A criminal appeal is a means of appeal through which the legality of court sentences pronounced by the courts of appeal or of decisions issued by the first instance for which the law expressly provides for the possibility of exercising this means of appeal is reviewed. Unlike an appeal, which allows the case to be re-examined both in terms of the factual situation and the application of the law, the purpose of an appeal is exclusively to verify the legality of the contested sentence/decision.
In the appeal procedure, the Supreme Court of Justice or the Court of Appeal verifies whether the lower courts have complied with and correctly applied the rules of substantive and procedural law. The appeal court does not proceed to reassess the evidence administered or to establish a new factual situation, its competence being limited to examining the conformity of the contested sentence/decision with the provisions of the law. Thus, the control exercised in an appeal exclusively concerns the legality of the sentence/decision and the correct interpretation and application of the relevant legal rules.
The grounds for appeal are expressly and exhaustively provided for by the Code of Criminal Procedure and refer to essential violations of substantive or procedural law that have influenced or could have influenced the legality of the contested decision. These are:
1) the provisions regarding competence according to the capacity of the person were not respected;
2) the court was not composed according to the law or the provisions of art. 30, 31 and 33 of the Code of Criminal Procedure were violated;
3) the court hearing was not public, except in cases where the law provides otherwise;
31) certain parts of the sentence were unreasonably kept secret;
4) the trial took place without the participation of the prosecutor, the defendant, as well as the defense attorney, the interpreter and the translator, when their participation was mandatory according to the law;
5) the case was tried in the first instance without the legal summons of a party or who, legally summoned, was unable to appear and notify the court of this impossibility;
6) the contested decision does not include the reasons on which the solution is based or the motivation of the solution contradicts the operative part of the decision or it is presented unclearly, or the operative part of the drafted decision does not correspond to the operative part pronounced after deliberation;
7) the elements of the crime were not met or the court pronounced a conviction for an act other than the one for which the convicted person was charged, except in cases of legal reclassification of his actions based on a more lenient law;
8) the defendant was convicted for an act not provided for by the criminal law;
9) penalties were applied within limits other than those provided for by law or incorrectly individualized in relation to the provisions of Chapter VII of the General Part of the Criminal Code;
10) the convicted person has previously been tried definitively for the same act or there is a reason for the removal of criminal liability, or the application of the penalty has been removed by a new law or annulled by an act of amnesty, the death of the defendant has occurred or the parties have reconciled in the case provided for by law;
11) the defendant has been wrongly acquitted on the grounds that the act committed by him is not provided for by the criminal law or when the criminal proceedings have been wrongly terminated on the grounds that there was a final court decision regarding the same act or that there is a reason for the removal of criminal liability, or the application of the penalty has been removed by a new law or annulled by an act of amnesty or that the death of the defendant has occurred;
12) the committed act was given an incorrect legal classification;
13) a more favorable criminal law was introduced for the convicted person;
14) The Constitutional Court recognized the provision of the law applied in the respective case as unconstitutional;
15) The European Court of Human Rights (ECtEHR), by ruling on another case, found a violation of human rights and freedoms at the national level, which can also be remedied in this case;
16) The appeal court admitted a serious error of fact, which affected the decision of the trial court.
The exercise of the appeal is conditional on compliance with the term and the formal requirements provided for by the Code of Criminal Procedure, the term for appeal against decisions for which the law does not provide for an appeal is 15 days from the date of the decision. The appeal may be declared by persons to whom the law grants this right, against the sentence/conclusion for which this extraordinary means of appeal is expressly provided for by law.
Following the examination of the appeal, the court may reject the appeal and maintain the sentence/conclusion under appeal, may fully or partially quash the sentence/conclusion and pronounce a new sentence/conclusion in the cases provided for by law or may order the retrial of the case by the competent court when the violations found cannot be removed in the appeal procedure.
1) rejects the appeal, maintaining the contested decision, if:
a) the appeal is unfounded;
b) the appeal is filed after the deadline;
c) the appeal is inadmissible;
2) admits the appeal, quashing the decision, partially or fully, and takes one of the following solutions:
a) orders the acquittal of the person or the termination of the criminal proceedings in the cases provided for by this code;
b) re-judges the case with the adoption of a new decision, if this does not worsen the defendant's situation;
c) orders the retrial of the case by the trial court if it is necessary to administer additional evidence;
d) orders the retrial of the case by the trial court if the judicial error cannot be corrected by the appeal court.
A defining element of the criminal appeal is the fact that it does not represent a new trial on the merits, but a means of verifying the legality of the contested sentence/conclusion.
It is essential to mention that the Court of Appeal, in resolving the case, cannot create a more serious situation for the person in whose favor the appeal was declared.
(2) Specialized courts may operate for certain categories of cases. Specialized panels or panels of judges may operate within the courts.
See general information about the Judicial System of the Republic of Moldova and Supreme Court of Justice.
The Law of the Republic of Moldova No. 213/2023 on State Fees regulates the procedure for collecting fees for public services and procedural actions.