According to the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Republic of Moldova, any participant in a criminal trial may appeal the court's decision.
1) Standard appeal procedure: the statutory procedure for appealing non-final court decisions (appeal procedure) or, depending on the circumstances, court decisions that have not entered into legal force (recourse procedure);
- - Appeal procedure. (Article 400)
Appellate instance – an instance that considers appeals against judgments that have not entered into legal force (appeal chambers);
The appeal deadline is 15 days from the date of the full sentence, unless the law provides otherwise. - - Ordinary recourse procedure (ordinary remedy)
Recourse instance – an instance that considers recourse (cassation) remedy against court decisions rendered in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code;- - Recourse remedy against decisions of appellate instances (Article 420)
The deadline for filing a recourse application is two months from the date of communication of the full decision. - - Recourse remedy against court decisions for which appeal through the appellate procedure is not provided (Article 437)
The deadline for appealing against decisions for which the law does not provide for a recourse is 15 days from the date of the decision.
- - Recourse remedy against decisions of appellate instances (Article 420)
2) Exceptional recourse procedure: the procedure provided by law for appealing court decisions that have entered into legal force (review appeal procedure);
- - Review of a case under revisional procedure (Article 458)
Grounds for review of criminal proceedings
(1) Irrevocable court decisions may be subject to review both with regard to the criminal and civil aspects, at the request of the persons referred to in art. 460.
(2) If the court decision refers to several persons or several crimes, the review may be requested for any of the facts or perpetrators.
(3) The review may be requested in cases where:
1) it has been established, by an irrevocable criminal sentence, that a crime has been committed during the criminal investigation or in connection with the trial of the case which creates suspicions regarding the correctness of the solution in the contested decision;
2) new or recently discovered circumstances have been established of which the court was not aware when issuing the decision and which, independently or together with the previously established circumstances, would prove that the convicted person is innocent or has committed a less serious or more serious crime than the one for which he was convicted or would prove that the acquitted person or the person in respect of whom the termination of the criminal proceedings was ordered is guilty/guilty;
3) two or more irrevocable court decisions cannot be reconciled;
4) The Constitutional Court has recognized as unconstitutional the provision of the law applied in the respective case;
5) The European Court of Human Rights has informed the Government of the Republic of Moldova about the filing of an application from which it is deduced the existence of a fundamental defect in the previous procedure, which raises reasonable doubts regarding the correctness of the solution in the contested decision;
6) The European Court of Human Rights has found, by a decision, or the Government of the Republic of Moldova has recognized, by a declaration, a violation of fundamental rights or freedoms, which can be remedied, in whole or in part, by quashing the contested decision.
(4) The death of the convicted person does not prevent the review of the criminal trial.
(5) The application for review submitted repeatedly by the same person on the basis of the same reason is inadmissible. - - Resumption of consideration of a criminal case in the event of a trial in the absence of the convicted person (Article 4655)
Application for resumption of the examination of the criminal case
(1) The person tried and convicted in his absence may submit a request for resumption of the examination of the criminal case within 30 days from the date on which he was notified, against signature, of the court's decision.
(2) The examination of the criminal case may not be resumed if:
a) the convicted person was informed about the criminal trial and was unjustifiably absent from the trial of the case;
b) the convicted person had a chosen defense attorney who participated in the trial of the case in the first instance;
c) the convicted person, having been informed about the conviction, did not appeal or withdrew his appeal;
d) the convicted person requested to be tried in his absence.
(3) In the event that the extradition of a person tried and convicted in his absence is requested, the request for The request for resumption of the examination of the criminal case shall be submitted within 30 days from the handover of the convicted person to the authorities of the Republic of Moldova and the communication of the conviction.
(4) The request for resumption of the examination of the criminal case shall be submitted in person or through a defense attorney to the court that last ruled on the merits of the case.
