1. Complaints related to the violation of ethical norms by publications can be filed by individuals – citizens of the Republic of Moldova, citizens of other States having their domicile or residence on the territory of Moldova, stateless persons having their domicile or residence on the territory of Moldova – who are directly concerned
Complaints can also be filed by individuals who are not directly concernedupon the written consent
2. Individuals who filed a complaint to the Council on the infringement of ethical norms by publications shallundertake to not bring to court the issue of the complaint filed with the Council until the Council issues a decision on that complaint.
3. Complaints shall concern the press materials written by journalist or non-journalists, published or posted on websites, which represent:
- news, articles, interviews, editorials etc.;
- words;
- images and photograps ;
- audio and video sequences posted on the publications’ websites or on the informational portals;
- readers’ published letters.
Readers’ complaints shall also concern the conduct of journalists who violate ethical journalism norms in their activity.
4. The complaint is a written presentation of the problem, which describes the violation of the ethical journalism norms by the publication of a press material or by a journalist’s conduct.
The complaint shall mandatorily
The complaint shall be field together with the issue of the relevant publication or the scanned copy of the material subject to complaint, the website address (URL), and other relevant information. The complaint shall be submitted to the office or email of the Council Secretariat.
5. If an individual cannot phrase a complaint, the Council Secretariat shall assist him/her with that.
6. The Council shall not review complaints that:
- refer to press materials published more than 3 months before the filing of the complaint
- concern a press material that cannot be identified;
- relate to litigations pending before the court;
- relate to an advertisement;
- are anonymous;
- concern publications that ceased their activity.
7. The Council Secretariat shall notify in writing the parties to the litigation within 3 business days