Public Awareness and Perceptions of the Legal System in Moldova

The study aimed to identify specific issues related to accessing legal information and other services provided in courts and to offer concrete recommendations for efficiently communicating initiatives to increase the public's awareness of the legal system. A sample size of 832 randomly selected respondents with national representation was used in the study. The respondents' age, gender, socio-economic status, and urban/rural residence were taken into consideration in determining the sample. Face-to-face interviews were conducted in 44 urban and rural locations using a pre-tested questionnaire in Romanian and Russian that had both open-ended and closed questions. The data were collected from December 22, 2012, to January 2, 2013, and analyzed using SPSS. The margin of error was ± 3.4%, and the confidence interval was 95%. The study found that citizens' awareness of legal information was generally low, with an average score of 2.63 on a scale of 1 (lowest level) to 5. Participants in cases could not cite any legal details about them, as they preferred to leave that to their lawyers. The level of legal knowledge was especially low in rural areas. Only 34% of respondents knew about their right to legal assistance, 32% knew about their right to access justice, 28% were aware of their rights to equality before the law and authorities, and 24% knew about their right to a fair trial. In 2011 and 2012, 38% of respondents had interacted with notaries, 12% with lawyers, 9% with courts, and 6% with prosecutors and/or the police. Citizens received the following legal services: authentication of documents (34%), preparation/drafting of legal documents (14%), legal consultations (10%), and participation in a trial (10%). The problems that they addressed to legal authorities were authenticity of contracts and mandates, divorce proceedings, issues of violence, robbery, dismissal procedures, and inheritance issues. In discussion groups, people said they initially asked relatives or friends to recommend a good lawyer or they contacted a lawyer they already knew. Public defenders handled more criminal cases and fewer civil cases and provided two hours for consultations daily. Citizens file complaints directly with the heads of departments in the Ministry of Justice. Court interaction was reported by 89% of participants, with 18% interacting with a court of appeals and 5% with the Supreme Court of Justice. The study also found that awareness of reforms to the legal system was low, with only 8% of respondents saying that they knew about judicial reforms, 18% saying they had heard about reforms, and 73% having not heard anything about them. People who had interacted with the legal system were more knowledgeable about legal information, but even they could not cite any legal details about their cases. The study highlights the need for concrete recommendations to increase the public's awareness of the legal system and to address the barriers to obtaining legal services, including the length of the process, corruption, differing interpretations of laws, non-execution of court decisions, bureaucracy, lack of an information office, and judges checking the rulings of their colleagues.