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This document has been provided by the
International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL).

ICNL is the leading source for information on th e legal environment for civil society and public
participation. Since 1992, ICNL has served as a resource to civil society leaders, government
officials, and the donor community in over 90 countries.

Visit ICNL’s Online Library at
https://www.icnl.org/knowledge/library/index.php
for further resources and research from countries all over the world.

Disclaimers Content. The information provided herein is for general informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended and should not be
construed to constitute legal advice. The information contai ned herein may not be applicable in all situations and may not, after the date of
its presentation, even reflect the most current authority. Noth ing contained herein should be relied or acted upon without the benefit of legal
advice based upon the particular facts and circumstances pres ented, and nothing herein should be construed otherwise.
Translations. Translations by ICNL of any materials into other languages are intended solely as a convenience. Translation accuracy is not
guaranteed nor implied. If any questions arise related to the accuracy of a translation, please refer to the original language official version of
the document. Any discrepancies or differences created in the tr anslation are not binding and have no legal effect for compliance or
enforcement purposes.
Warranty and Limitation of Liability. Although ICNL uses reasonable efforts to include ac curate and up-to-date information herein, ICNL
makes no warranties or representations of any kind as to its a ccuracy, currency or completeness. You agree that access to and u se of this
document and the content thereof is at your own risk. ICNL discl aims all warranties of any kind, express or implied. Neither ICNL nor any
party involved in creating, producing or delivering this document shall be liable for any damages whatsoever arising out of access to, use of
or inability to use this document, or any e rrors or omissions in the content thereof.

1
Unofficial translation

Law on Assemblies

CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Purpose of the law
The purpose of this Law is to guarantee the exercise of the freedom of assembly by each
individual , as provided in the Constitution of the Republic of M oldova and by the
international treaties to which Moldova is a party.

Article 2. Object of the law
(1) This Law regulates th e procedure of organizing and holding the assemblies held outside
the buildings.
(2) This Law does not regulate organization and holding of:
a) religious assemblies , in the form of public worship or other traditional manifestations;
b) sport , cultural and artistic events and other entertainment activities;
c) commercial event s.

Article 3. Main definitions
For the purposes of this Law:

An assembly shall mean a temporary and intentional presence of a number of individuals ,
who gathered together to express certain ideas or attitudes;
An assembl y with a limited number of participants is an assembly where maximum 50
persons participate;
A spontaneous as sembly shall mean an assembly, that has been initiated and organized as a
direct and immediate response to social events, and which, in the opinion of participants,
cannot be postponed, and as a result the usual notification procedure is not possible;
Simu ltaneous assemblies shall mean assemblies organized in the same place and time, which
may or may not have the same grounds and purposes, and whose organizers may have
similar, different or controversial opinions.

Article 4. Main principles
This Law applie s with respect of the following principles:
1) Proportionality, according to which while applying any restriction on the freedom of
assembly, public authori ties shall observe the balance between the necess ity of such a
restriction in a democratic society and the exercise of the right to assembly.
2) non- discrimination, according to which the right to assemb ly is guaranteed to
everyone , regardless of their race, nationality, ethnic origin, language, religion,
gender, opinion, political affiliation, wealth, social origin or any other criteria;
3) legality, according to which as justifying reasons for prohibition or limitation of the
freedom of assembly shall serve only the legal provisions, without possibility for
public authorities to question the opportunity of an assembly.

4) presu mption in favour of organizing an assembly, according to which at the
examination of a prior request to hold a meeting, any doubt s will be interpreted by
the public authorities in favour of exercising the right to assembly.

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Article 5. Place of assembly
(1) Assemblies may be held in any place open to the public, outside the buildings or other
sites closed to free access .
(2) Assemblies may be held in a single pl ace or the participants may move.
(3) In case of holding some offic ial events or repair work s, at the request of the interested
authorities, local public administration authority may declare temporarily closed to the
public access some sites that are usu ally open for the unlimited access of all people.

Article 6. Assembly organisers
(1) Organizers o f assemblies may be individuals with full legal capacity, groups of persons,
as well as legal entities.
(2) Minors who have reached the age of 14, as well as persons declared disabled, may
organize assemblies only together with a person vested with full legal capacity .

Article 7. Participants at the assemblies
(1) Any person is free to actively part icipate or assist at an assembly.
(2) Nobody can be compelled to participate or assist i n an assembly.

Article 8. Prohibited assemblies

The following assemblies shall b e prohibited when they have the purpose of :
a) Instigation to aggression war, national, racial , ethnic or religious hatred;
b) Instigation to public discrimination or violence;
c) Undermining the national security or the territorial integrity of the state , perpetration of
crimes, violation of public order or organization of mass riots , violation of public
morality, violation of rights and freedoms of other persons or endangering their lives or
health .

