Adopted by Moldova's parliament: criminal liability may also be transferred after reorganization of legal entity

Criminal liability will be transferred when a legal entity reorganizes after committing an offense. The provision is included in a draft law passed by Parliament in its second reading.

The legislative initiative was drafted by the Justice Ministry, in order to implement the conditionalities set out in the National Regulatory Plan, in the context of the process of harmonizing Moldova’s legislation with European Union standards. The main purpose of the draft law is to strengthen mechanisms for preventing and combating criminal offenses.

The document provides that the transfer of criminal liability will be carried out proportionally, depending on the value of the assets taken over by the reorganized legal entity from the dissolved entity that committed the offense. The amendments to the Criminal Code stipulate that, when determining and individualizing the punishment imposed on a reorganized legal entity, the court will take into account three criteria: the turnover of the legal entity that committed the offense, the value of its assets, and the share of the assets transferred to each legal entity participating in the operation.

The authors of the draft law emphasize that the successor is not considered guilty of committing the criminal offense, but bears criminal liability because it has taken over the economic identity of the legal entity that committed the offense.

At the proposal of MP Igor Talmazan, the document was supplemented with an amendment stipulating that a convicted legal entity is required to display or publish the operative part of the conviction within no more than 15 days from the date on which the judgment becomes final.

The legislative initiative also introduces new types of sanctions applicable to legal entities, in accordance with European directives. They include exclusion from the right to receive state benefits or aid, restricting access to public funds, including public procurement procedures, grants and concessions, as well as the dissolution of the legal entity. When penalties are imposed on a legal entity, the court will forward the decision to the Public Services Agency, which will record information about the conviction and the penalty imposed in the relevant public registers.

The document also provides for the introduction of new aggravating circumstances for the offense of money laundering, the establishment of criminal liability for legal entities involved in a criminal organization, as well as for cases of passive bribery.

The new legislative provisions will enter into force six months after their publication in the Official Journal.

 

The Communication and Public Relations Directorate of Moldova’s Parliament