Status and powers of the College of Physicians – unconstitutional

On 15 may 2015, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova ruled on the constitutionality of Law no.261 of 1 November 2013 on the College of Physicians of the Republic of Moldova (Complaint no. 16a/2014).  

Circumstances of the case 

The case originated in the complaint lodged with the Constitutional Court on 5 March 2014 by the MPs Artur Reșetnicov and Igor Vremea, on the constitutional review of Articles 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 20, 21 and 22 of Law no. 261 of 1 November 2013 on the College of Physicians of the Republic of Moldova.

The authors claimed that the legal status of the College of Physicians infringes upon the competences of the Ministry of Health and is contrary to Articles 1.3, 16, 20, 72.3, 96, 107 and 114 of the Constitution.

The Constitutional Court ruled on the complaint in the following composition:

Mr Alexandru TĂNASE, President,

Mr Aurel BĂIEȘU,

Mr Igor DOLEA,

Mr Victor POPA, judges

Conclusions of the Court

Hearing the reasoning of the parties and examining the case-files, the Court held that the State may establish professional organizations to which it may delegate certain powers of public administration, including the exercise of the medical profession.

At the same time, examining the challenged law, the Court found that it interpolates elements of a professional body with those of a voluntary association, thereby establishing an ambiguous legal status of the College of Physicians.

Thus, on the one hand, this law provides for a membership is based on a voluntary principle, on the other hand, it confers to the College decision-making competences upon the entire medical staff.

In the same context, the Court observed that certain duties of the College of Physicians duplicate the duties, even exclusive ones, of the Ministry of Health, which is the central specialized body that promotes health policy.

The Court concluded that, by ambiguous regulation of the legal status of the College of Physicians, the challenged law does not comply with the requirements of clarity, being contrary to Articles 23 and 107 of the Constitution.

Given that the found deficiencies affect the functioning of this law in its entirety, the Court invalidated the whole law.

Judgment of the Court

Stemming from the above reasoning, the Constitutional Court admitted the complaint and declared unconstitutional the Law no. 261 of 1 November 2013 on the College of Physicians of the Republic of Moldova.

The Judgment of the Constitutional Court is final, cannot be appealed, shall enter into force on the date of passing, and shall be published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Moldova.