Improving access to justice by digitalizing systems and improving legal services to people, especially for those from vulnerable and marginalized groups, remains a priority for UNDP Moldova and Sweden.

The Ambassador of Sweden to the Republic of Moldova, Katarina Fried, and the UNDP Resident Representative to the Republic of Moldova, Daniela Gasparikova, signed on 18 December 2023 an additional agreement to the project "Strengthening efficiency and access to justice in Moldova", extending its implementation period until the end of 2024 and supplementing the budget by US$800,000. 

"Sweden is committed to support Government’s efforts in strengthening the capacity of forensic services, supporting the digital transformation of the Ministry of Justice and its agencies, and not at least strengthening efficiency and the access to justice to all Moldova citizens, including the most vulnerable population. Swedish Embassy remains open to further support the justice reform and the fulfillment of all objectives to succeed in obtaining the long-awaited results in the Moldova justice system," said Katarina Fried, Ambassador of Sweden in Chișinău. 

" I am delighted that the UNDP-Sweden cooperation in the field of enhancing access to justice goes on with this additional financial support from Sweden. It will enable us to further support national forensic institutions to conduct investigations and examinations in line with ISO standards and digitalize their operations, so as to increase efficiency and reliability of results. We will continue to support the harmonization of national justice and crime statistics with international frameworks, to inform decisions and contribute to a more just Moldova," noted Daniela Gasparikova, UNDP Resident Representative to the Republic of Moldova.

This intervention will amplify the results achieved in 2019-2023. Efforts to digitalize the system of judicial expertise in the Republic of Moldova will be continued, with the development of an e-system for the case management, which will contribute to making the work of staff in forensic expertise institutions more efficient and to centralizing all data and information relating to forensic expertise files in a single database.

Forensic institutions, beneficiaries of the project, will be supported to expand the areas where ISO-aligned methods are applied. A new area to be explored will be the development of environmental expertise in the Republic of Moldova. 

The project "Strengthening efficiency and access to justice in Moldova" will carry out outreach activities and promote justice reforms, facilitating discussions with central and local justice actors on the Strategy on Ensuring the Independence and Integrity of the Justice Sector for 2022-2025.