MOLDOVA Law and Practice Contributed by: Vladislav Roșca, Ina Jimbei and Mădălina Luca, EFRIM, ROŞCA & Associates
ing. The report is examined in court alongside other evidence, and the expert may be asked questions to clarify or supplement their conclusions. The judge may order an expert examination ex officio only in the following cases expressly provided by law: • when the court cannot ascertain the authenticity of a document, after requesting confirmation from the relevant authorities or comparing the person’s handwriting or signature (Article 140 (4) of the CPC); or • when ordering protective judicial measures, etc. 7.6 Extent to Which Hearings Are Open to the Public Court hearings are generally public, but the court may order a closed hearing in specific situations. Only the participants to the proceedings have access to the transcripts of the hearings. 7.7 Level of Intervention by a Judge Judges play a directive role in civil litigation (Article 9 of the CPC). In administrative cases, the court has an active role: it examines the facts ex officio, and is not bound by the parties’ submissions or requests for evidence. After trial, the court retires to deliberate. In ordinary cases, the judgment is pronounced immediately, while in complex cases, deliberation may be postponed up to 15 days. Following deliberation, only the operative part of the judgment is pronounced immediately. The reasoned judgment is issued within 45 working days. 7.8 General Timeframes for Proceedings In general, there is no statutory timeframe for courts to examine a case. Instead, courts must comply with the reasonable time requirement in line with ECtHR case law. Special laws may provide specific terms or priority terms for the examination of certain disputes, such as labour disputes or administrative litigation. In practice, however, the duration of proceedings also depends on administrative factors, such as the judge’s caseload and the time of year the claim is filed:
August is affected by national holidays and judges’ annual leave, while December and January are slowed by winter holidays. In addition, Moldova is currently undergoing a vetting process, which has led to a tem- porary reduction in the number of sitting judges. At first instance, due to the large number of pending cases, a civil dispute may be resolved within approxi- mately one or two years, followed by 12 months for appeal and, if applicable, another 12 months for cas- sation before the SCJ. The law provides a mechanism for acceleration of the procedure in cases where there is a danger of breach- ing the reasonable term. A settlement between the parties may be reached either by direct agreement or through mediation. The settlement may be extrajudicial (concluded outside court proceedings) or judicial (concluded within the proceedings). An extrajudicial settlement does not generally require court approval. However, if one party fails to voluntar- ily perform its obligations under such an agreement, court intervention may become necessary to obtain an enforceable title. In practice, this procedure can be time-consuming. Hence, the parties may authenticate the settlement before a notary and have it invested with an enforcement clause. In this case, no court approval is required, as a notarial deed bearing the enforcement formula constitutes an enforceable title from the date the obligation becomes due or the date indicated in the contract. 8. Settlement 8.1 Court Approval A judicial settlement may be reached at any stage of the trial, including on appeal. If the parties express their intention to settle but require more time to final- ise the settlement, the court – upon the parties’ joint request – may adjourn the hearing to a date indicated by the parties (Article 191 (1)(b) of the CPC). When the parties opt for mediation, the court is obliged to sus- pend the proceedings (Article 260 (1)(f) of the CPC).
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