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Supreme Court of Justice of the Republic of Moldova

The Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) is the supreme court of the Republic of Moldova.

The role of the Supreme Court of Justice is to ensure the uniform interpretation and application of legislation in the justice system.

The activity of the Supreme Court of Justice is regulated by the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, by Law No. 64/2023 on the Supreme Court of Justice and by other normative acts to the extent that they do not contradict this law.

The Supreme Court of Justice has the following powers:

a) examines, as a court of first instance, the categories of cases established by law;

b) examines, as an appeal court, cases of social and legal importance, as well as those that reveal particularly serious violations of the law and human rights;

c) examines requests for review in cases established by law;

d) raises exceptions of unconstitutionality of normative acts to be applied in the resolution of a specific case;

e) resolves other types of requests and legal issues provided for by law.

Unification of judicial practice

(1) In order to ensure the uniform interpretation and application of legislation in the justice system, the Supreme Court of Justice:

a) shall develop guides on the application of criminal procedural legislation and civil procedural legislation, on the individualization of criminal penalties and contravention sanctions;

b) shall issue, at the request of the courts, advisory opinions on the application of legislation;

c) shall decide on the action in the interest of the law;

d) participates periodically in meetings with judges, prosecutors and lawyers;

e) undertakes other necessary measures to standardize the process of applying the legislation, provided for in the regulations of the Supreme Court of Justice.

(2) The acts issued pursuant to paragraph (1) letters a)–c) have a recommendatory nature and are published on the official website of the Supreme Court of Justice.

Meeting in the interest of the law

(1) The President of the Supreme Court of Justice or 3 of its judges, the presidents of the courts of appeal, the Prosecutor General, the president of the Union of Lawyers, the People's Advocate may submit to the Supreme Court of Justice meetings in the interest of the law so that it may rule on legal issues which, by irrevocable decisions, have been resolved differently by the courts.

(2) The content of the petition in the interest of the law shall mention the irrevocable court decisions from which it follows that the legal issue was resolved differently.

(3) The admissibility of the petition in the interest of the law shall be examined by a panel of 5 judges of the Supreme Court of Justice. The petition in the interest of the law shall be declared admissible if the different solutions represent a major discrepancy in the interpretation or application of the legislation.

(4) The petition in the interest of the law declared admissible shall be examined in a public hearing by a panel of 11 judges of the Supreme Court of Justice, other than those who filed the petition in the interest of the law. The author(s) of the petition in the interest of the law and other subjects interested in or directly concerned by the legal issue examined shall be invited to the hearing to present their opinion. If necessary, the issue raised in the petition in the interest of the law shall be examined at a meeting of the Scientific Advisory Council.

(5) The panel of judges examining the petition in the interest of the law shall issue a reasoned decision explaining the manner of interpreting or applying the law in the future. The decision shall be signed by the president of the panel of judges.

(6) The decision on the examination of the petition in the interest of the law shall be published on the official website of the Supreme Court of Justice and shall not have effect on cases that have been irrevocably resolved.

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