The Exclusion of the Annulment Appeal From the National Legislation by Law no. 264/2023 Through the Lens of the Right to Defense and Free Access to Justice

Abstract

The article analyzes the emergence and evolution of an extraordinary legal remedy—an appeal for annulment—in the legislative system of the Republic of Moldova, including the exclusion of the appeal for annulment from criminal proceedings through Law No. 264/2023. With the removal of this legal remedy from criminal procedures, another internal mechanism for ensuring the right to defence and free access to justice disappears on the one hand. Still, it also eliminates an important national lever intended to prevent potential condemnations of the Republic of Moldova by the European Court of Human Rights on the other hand. Although the legislator initially aimed to improve the quality of justice through this law, the consequences may turn out to be quite different. With the exclusion of the appeal for annulment from criminal procedures, there is no longer any internal mechanism to address the fundamental flaws that are often present in judicial processes.