1. The Republic of Moldova and Pridnestrovie (hereinafter \"the Parties\"), recognizing their responsibility for re-integration of the country, ensuring civil peace and comprehensive democratic development, have agreed, that the Transdniestrian issue shall be finally settled through reorganizing the state system of the Republic of Moldova in order to create a single independent, democratic, based on federative principles state, to be established within the borders of the Moldavian SSR as of January 1, 1990.
2. The Parties believe, that practical mechanisms of settling the Transdniestrian issue shall be implemented on the basis of joint working out, preliminary public discussion and adoption of a new Constitution of the united state - the Federative Republic of Moldova.
3. The new Constitution of the united state shall establish the following basic principles of the state system:
3.1. The Federative Republic of Moldova (hereinafter \"the Federation\") shall be a democratic, sovereign federal state, based on the principle of common territory, common principles of state power arrangement, common defence (during an interim period), customs, and monetary spaces.
The Federation shall be a neutral demilitarized state. Terms and the manner of abolition of the Armed Forces, social and other guarantees for servicemen of the Republic of Moldova and Pridnestrovie shall be provided by federal organic law.
Prior to the full demilitarization of the Federation, the Armed Forces shall be formed and operate on the basis of the territorial principle of recruitment of the military units and cannot be involved in the law-enforcement activity and ensuring public security on the territory of the Federation. The Armed Forces of the Federation shall be under command of an authorized federal organ of executive power. The maximum manpower of law-enforcement and public security organs shall be established by federal organic law.
3.2. Free movement of people, goods, services, and capital shall be recognized and ensured on the territory of the Federation.
3.3. The Constitution of the Federation, federal ordinary laws adopted in accordance with the Constitution on the matters under jurisdiction of the Federation and federal organic laws on the matters under the joint jurisdiction of the Federation and the Subjects of the Federation, as well as other acts of federal organs of state power to be adopted for implementation of the Constitution and federal laws, shall be applied directly throughout the territory of the Federation and be binding for all organs of state power, organs of local self-government, juridical and physical persons.
3.4. The territory of the Federation shall comprise the territories of the Subjects of the Federation and the federal territory. The federal territory shall be the territory of the Federation except for the territories of the Subjects of the Federation. Within the federal territory, all powers of legislative, executive and judicial authorities on the matters under the jurisdiction of the Subjects of the Federation shall be exercised directly by the Federal President, Federal Parliament, Federal Government, and federal courts respectively, and in cases stipulated by laws of the federal territory - by organs of local self-government.
3.5. Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica shall be the Subject of the Federation, a state formation within the Federation; it shall form its own organs of legislative (the Supreme Soviet of Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica), executive (President of Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica and Government of Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica), and judicial authority, shall have its own Constitution and legislation, state property, independent budget and tax system, as well as its own state symbols and other attributes of its state status. The autonomous territorial unit Gagauzia shall be the Subject of the Federation, shall form its own state organs of legislative, executive, and judicial authority, shall have its own Constitution and legislation, state property, independent budget and tax system, as well as its own state symbols and other attributes of its state status.
3.6. Constitutional and legal status, as well as boundaries of the territories of the Subjects of the Federation cannot be changed without their consent.
3.7. Moldavian shall be the state language of the Federation. Russian shall be the official language on the whole territory of the Republic of Moldova. Along with Moldavian and Russian languages, the Constitutions of the Subjects of the Federation can establish other official languages on the territories of the Subjects of the Federation. Records shall be kept on the territories of the Subjects of the Federation by all organs of state power and organs of local self-government in the state and official languages. The Federation guarantees for all citizens residing on its territory the right to retain their mother tongue, to create conditions for its studying and development.
3.8. The Federation shall be the subject of international law and member of international world and regional organizations, where membership is conditioned by possession of international personality by a state. The Federation shall be the successor of the Republic of Moldova in international relations.
3.9. The Federation shall establish its international relations with foreign countries and international organizations, and conclude international treaties and agreements. Ratified international treaties of the Federation and generally recognized principles of international law shall have priority over laws of the Federation.
3.10. International treaties related to the matters under the jurisdiction of the Federation shall be subject to ratification by federal ordinary laws.
