Communicated on 30 May 2016
SECOND SECTION
Application no. 4470/08
‘SOCIETATEA SCRIITORILOR ROMÂNI DIN MOLDOVA’ ASOCIAŢIE OBŞTEASCĂ and others
against the Republic of Moldova
lodged on 23 January 2008
STATEMENT OF FACTS
The first applicant is a non-governmental association, which was unincorporated at the time the application was lodged. The other five applicants are its members. A list of the applicants is set out in the appendix. They are all represented by V. Maximov, a lawyer practising in Chișinău.
The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicants, may be summarised as follows.
On 11 September 2006 the five individual applicants founded the first applicant, a public association named the Romanian Writers’ Society of Moldova (Societatea Scriitorilor Români din Moldova). This was a non-profit organisation aimed at supporting Romanian literature and the rebirth of Romanian spirituality in Moldova.
A. The applicants’ requests for State registration
On 12 September 2006 the five individual applicants applied to register the association with the Ministry of Justice, the authority responsible for the State registration of non-governmental organisations.
On 5 October 2006 the Ministry refused the registration. It noted that the association’s charter did not comply with section 18 of the Law on public associations (“the Public Associations Act”) because it did not contain the legal status of the association and had not been signed by its founding members.
The five individual applicants redrafted the charter and on 3 November 2006 filed a second request for registration, submitting a new version of the charter. On 4 December 2006 the Ministry refused the registration, stating that the charter was once again not in compliance with section 18 of the Public Associations Act because it did not specify the legal status of the association, its name, aims, activities, structure, period of duration, competence of its executive and audit bodies, the term of their office or the procedure for adopting and amending the charter.
The five individual applicants again revised the charter and on 27 February 2007 submitted a third registration request. On 27 March 2007 the Ministry adjourned its decision for three months, during which time the applicants were invited to amend the charter in accordance with a list of provided corrections. The list contained, among other things, a request to correct the requirements for membership of the association in order to bring it into line with the name of the association.
The five individual applicants revised the charter and on 19 April 2007 re-submitted the documents for registration. On 16 May 2007 the Ministry refused the registration on the grounds that the applicants had submitted two charters with different content, one on 27 February and another on 19 April 2007. It also noted that the charter did not comply with the restrictions set out in section 4 of the Public Associations Act.
The five individual applicants revised the charter once again and on 23 May 2007 submitted a fifth registration request. On 22 June 2007 the Ministry refused the registration because the applicants had failed to amend the charter in accordance with its previous recommendations on the requirements for membership. In particular, the Ministry required that the charter state that membership of the association was limited to “Romanian writers” (writers of Romanian nationality) and not, as stated in section 5.1 of the charter, to “any Moldovan descendant and foreign national” who had had at least two books published.
B. Judicial proceedings
On 26 July 2007 the applicants appealed against the Ministry’s refusal, arguing that it violated their rights under Article 11 of the Convention. They noted that it was for the association to assess the eligibility of its candidate members depending on the books they had had published, irrespective of whether or not in their daily life they had another profession than that of a writer. They also noted inconsistencies in the refusals issued by the Ministry, which referred to membership requirements on 27 March but not on 16 May 2007.
On 10 December 2007 the Chișinău Court of Appeal rejected the applicants’ claims as ill-founded, holding that because of its name membership of the association should be limited to “Romanian writers” (writers of Romanian nationality). The applicants appealed, arguing that the law did not prohibit other nationals from becoming Romanian writers.
On 19 March 2008 the Supreme Court of Justice rejected the applicants’ appeal and upheld the Chișinău Court of Appeal’s judgment.
C. Subsequent facts
On 7 March 2008, at the request of three other individuals who are not applicants in the present case, the Ministry of Justice registered a public association named the Romanian Writers’ Society of Moldova, which opened up membership to “any Moldovan or foreign national, stateless person ... who supports the aims of the association”.
On 9 November 2009 the applicants again applied to register their association but their request was rejected because an association with the same name had already been registered.
After changing the name, on 24 December 2009 the applicants’ association was registered by the Ministry of Justice under the name the Romanian Writers’ Society of Bessarabia (Societatea Scriitorilor Români din Basarabia).
COMPLAINT
The applicants complain under Article 11 of the Convention that the Ministry of Justice’s failure to register their association under its original name in a timely manner constituted an interference with their freedom of association.
QUESTION TO THE PARTIES
Has there been a violation of the applicants’ right to freedom of association, contrary to Article 11 of the Convention? Was that interference prescribed by law and necessary in terms of Article 11 § 2?
Appendix
SOCIETATEA SCRIITORILOR ROMÂNI DIN MOLDOVA is a non-governmental association registered in Moldova with its headquarters in Chișinău. Ion BALAN, a Moldovan national who was born in 1946 and lives in Chișinău. Mihai CIUBOTARU is a Moldovan national who was born in 1952 and lives in Chișinău. Dumitru COBALI is a Moldovan national who was born in 1959 and lives in Chișinău Oleg CORCINSCHI is a Moldovan national who was born in 1954 and lives in Chișinău. Vlad GRECU is a Moldovan national who was born in 1959 and lives in Chișinău.
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