On 28 November, 2015 the Council of Europe’s Directorate General Human Right and Rule of Law (Directorate of Human Rights) issued its Opinion on the Law no. 52 of 3 April 2014 on the People’s Advocate (Ombudsperson) of the Republic of Moldova Chapter V, The National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture (Ref: DGI(2015) 25). The Opinion has been prepared under the auspices of the Project “Support to Criminal Justice Reforms in the Republic of Moldova”, funded by the Government of Denmark.

The Opinion is complementary to the Opinion no.808/2015, CDL-AD2015)017, of the Venice Commission on the Law on the People’s Advocate and contains a detailed analysis of the Chapter V dealing with the National Preventive Mechanism.

The Council of Europe acknowledges the Law as a step forward for the establishment of a functional National Preventive Mechanism. At the same time, the current Law requires further revision in order to be fully in line with international standards and best European practices and enable the mechanism to function effectively.