Thanks to the Efforts of the ICJ, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe Will Continue to Monitor the Implementation of the Manole and Others v. Moldova Judgment
On 10 June, the Committee of Ministers[1] (CoM) of the Council of Europe (CoE) decided that it will continue to keep an eye on the Moldovan authorities, monitoring that they properly implement the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) Judgment in the case of Manole and Others v. Moldova[2]. Furthermore, the case has been moved from the standard to the advanced supervisory procedure, as a direct result of Communication 9.2. that the Independent Journalism Centre (IJC) sent to the CoM in late 2021.
In 2009, the Republic of Moldova was convicted for violating Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which guarantees the right to freedom of expression. The violation was expressed in the interference by state authorities in the editorial policy of Teleradio-Moldova (TRM) over 2001-2006, through the top management of the media service provider.
The Manole and Others v. Moldova case had to wait more than 12 years for the Republic of Moldova to comply with its obligation to submit to the CoM of the CoE an appropriate Action Plan[3] stipulating the measures taken to avoid being put on the dock again. As the national legislation had been supplemented by a number of legal acts, including the Audiovisual Media Services Code (AMSC), aimed at preventing similar violations, there was a good chance that the submission of the Action Plan would result in the cessation of supervision over the implementation of the judgment.
However, there was a turning point in the situation because of the amendments to the AMSC, adopted in autumn 2021, which came along with changes in the mechanism for appointing and dismissing members of the Audiovisual Council (AC) and of TRM’s top management.
The IJC worked on a detailed study into the enforcement of the ECtHR Judgment on the Manole and Others v. Moldova case, and it found that the amendments made to the AMSC brought back into law mechanisms that are similar to those existing at the time of the violation, which will prevent stopping the supervision over the implementation of the judgment.
Once the IJC findings were presented to the CoM, the CoE body decided to continue reviewing this case via an advanced procedure, and encouraged the authorities ‘to revisit the provisions of the AMSC to ensure a genuine independence of the Audiovisual Council and immovability of its members, as well as to exclude possible political control of Teleradio-Moldova’.
The IJC activities were carried out in the framework of the project ‘Facilitating the Execution of ECtHR Judgments in Freedom of Expression Cases’, implemented with the financial support of the Baltic Centre for Media Excellence (BCME).
[1]The Committee of Ministers is the decision-making body of the Council of Europe and it comprises the Foreign Affairs Ministers of all the member states, or their permanent diplomatic representatives in Strasbourg. The Committee of Ministers decides on the policy to be followed by the Council of Europe and approves its budget and work program.
[2] https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/fre#{%22itemid%22:[%22001-94075%22]}
[3] The first Action Plan was sent in 2011, but its measures were deemed insufficient to result in stopping supervision over enforcement. The second Action Plan/(revised report) was submitted in October 2021.