3.11. International treaties related to the matters under the joint jurisdiction of the Federation and the Subjects of the Federation (hereinafter \"matters under the joint jurisdiction\") shall be subject to ratification by federal organic laws. While negotiating an international treaty related to the matters under the joint jurisdiction, the Federal Government in order to take into account opinions of the Subjects of the Federation shall hold preliminary consultations with organs of state power of the Subjects of the Federation and ensure participation in the negotiations of representatives of authorized organs of the Subjects of the Federation in the manner provided by federal organic law.
3.12. The Subjects of the Federation can be members of international world and regional organizations, where international personality of a state is not a compulsory condition for membership, can maintain international relations, conclude international treaties related to the matters under the jurisdiction of the Subjects of the Federation, and establish representations (without status of diplomatic missions and consulates) in foreign countries.
3.13. If the Federation opts for affiliation to a foreign state and(or) completely loses its sovereignty, the Subjects of the Federation shall have the right to secede from the Federation.
3.14. A Subject of the Federation shall secede from the Federation on the basis of decisions taken at a nation-wide referendum of the Subject of the Federation by a majority of voters registered on the territory of the Subject of the Federation. The abovementioned referendum shall be called by a legislative (representative) organ of state power of the Subject of the Federation, given there are grounds for such a secession. The referendum shall be organized and logistically supported by organs of state power and organs of local self-government of the Subject of the Federation.
3.15. The Constitution of the Federation shall specify matters falling under jurisdiction of the Federation, matters falling under joint jurisdiction, as well as matters under the jurisdiction of the Subjects of the Federation.
4. The matters falling under jurisdiction of the Federation shall be as follows:
4.1. Federal state property and its management;
4.2. Currency regulations, issue of money;
4.3. Air, railway, marine transport;
4.4. Foreign policy, external trade, and international treaties of the Federation, declaring war and making peace;
4.5. Citizenship of the Federation, emigration and immigration matters;
4.6. Bringing under regulations manufacturing, selling and buying weapons and ammunitions; production of toxic substances, drugs, and the order of using them;
4.7. Determining a status and protection of the state borders, the air space of the Republic of Moldova, the borderland regime;
4.8. Collision law;
4.9. Meteorology, geodesy, cartography, standards, metric system and calendar;
4.10. Federal statistics and accounting;
4.11. Federal state awards and honorary titles.
5. The matters falling under joint jurisdiction shall be as follows:
5.1. Regulation of human rights and freedoms, rights of national minorities;
5.2. Customs regulation, operation of the Federal Central Bank;
5.3. Grids, pipelines, communication;
5.4. Judicature, establishment and operation of law-enforcement organs, criminal, and criminal procedural legislation, amnesty and pardon, laws related to administrative offences;
5.5. Civil, labour, civil procedural, and arbitration procedural legislation, legal regulation of intellectual property, general principles of organization and operation of notaries\' institutions;
5.6. Ownership, use and disposal of land, entrails of the earth, water and other natural resources;
5.7. Division of the public property to the federal one and the property of the Subjects of the Federation;
5.8. Federal budget, federal taxes, dues, duties, and other compulsory payments, state regulation of prices for commodities and services, antimonopoly regulation;
5.9. Environmental protection and ensuring ecological security, protection of unique natural resources, historical and cultural monuments of federal importance;
