This study seeks to examine the impact of corruption on the enjoyment of universal human rights in Moldova. It does so by firstly developing a framework to screen for relevant cases, identifying a common causal nexus between individual acts and systematic corruption, and then assessing the resulting impact on human rights. Case research for this study has been carried out using publicly available data from relevant institutions, for the period 2017-2020.

Our findings demonstrate that corruption significantly depletes public resources, which in turn adversely impacts the enjoyment of all manner of rights outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In assessing data on human rights violations, we found that the most frequently affected rights that share a causal relationship to corruption are the right to life, to legal representation and a fair trial, as well as to education, health, property, and social protection. Additionally, the most frequently identified victims are vulnerable and marginalized groups. We also identified that human rights violations may be driven by corruption on an individual basis, on a systemic level or a combination of the two.

Finally, this study proposes policy recommendations and interventions designed to limit the impact of corruption on the enjoyment of the human rights. These include proposing legislative amendments to include corruption as an aggravating factor in criminal proceedings and human rights litigation, introducing ex-ante and ex-post human rights corruption impact assessments, improving the transparency and integrity of administrative decisions, limiting administrative procedures which are based on the exercise of discretion, and establishing accountability mechanisms within Moldova’s domestic framework.