and money laundering. Moreover, in case of these charges brought to a lawmaker, the parliament’s consent for sending the cause to court, the detaining, arresting or searching of the person will no longer be needed. In this respect, the cabinet of ministers gave a positive notification to a legislative initiative on the amendment of the Article 70 from Moldova’s Constitution, the government’s communication and protocol department has reported.

At the cabinet meeting, Justice Minister Sergiu Litvinenco said that the goal of this draft was to prevent and combat the high-level corruption. ‘’The draft got a positive notification on behalf of the Constitutional Court as well. I suggest that the government backs this draft law too. We hope that the necessary votes will be found in parliament, in order to exclude this ‘’shield’’ for calling to account, which is the MP’s immunity for corruption offences,’’ Minister Litvinenco said.    

The draft law is to be adopted by the parliament and will enter into force with its publication in Moldova’s Official Journal (Monitorul Oficial).

Photo: Government