Moldova (Republic of)
- Criminalisation of HIV transmission/exposure
- Other laws and policies with an impact on responses to HIV
Criminalisation of HIV transmission/exposure
Articles 211 & 212 of the Moldovan Code of Criminal Procedures 2002, and;
Article 29 of the Law on AIDS 2007.
- This is an HIV-specific law.
- Both exposure and tranmission are subject to prosecution.
- Sentences range from 'up to 3 years' imprisonment through to a maximum of 8 years imprisonment.
Unofficial English Language Translation:
Criminal Code, Chapter VIII,
Offences against Public Health and Social Cohabitation
Article 211. Transmission of venereal diseases:
A person who, being in knowledge of suffering from a venereal disease transmits it to another person will be sentenced to prison up to 3 years.
The same offence exercised:
a. repeatedly
b. against two or more persons
c. deliberately with a juvenile (minor) shall be sentenced to prison from 3 up to 5 years.
Article 212. Contamination with AIDS disease
(1) Deliberately exposing another person to contamination with AIDS shall be subject to imprisonment up to 1 year.
(2) Contamination with the AIDS disease by a person in good knowledge of suffering from the disease shall be charged with imprisonment from 1 up to 5 years.
(3) The same offence exercised:
a. repeatedly
b. against two or more persons
c. deliberately with a juvenile (minor) shall be sentenced to prison from 3 up to 8 years.
(4) Contamination with the AIDS disease as a result of non-exercising or unsatisfactory exercising of functional duties by a medical professional shall be charged with imprisonment up to 5 years with deprivation of the right to occupy some posts or exercise some duties for a period of up to 3 years.
Criminal responsibility is waived if the perpetrator has notified the person exposed to HIV transmission prior to engaging in activities that could have transmitted HIV, or if the exposed person knew the other one is HIV infected but has consented to engage in activities that exposed her/him to HIV transmission.
Criminal Code, Chapter IV CRIMES AGAINST SEXUAL LIFE Art. 171, 172 provide for a maximum sentence of 10 to 20 or life imprisonment
Law on AIDS 2007 Article 29: The responsibility of HIV positive people HIV-positive people shall act responsibly to protect their personal state of health and prevent HIV transmission. A person aware of his/her HIV status and knowingly endangering the contamination of another person can be charged with a criminal offence.
From the responses received it would seem that no prosecutions have ever been mounted in Moldova for either exposure to or transmission of HIV to another person.
Notwithstanding the absence of any prosecutions, the Moldovan penal code of 2002 that specifically and directly criminalises the transmission of HIV was updated in 2007 to provide for the prosecution of transmission of HIV with intent.
We have only included an excerpt above from the much larger framework document that is the 2007 Law on HIV/AIDS. The full document is available to download in Portable Document Format (PDF) in both English and Romanian in the further reading section.
Transmission of other sexually transmitted infections is open to prosecution under the same article 211.
UNAIDS Moldova.
An English language translation of the 2007 Law on HIV/AIDS is available for downoad on this website.
The original Romanian language version of the 2007 Law on HIV/AIDS is available for download on this website.
Other laws and policies with an impact on responses to HIV
The information is contradictory
No HIV-test required from EU citizens for stays of up to 3 months. There are no controls at the border.
HIV testing is mandatory for residency permits beyond 3 months. Testing has to be performed at the competent authority in Kishinev. Other tests are not recognised. At renewal of the permit, the test needs to be repeated (in general every year).
People with AIDS will not get a residency permit and can be deported.
Antiretroviral medication can be imported for personal use.
For updated information, please go to: www.hivrestrictions.org
Male to Male relationships: Legal
Punishments for male to male relationships: No law
Female to Female Relationships: Legal
Age of consent: Equal for heterosexuals and homosexuals
Marriage and Substitutes for Marriage: No law
For updated information, please go to: http://ilga.org