Article 9. Technical equipment for holding assemblies
(1) During holding the assemblies, any graphic or sound device for expression of attitudes or
ideas , any special sound amplifiers and other objects specific for an assembly may be used.
(2) Temporary constructions may be set for the purpose of holding assemblies. In this case,
organiser shall take the necessary measures in order not to create any disproportionate
inconveniences to the participants or by -passers , and in order not to damage the environment ,
as well as shall ensure their dismantling immediately after th e end of the assembly.
CHAPTER II
NOTIFICATION CONCERNING HOLDING OF AN ASSEMBLY

Article 10. Notification procedure
(1) Any person intending to hold an assembly shall notify in writing, by a prior declaration,
the authority of local public administration from the respective territorial -administrative unit,
with at least five days prior to the date of the assembly.
(2) Prior declaration shall contain the name , or (in case of a legal entity ) the title of the
organiser, contact data of the organiser, purpose of the assembly , date and hour the assembly
starts and duration of the assembly , the route of the assembly (in case necessary) , the form of
organizing the assembly, an estimative number of participants, services requested from the
local public administr ation authorities.
(3) The local public administration authority shall register the prior declaration and issue to
the organiser a stamped copy of it, which should contain the number, date and hour of
registration of the declaration.

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(4) Public authoritie s shall take the necessary measures for rendering the services requested
by the organiser, which are normally rendered by the bodies in their subordination and by the
enterprises administered by them.

Article 11. Declaration of holding simultaneous assemb lies
(1) If more applicants submitted prior declarations regarding organization of some
assemblies in the same place and time, the competent body of the local public administration
authority shall organize a sitting with the participation of all applicants in order to find the
adequate solution for organization of all simultaneous assemblies.
(2) If, considering the intended place for holding assembly and the estimated number of
participants at the assembly , participants at the sitting reach the conclusion that it is possible
to organize all simultaneous meetings, the organisers shall be given recommendations as to
the portion of the territory where the assembly can be held, as well as indications to police
for maintaining public order.
(3) If after the discussions between the competent authority and organisers of the assemblies,
the conclusion is reached regarding the impossibility to organize all declared assemblies
simultaneously in the requested place and with the estimated number of participants , the
co mpetent authority shall propose the organisers to change the hour, place or form of the
assemblies . This proposal is to be made orally during the sitting for the present organizers
and shall be sent in written, within maximum 24 hours since the end of the sitting, to those
who did not participate.
(4) If after the discussions as stipulated in par. (3), none of the applicants accepts to change
the hour, place or form of the assembly, priority shall be given to the organiser who had first
submitted the prior declaration.

Article 12. Exceptions to the notification procedure
(1) I n case of spontaneous assembly, notification is admissible even without respecting the
conditions regarding the written format or the time limit provided in art. 10 (1) ; in this case it
is sufficient to provide information on the date, hour and place of the meeting, purpose and
organisers of the assembly , as well as services requested from the local public administration
authorities.
(2) Organisers shall exercise the right to assembly as stipulated in par. (1) with good faith
and shall inform the local public administration authorities about the intention to organize a n
assembly immediately when this intention has become known, in order to facilitate the
granting of the requested services by the local public administration authorities .
(3) Local public administration authorit y shall take all necessary measures to ensure the
secure holding of the spontaneous assembly .
(4) Local public administration authority may file lawsuits in order to challenge conditions of
holding spontaneous assemblies.
(5) It is not mandatory to notify the local p ublic administration authority through a prior
declaration in case of as semblies with a limited number of participants . If organisers of such
a n assembly require certain services from the local public administration authorities or wish
to set temporary constructions , they shall submit a prior declaration in this regard at least one
working day prior to the date of the assembly.

Article 13. Notification of the public
Anyone has the right, even before submitting the prior declaration, to disseminate
information regarding the organisation of the assembly, place, time , hour and its purpose or
any other relevant information, to encourage the public to take part at the assembly through
speeches, flyers, announcements, information campaigns, other legal methods.

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CHAPTER III
LIMITATION OF THE RIGHT TO ASSEMBLY

Article 14. Modification of conditions for holding assemblies and prohibition of the
assemblies
(1) Duri ng the examination of a prior declaration or a request, as well as during the insurance
of the public order during the assembly , public authorities shall act in order to eliminate only
illicit elements of the assembly , guaranteeing, to the extent possible , the right to assembly.
(2) If, based on the prior declaration or any other information available, it results that the
purposes or the format of the envisioned assembly are in contradiction with the Constitution
of the Republic of Moldova or may lead to vi olation of the legislation, local public
administration authority shall inform without delay the organiser about his/her obligations in
this capacity, as well as draw his/her attention to the existing legal framework .
(3 ) In case local public administratio n authority considers it necessary for ensuring a peaceful
holding of the assembly, it may recommend the organisers to modify the conditions of
holding the declared assembly in what concerns the hour, place or form for holding the
assembly . The organiser s hall take the final decision regarding the changing of time or place
or form for holding the assembly .
(4 ) If local public administration authorities hold convincing evidence that the envisioned
assembly will be organised in violation of the provisions of article 8, it may file a lawsuit,
requesting the prohibition of the respective assembly , or modification, by case, of the hour,
place or form of its holding . Initiation of the lawsuit does not suspend the right to hold the
assembly.
(5) The c ourt shall examine the request for prohibition of the assembly or modification, by
case, of the hour, place or form of its holding and adopts a decision within maximum three
days form the date when it was submitted.
(6) T he court may take one of the following decisions :
a) prohibit ion of the declared assembly or modification of the hour, place or form of
holding the assembly ;
b) maintain ing the right to hold the assembly .

