Closing the Justice Gap in Moldova – Specialized Paralegal Services

In this month’s episode of the Cu DREPTuL podcast, our team interviewed Oxana Buzovici from the Union for Equity and Health who is coordinating the work of Moldova’s specialized paralegals, serving the marginalized communities and groups. The Bălți-based Union for Equity and Health, formerly known as the Union for HIV Prevention and Harm Reduction, has been working for many years with some of the most vulnerable and marginalized groups in the Republic of Moldova: people living with HIV/AIDS, drug users, sex workers, and former prisoners. Their beneficiaries also face many restrictions on their rights and access to justice.

The idea of utilizing as paralegals people who formerly belonged to these groups, who would know the specifics of their position and issues affecting them, have access to them, but also enjoy their trust, seemed as a good on to test. An experimental network of 17 active specialized paralegals was established, all service provider underwent special training, and after four years, those involved say this is a solution which works indeed.

More details of the interview in English can be found here.

As part of the National Campaign for Healthy Justice, the Access to Justice Project in Moldova supports Cu DREPTuL, a podcast on access to justice and human rights, which aims to be not only an informative but also an educational tool, useful to all interested in these topics in the Moldovan context. The podcast brings relevant speakers on a variety of issues including, legal support for the marginalized, children’s rights, domestic violence, human trafficking, state-supported legal aid, role of public defenders, etc.