Respecting the right of defense of suspected persons: the internal regulatory framework and ECtHR jurisprudence

The regulation of the right to defense in the ECHR, Constitution and the Code of Criminal Procedure, is a guarantee of the exercise of this fundamental right. The ECtHR jurisprudence in Moldovan cases makes it possible to find that the ECtHR, in some cases where the violation of the right of defense was established, there were also psychic and physical abuses on the detainees. For the most part, these findings concerned the early stage of the criminal trial and the applicant’s detention in police custody. We believe that effective assurance of the right to defense could have prevented abuses by police and other bodies empowered with the right to detain persons suspected of committing the crime. In all cases it was found that the right to defense was violated, due to the bad practices in the actions of the body for finding and prosecuting. The ECtHR did not find any inconsistencies and discrepancies in the national legislation with the ECHR standards.