Tănase v. Moldova

Tănase v. Moldova (application No. 7/08) was a case decided by the European Court of Human Rights in 2010.

Facts

In 2008, Moldovan electoral law was changed, forbidding persons with multiple citizenship to hold seats in the parliament. This has affected Mr. Alexandru Tănase, representative of the Liberal Democratic Party. Having been elected in 2009, he was forced to refuse Romanian citizenship to take his seat.

He launched a complaint before the European Court of Human Rights. Romania was admitted as a third party.^[1]

Judgments

In 2008, a Chamber of the Court decided that the provisions of Moldovan law violated Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The judgment was appealed by Moldova.

In 2010, the Grand Chamber unanimously found the ineligibility of persons with dual citizenship to violate Article 3 of Protocol No. 1. It left open, whether the prohibition on multiple nationals taking seats in Parliament pursued a legitimate aim.^[2]

The Court found the provisions of Law no. 273 preventing elected MPs with multiple nationalities from taking seats in Parliament to be disproportionate and in violation of Article 3 of Protocol No. 1.^[3]

See also

• Moldova–Romania relations
• Controversy over linguistic and ethnic identity in Moldova

References

1. ECtHR Grand Chamber judgment - Para. 7
2. ECtHR Grand Chamber judgment - Para. 170
3. ECtHR Grand Chamber judgment - Para. 180

Further reading

• Timmer A. Tănase v. Moldova: multiple readings of a case concerning multiple nationality Human Rights Centre of the Faculty of Law of Ghent University, 2010
• M. Hamilton (August 2011). "Transition and political loyalties". In Antoine Buyse; Michael Hamilton. Transitional Jurisprudence and the ECHR: Justice, Politics and Rights. Cambridge University Press. pp. 157–158. ISBN 978-1-139-50111-8. for comparison with similar cases.
• ECtHR Chamber judgment
• ECtHR Grand Chamber judgment