MOLDOVA Law and Practice Contributed by: Ina Jimbei, Efrim, Roșca and Associates
• Arbitration: institutional arbitration remains a widely used ADR mechanism, particularly in cases involv - ing a foreign party or a professional entity. It is regulated by the Law on Arbitration and the Law on International Commercial Arbitration, both in force since 2008. As a general rule, the use of ADR is voluntary and is not a mandatory precondition to commencing court proceedings. Starting from 12 August 2026, the new Law on Media - tion requires parties to participate in at least one medi - ation session before commencing court proceedings in certain categories of civil disputes, except where a public authority is a party. The requirement applies to specified claims with a value not exceeding 50 aver - age monthly salaries, including debt recovery, dam - ages, defamation, property division, certain contrac - tual disputes and insolvency proceedings, subject to statutory exceptions. Third-party litigation funding (TPLF) is legally admis - sible in Moldova but lacks specific regulations in the Civil Procedure Code. However, recent Supreme Court of Justice case law confirms that court fees may be paid by a non-party, and that rejecting a filing on that basis constitutes excessive formalism. In 2025, for the first time, specific provisions on TPLF were adopted in Law No 80/2025 on Representative Actions for the Protection of the Collective Interests of Consumers, which entered into force on 26 June 2026 (hereinafter, “Law No 80/2025”). According to Article 10 of Law No 80/2025, a repre - sentative action seeking remedial measures may be funded by a third party in accordance with Law No 1420/2002 on Philanthropy and Sponsorship. The law sets out the following conditions for third- party funding: 11. Funding and Costs 11.1 Litigation Funding
• there must be no conflict of interest between the funder and the parties involved in the action; • the funder must not unduly influence the decisions made in the proceedings, including settlement decisions, so as to prejudice the collective inter - ests of the consumers concerned; and • the representative action must not be brought against a defendant who is a competitor of, or in a dependent relationship with, the funder. These safeguards are designed to ensure that third- party funding supports access to justice without compromising the integrity of the proceedings or the interests of the consumers represented. 11.2 Costs In Moldova, the costs of litigation include the state fee, stamp duty, and other costs related to the examination of the case, such as expert fees, legal assistance fees, and costs of serving the defendant. The Civil Procedure Code provides that the unsuc - cessful party may be ordered to reimburse the prevail - ing party for the costs of the proceedings, upon the latter ’ s request . The party seeking recovery must sub - stantiate the claimed costs with appropriate evidence. When awarding costs, the court considers the follow - ing factors: • reality – whether the expenses were actually incurred (invoices, service contracts); • necessity – whether the expenses were necessary for resolving the case (eg, costs for evidence- gathering that directly contributed to the case outcome); and • reasonableness – whether the amount is propor - tionate to the nature of the cost. The Civil Procedure Code does not expressly pro - vide for security for costs. Although a court can grant interim measures in favour of the defendant to secure enforcement of a judgment regarding the compensa - tion of court costs from the unsuccessful party, there is no practice in Moldova in which such requests for interim measures have been admitted.
114 A NTITRUST LI T IGATI O N 2026
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