Chapter I: Initiation and Completion of Administrative Proceedings. Section II: Stages of Administrative Proceedings. Book II: Administrative Procedure. Administrative Code of the Republic of Moldova
Article 69. Initiation of administrative proceedings
(1) The administrative proceedings shall be initiated upon request or ex officio. The administrative proceedings initiated ex officio shall begin with the performance of the first procedural action, and those initiated upon request shall be deemed to have been initiated from the moment of filing the application.
(2) In the event of a petition being filed, the public authority shall be obliged to initiate an administrative proceeding.
(3) The initiation of an administrative proceeding ex officio shall be at the discretion of the public authority. In cases provided for by law or based on a decision of a hierarchically superior public authority, the initiation of an administrative proceeding ex officio shall be mandatory.
(4) If a legal provision states that the public authority may act only on the basis of a petition, then the public authority may not initiate any administrative proceeding without such a petition.
Article 70. Notification of participants
(1) If it initiates an administrative procedure ex officio, the public authority shall inform the participants thereof in writing within a reasonable period of time.
(2) If it initiates an administrative procedure upon request and other persons participate in the procedure, the public authority shall inform them in writing, within a reasonable period of time, of the initiated procedure.
(3) If the petitioner requests confirmation of the registration of the application, the public authority shall be obliged to confirm to the petitioner in writing the date and registration number.
Article 71. Public notification of participants
(1) The public authority is entitled to initiate an administrative procedure by public notification when:
a) the procedure foreseeably concerns more than 50 participants;
b) the identity of a person is not known;
c) this is provided for by special legal provisions.
(2) The announcement of the initiation of the administrative procedure must:
a) contain the name of the public authority conducting the administrative procedure;
b) indicate the subject matter of the administrative procedure;
c) explain the conditions for participation in the administrative procedure;
d) to establish a 30-day deadline for announcing participation in the administrative procedure;
e) to inform about the legal consequences in case of failure to comply with the deadlines and non-participation in the administrative procedure.
(3) The public notice about the initiation of the administrative procedure shall be displayed at the headquarters of the public authority, published on the official website of the public authority, and in the case of central public authorities – also in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Moldova.
Article 72. Submission of the petition
(1) An administrative procedure may be initiated by petition or it may be part of an already initiated administrative procedure.
(2) The petition may be:
a) submitted in writing to the public authority or sent by mail or fax;
b) transmitted in electronic form;
c) submitted verbally, being recorded in a report.
(3) If transmitted in electronic form, the petition must comply with the legal requirements established for an electronic document.
Article 73. Registration of the petition
(1) The public authority is obliged to immediately receive and register the petition or other documents submitted within the administrative procedure. The public authority is not entitled to refuse to receive the petitions solely on the grounds that it does not consider itself competent or because it considers the petition to be inadmissible or unfounded.
(2) In the case of petitions or other documents submitted at the headquarters of the public authority, the subdivision responsible for public relations shall issue proof of their registration.
(3) Petitions or other documents submitted in writing to a public authority or by fax shall be deemed to have been submitted upon their registration within the public authority.
(4) Petitions or other documents sent by post shall be deemed to have been submitted within the deadline if they have been delivered registered to the post office before the deadline has expired.
(5) In the case of petitions or documents submitted electronically, the public authority is obliged to communicate the registration number of the petition within 2 days at the latest, by the same means. In case of dispute, the proof of submitting the petition in electronic form, respectively of communicating the registration number, is the message saved in the "Sent" folder of the electronic mail account. For a good management of the activity of resolving petitions by electronic means, public authorities are obliged to offer the possibility of submitting petitions online through their own official web pages, and the petitioner to automatically receive proof of registration.
(6) Petitions may be formulated verbally within the public hearing program. These petitions shall be recorded in a report and shall be registered by the subdivision or person responsible for public relations within the public authority.
Article 74. Redirecting the petition
If the petition falls within the competence of another public authority, the original of the petition shall be sent to the competent public authority within 5 working days from the date of registration of the petition, of which the petitioner shall be informed.
Article 75. Content of the petition
(1) The petition shall contain the following elements:
a) the name and surname or the name of the petitioner;
b) the domicile or registered office of the petitioner and the e-mail address if a response is requested in this way;
c) the name of the public authority;
d) the subject of the petition and its motivation;
e) the signature of the petitioner or his/her legal or authorized representative, and in the case of a petition submitted in electronic form – the electronic signature.
(2) In order to expedite the exercise of the right to petition, public authorities may provide petitioners with application forms in their areas of competence, both in electronic format, through their own official websites, and in printed format, through the subdivision or person responsible for public relations.
(3) Application forms shall be used to the extent that they are made available by the public authority. Petitions submitted without using the form may be transferred to the form within a period established by the public authority.
(4) The petition shall be accompanied, as appropriate, by the confirming document of the legal representative, by the power of attorney or by the authorization based on the electronic signature of the authorized representative, by documents or evidence provided for by the legal regulations in force or considered useful by the petitioner to support his petition.
Article 76. Sanctions for missing elements of the petition
(1) Anonymous petitions or those submitted without indicating the postal or electronic address of the petitioner shall not be examined.
(2) If the petition does not meet the requirements provided for in art. 72 para. (3) or art. 75 para. (1) lett. c)–e), the applicant shall be informed of the shortcomings and shall be given a reasonable term to eliminate them. If the petitioner does not eliminate the shortcomings within the given deadline, the petition shall not be examined.
(3) The public authority or official has the right not to examine on the merits petitions that contain uncensored or offensive language, threats to national security, public order, the life and health of the official, as well as the members of his family.
(4) Petitions that contain threats to national security, public order, the life and health of the official or the members of his family, as well as threats to other authorities and/or other official persons or groups of persons, shall be referred to the competent legal body.
Article 77. Resolving the petition
Employees within public authorities are obliged to resolve only the petitions that are assigned to them, being prohibited from receiving them directly from petitioners or from intervening in their resolution outside the legal framework. Violation of these provisions constitutes a disciplinary offense and is sanctioned according to the legislation in force.
Article 78. Completion of the administrative procedure
(1) The administrative procedure is finalized by performing an administrative operation or by issuing an individual administrative act, respectively concluding an administrative contract.
(2) The participant who initiated the procedure may withdraw the initial petition until the procedure is finalized. By renunciation, the procedure is declared finalized, except in the case where there is an obligation to continue it ex officio, and the other participants are also informed about this.
(3) If the participant who initiated the procedure does not submit the documents or evidence requested by the public authority within the reasonable time limits set by it and there are no grounds for suspending the procedure or reinstating it, the public authority may establish tacit waiver of the procedure. The decision shall be notified to the participant in question in accordance with the provisions of this Code. Once the time limit is set, the participant shall be informed of the possibility of terminating the procedure.