5.10. General principles of education and social security;
5.11. Matters related to combating disasters, natural calamities. epidemics, and liquidation of their consequences;
5.12. General principles of external economic activity of citizens and juridical persons;
5.13. Suffrage.
6. The matters falling under jurisdiction of the Subjects of the Federation shall be as follows:
6.1. Regulation of external economic activity on the matters under the jurisdiction of the Subjects of the Federation, which is performed by organs of state power of the Subjects of the Federation at the expense of the Subjects of the Federation, as well as external economic activity of citizens and institutions within the competences provided by federal organic laws;
6.2. Establishing a system of organs of state power of the Subjects of the Federation;
6.3. Administrative laws regulating operation of organs of state power of the Subjects of the Federation;
6.4. Matters related to local self-government, establishing and ensuring of guarantees for the right of citizens to local self-government;
6.5. Family and housing legislation;
6.6. Public health matters;
6.7. Organization and operation of the Bar;
6.8. State property of the Subjects of the Federation and property management;
6.9. Approval and performance of budgets of the Subjects of the Federation, control over the budget implementation of the Subjects of the Federation;
6.10. Culture and art, protection of historical and cultural monuments of regional importance, physical training and sport;
6.11. Town planning and architecture matters;
6.12. State awards and honorary titles of the Subjects of the Federation;
6.13. Matters related to additional measures of social security for citizens residing on the territory of the Subjects of the Federation, at the expense of budgets of the Subjects of the Federation;
6.14. Other matters not falling under jurisdiction of the Federation and joint jurisdiction.
7. a) relations on the matters under the jurisdiction of the Federation, including defining competences of all levels and branches of public authority over these matters, shall be regulated by federal ordinary laws;
b) relations on the matters under the joint jurisdiction, including defining competences of all levels and branches of public authority over these matters, shall be regulated by federal organic laws;
c) Federal ordinary laws, federal organic laws establishing competences of organs of public authority of the Subjects of the Federation over the matters under the jurisdiction of the Federation and the matters under the joint jurisdiction involving budget expenditures, shall include provisions envisaging allocation of purpose-oriented subventions from the federal budget to the budgets of the Subjects of the Federation and(or) to municipal budgets, as well as the way (method) of calculation of such subventions;
d) relations on the matters under the jurisdiction of the Subjects of the Federation, including defining competences of organs of state power and organs of local self-government of the Subjects of the Federation, shall be regulated by laws of the Subjects of the Federation. On the matters under the jurisdiction of the Subjects of the Federation, organs of state power of the Subjects of the Federation shall have the absolute state authority.
e) relations on the matters specified in the Constitution of the Federation as falling under jurisdiction of the Subjects of the Federation, outside the territories of the Subjects of the Federation shall be regulated by laws of the federal territory.
f) laws of the Subjects of the Federation can regulate relations on the matters under the jurisdiction of the Federation and under the joint jurisdiction within the legislative competences of the Subjects of the Federation provided by the Constitution of the Federation, federal organic laws, and federal ordinary laws.
8. a) The federal budget shall be formed from federal taxes, dues, other compulsory payments established by federal organic laws, as well as from incomes of privatization and another use of federal property.
b) Budgets of the Subjects of the Federation shall be formed from the established by laws of the Subjects of the Federation regional taxes and dues, incomes from privatization and another use of state property of the Subjects of the Federation, as well as from established by federal organic laws deductions from federal taxes, dues, duties and other payments.
c) Composition and maximum rates of municipal taxes and dues shall be provided by federal organic law.
9. a) The federal legislature shall be the Federal Parliament consisting of two chambers - the Senate and the House of Representatives.
b) The Senate shall be composed of 26 Senators to be elected for a five year term, with four of them to be elected by the Peoples Assembly of the autonomous territorial unit Gagauzia, nine - by the Supreme Soviet of Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica, and thirteen - by the House of Representatives of the Federal Parliament. Senators shall have an imperative mandate.
c) The House of Representatives shall consist of 71 deputies to be elected for a four year term in accordance with federal organic law on the basis of universal, direct and equal suffrage by secret ballot in a single constituency according to the proportional electoral system.
10. a) Federal organic laws shall be adopted in the House or Representatives by a simple majority of votes from the established number of deputies of the House of Representatives, shall be approved in the Senate by a simple majority of votes of the established number of Senators, and are subject to promulgation by the federal President. A federal organic law shall be considered rejected in case of its disapproval in the Senate.
b) Federal ordinary laws shall be adopted in the House or Representatives by a simple majority of votes from the established number of deputies of the House of Representatives, shall be approved in the Senate by a simple majority of votes of the established number of Senators, and are subject to promulgation by the federal President. Veto of the Senate imposed on federal ordinary laws and veto of the federal President set on federal organic laws and federal ordinary laws may be overcome through second adoption of the law concerned by a qualified majority of at least two-thirds of votes from the established number of deputies of the House of Representatives.
c) Laws of the federal territory shall be adopted in the House of Representatives by a simple majority of votes of the established number of deputies of the House of Representatives and are subject to promulgation by the federal President. Laws of the federal territory are not subject to approval by the Senate.
d) The Constitution of the Federation shall be amended through federal constitutional laws to be adopted in the House of Representatives by a majority of at least two-thirds of votes of the established number of deputies of the House of Representatives, shall be approved in the Senate by a majority of at least 4/5 of votes of the established number of Senators. A federal constitutional law shall be considered rejected in case of its disapproval in the Senate.