Article 15. Challenging the court decision
Any party is entitled to challenge , in maximum 3 days since the pronunciation, the court
decision in conditions of article 14.

CHAPTER IV
HOLDING OF ASSEMBLIES

Article 16. The manner of holding the assemblies
(1) The assemblies shall be held only in a peaceful manner.
(2) The organiser shall ensure the access to building s.
(3) During the assembly , it is forbidden to hold weapons, explosive s, any other forbidden
substances or other objects that can endanger people’s health or life.
(4) In case of the assemblies held between the hours 23.00 and 07.00, it is forbidden to use
sound devices or any sound amplification equipment .

Article 17. Registration of assemblies
(1) Any person may register the assemblies on audio or video devices.
(2) Access of the press to the assemblies shall be ensured by the organisers of the assembly
and public authorities.

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Article 18. Duties of the organiser
(1) The organiser of the assembly shall have the following duties:
a) to hold the assemblies only in the form, at the place and within the period
mentioned in the prior declaration and shall not allow any significant deviations from these
conditions ;
b) to designate a coordinator of the assembly and to provide his/her name to the local
public administration authorities within a reasonable time.
( 2) Organiser may set his/her own body responsible for maintaining the public order during
holding the assembly , whose members shall bear distinctive signs in order to be easily
identified .

Article 19. Duties of participants
(1) Participants at the assembly shall have the following duties:
a) to respect legislation, public order and legitimate requests of the organiser
b) to abstain from actions that would impede holding of the assembly and f rom
instigation to such actions
c) to leave the assembly at the request of the organiser, and/or of the representative of
the local public administration authority or police, in conditions envisaged by art. 21 and 22.

Article 20. Rights and obligations of local public administration authorities
(1) Local public administration authorities shall have the following duties:
a) t o create all conditions for peaceful holding of assemblies
b) to designate a person responsible for the legal holding of the assembly and provide
the name and contact data of this person to the organiser and police.
( 2) Local public administration authority may prohibit , during holding the assembly,
commercialis ing and consuming of alcoholic beverages at the place of holding the assembly,
and/or in its immediate proximity.
(3 ) Local public administration authorities may not request fees for rendering of ser vices for
holding of assemblies, which are, normally rendered by the bodies in their subordination and
by the enterprises administered by them.

Article 21. Ensuring the public order. C easing of the assembly
(1) If during the holding of the assembl y, some participants violate the public order or the
provisions of article 8, the organiser, or in case of necessity together with police, shall
remove them .
(2) If during the holding of the assembly , the actions are taken that seriously violate the
provisions of article 8, the representative of the local public administration authority shall
request the organiser to immediately cease the assembly. T his is an exceptional measure,
which can be used only if other measures are not sufficient to ensure legal holding of an
assembly.
(3 ) The lack of the prior declaration is not a reason for ceasing the assembly .

Article 22. Forced Dispersal of a n assembly
(1) If the organiser of the assembly does not comply with the request of the
representative of local public administra tion authority or is not able to cease the
assembly , the representative in question shall ask the participants to diffuse.
(2) If the pa rticipants in a n assembly do not leave the place of the assembly at the request
of the representative of the local public administration authority , police will warn the
participants about the possibili ty of using special means and about forced dispersal of

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the assembly , providing reasonable term to comply to this request, after which police
will repeat the request to disperse the participants.
(3) If after the repeated request to disperse, the participants at the assembly do not leave
the place of the assembly, at the request of the representative of local public
administration authority, police will carry out legal means to disperse the meeting.
(4) In case of forceful dispersal of the assembly, police shall prepare minutes, where they
shall indicate the reason and ground of dispersal.

CHAPTER V
LIABILITY FOR VIOLATION OF THIS LAW

Article 23 . Liability of organisers and participants
(1) Upon the case, participants may be subjected to civil, administrative or criminal liability,
for their actions, in compliance with the legislation.
(2) The organiser may be held admini stratively liable for holding an assembly without
submitting a prior declaration as provided by the present law or for holding the assembly
contrary to the provisions of the declaration.
(3) The organiser shall be held liable for the actions of participants only if it is proved in
court that the participants acted upon the calling or instigation from the organiser.

CHAPTER VI
FINAL AND TRANSITORY PROVISIONS

Article 24.
(1) With the coming into force of the present Law , the Law No. 560-XIII of 21 July,
1995 on Organizing and Holding of Assemblies shall be annulled.
(2) Until the elaboration of special normative acts, the actions envisaged in art. 2, par. (2)
shall take place in conformity with this law . In case of commercial actions , local public
administration authorities are entitled to gather fees for rendering the reques ted services by
the organisers.
(3) The Government shall submit to the Parliament, within 6 months, the proposals on
bringing the legislation in force in compliance with the provisions of this law.

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