Litigation 2026

MOLDOVA Law and Practice Contributed by: Vladislav Roșca, Ina Jimbei and Mădălina Luca, EFRIM, ROŞCA & Associates

several plaintiffs and/or defendants to participate jointly in a single proceeding. From 26 June 2026, Law No 80/2025 will empower qualified entities to bring actions on behalf of consum- ers seeking redress measures (compensation, repair, replacement, price reduction, termination of the con- tract or refund of the value of the product/service) or seeking cease measures (cessation of a commercial practice). Actions claiming cease measures operate on an opt-out basis, without specific certification criteria for class approval. Actions seeking redress measures are opt-in, requiring consumers to provide written consent within 30 days from the filling of the claim, but no later than the end of oral proceedings. 3.8 Requirements for Cost Estimate There is no legal requirement to provide the client with a cost estimate for potential litigation. In prac- tice, attorneys often inform clients of the court fee and stamp duty, as well as the potential costs associated with the use of procedural remedies. 4. Pre-Trial Proceedings 4.1 Interim Applications/Motions Parties may file the following interim applications/ motions before the substantive hearing: • procedural interim applications (eg, striking out a claim, termination of the proceedings, or raising an objection to the action being time barred); or • substantive interim applications (interim protec- tive measures such as freezing orders, prohibiting certain acts, etc). Applications for interim protective measures may be submitted at any stage of the proceedings until the judgment becomes final. In certain cases expressly provided by law, the interim protective measures may even be requested before the main claim is filed (eg, for the preservation of evidence in intellectual property disputes or matters involving freedom of expression), provided that the action on the merits is filed within a short period there- after.

Interim applications cannot be filed for case manage- ment issues. 4.2 Early Judgment Applications Moldova has no “early/summary judgment” mecha- nism. However, at the preparatory stage, the parties may apply for dismissal of the claim as time-barred, for termination of the proceedings or for the claim to be struck from the docket. The grounds for termination of the proceedings and for striking the claim from the docket are exhaustively provided by law and generally relate to procedural deficiencies attributable to the plaintiff. Hence, such applications are decided by court ruling, without reaching the merits. 4.3 Dispositive Motions Dispositive motions are not available in Moldova. 4.4 Requirements for Interested Parties to Join a Lawsuit Interested third parties may join the proceedings as third parties either with or without an independent claim. A third party with an independent claim joins by filing a statement of claim directed against the plaintiff or both parties, asserting rights to the subject matter of the action (for example, in a dispute between two par- ties over the ownership of a property, a third party may claim that the property actually belongs to it). A third party without an independent claim may join by its own application, at the request of a party or ex officio by the court, when the judgment could affect its legal relationship with one of the parties (for example, in a dispute between a client and a company for dam- ages caused, the employee may join as a third party). 4.5 Applications for Security for Defendant’s Costs Security for the defendant’s costs is not expressly regulated by the CPC. 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 losing party, there is no consolidated practice in this regard.

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