Regarding more particularly the introduction of references to foreign involvement in electoral corruption (in Article 1811, paragraph 13c) of the Criminal Code) and in illegal financing of political parties and electoral competitors35 (in Article 1813, paragraph 2c) of the Criminal Code), allowing for higher sanctions, the Venice Commission notes the following: Firstly, the aforementioned international standards on corruption offences and on party and campaign financing – such as the UN Convention against Corruption, the Council of Europe’s Criminal Law Convention on Corruption and the Council of Europe’s Recommendation Rec(2003)4 on common rules against corruption in the funding of political parties and electoral campaigns – do not explicitly limit the corruption offences to bribes from domestic actors, nor do they exclude sanctions for political financing from foreign sources. On the contrary, Article 7 of Rec(2003)4 calls upon States to specifically limit, prohibit or otherwise regulate donations from foreign donors. The Venice Commission has previously commented that this provision aims to avoid undue influence by foreign interests, including foreign governments, in domestic political affairs, and strengthens the independence of political parties. The ECtHR made it clear “that this matter falls within the residual margin of appreciation afforded to the Contracting States, which remain free to determine which sources of foreign funding may be received by political parties”; that said, it needs to be determined in practical terms whether the measure is proportionate to the aim pursued. The Joint Guidelines on Political Party Regulation explicitly refer to foreign funding as one of the areas where criminal sanctions – which must be reserved for serious violations that undermine public integrity or may threaten national security – may be justified. At the same time, the Joint Guidelines state that foreign funding of political parties is an area that should be regulated carefully; such regulation should 1) in principle allow for donations from citizens residing abroad if they are allowed to participate in elections at home, which is the case in Moldova; and 2) avoid the infringement of free association in the case of political parties active at an international level, an issue which is already addressed by the Moldovan legislation.
