Particularitățile încadrării juridice a faptelor de separatism
Particularities of the legal qualification of separatism actions

Summary/Abstract: On March 18, 2023, the provisions of art. 340 Separatism in the Criminal Code of the Republic of Moldova entered into force and consequently, for the first time since the country’s independence, the national criminal law began to react to the manifestations of separatism, qualifying them associally dangerous acts, capable of jeopardizing the fundamental values of the state such as independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity. The aspects related to the practical application of the new legal provisions by avoiding abuses or errors and bringing to criminal responsibility, exclusively those guilty of committing separatist actions, continue to generate a substantial public reaction of the Moldovan society and external partners, or, until now, this issue is at the top of political and diplomatic discussions at various levels, including the negotiation agenda for the Transnistrian conflict settlement. The provisions of art. 340 Separatism of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Moldova is the object of the Reports of the European Commission, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and other international bodies, by which the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova is strongly recommended to clarify the substantive and application aspects of the new criminal law, includingits repeal. In the situation when for over three decades the Republic of Moldova has been among the victims of the phenomenon of separatism, along with its devastating consequences in the neighboring state of Ukraine, it is obvious the need to maintain and further develop the legal-penal instruments intended to defend the fundamental values of the state such as independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, but which are unequivocally susceptible to improvement and still attracting special attention from the scientific environment, the competent national institutions, as well as the entire society.

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