11. Head of state shall be the Federal President to be elected for a five year term in accordance with federal organic law on the basis of universal, direct and equal suffrage by secret ballot in a single constituency on the whole territory of the Federation.
12. a) Executive power in the Federation shall belong to the federal Government.
b) The Chairman and members of the Federal Government shall be appointed by the Senate on presentation by the federal President. The Chairman of the Federal Government shall have deputies, with two of them to be appointed by the Federal President on presentation by the Chairman of the Federal Government and in coordination with authorized organs of state power of the Subjects of the Federation.
c) Heads and deputy heads of federal organs of executive power shall be appointed to their offices in accordance with the principle of proportional representation of the Subjects of the Federation. The manner of ensuring representation of the Subjects of the Federation in federal organs of executive power shall be provided by corresponding federal ordinary laws and(or) federal organic laws.
d) Heads and other officials of territorial bodies of federal executive organs to be appointed to and relieved of their posts by federal executive organs and exercising in the Subjects of the Federation executive and administrative powers on the matters under the jurisdiction of the Federation, as well as on the matters under the joint jurisdiction, shall be appointed and relieved of their posts with the consent of competent organs of state power and officials of the Subjects of the Federation.
13. To administer civil, administrative, and criminal justice, in accordance with federal organic law the Federal Supreme Court, courts of appeal, and courts of the first instance shall be established in the Federation. To administer constitutional justice the Federal Constitutional Court shall be established.
13.1. The Federal Supreme Court shall be the highest appeal and(or) cassation instance for civil, administrative, and criminal cases. The Supreme Court shall be formed by the Senate.
13.2. The Federal Constitutional Court shall consist of 11 judges, with 6 of them to be appointed by the House of Representatives, 1 - by the Peoples Assembly of the autonomous territorial unit Gagauzia, and 4 - by the Supreme Soviet of Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica. Composition of the Federal Constitutional Court shall be approved by the Senate.
13.3. Judges of courts of the first instance and the appeal instance shall be appointed in the Subjects of the Federation in the manner provided by laws of the Subjects of the Federation.
14. The Constitution of the Federation shall envisage transitional provisions specifying that:
14.1. The Senate shall be formed no later than on February 1, 2005.
14.2. Deputies of the House of Representatives of the first (after the adoption of the Constitution of the Federation) convocation shall assemble on April 30, 2005 at the latest in accordance with electoral procedures to be agreed by the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova and the Supreme Soviet of Pridnestrovie.
14.3. The Government of the Republic of Moldova shall resign before the newly elected Senate, which shall approve the Chairman of the federal Government in the manner provided by the Constitution of the Federation.
14.4. Election of the federal President shall be held under federal organic law on May 31, 2005 at the latest.
14.5. Reorganization or abolition of courts operating on the territory of the Republic of Moldova and Pridnestrovie, with establishment of the Federal Supreme Court and other courts in accordance with the new Constitution, shall be done in the manner and terms provided by federal organic law.
14.6. The manner and terms of formation of federal executive organs exercising on the territory of the Subjects of the Federation powers on the matters under the jurisdiction of the Federation, as well as on the matters under the joint jurisdiction, shall be provided by corresponding federal ordinary laws and federal organic laws. Prior to adoption of the abovementioned laws, executive organs of Pridnestrovie shall exercise their powers in accordance with laws of Pridnestrovie, unless otherwise provided by agreements between the federal Government and an authorized organ of state power of Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica.
14.7. Federal taxes, dues, and other compulsory payments shall be levied on the territory of Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica beginning from January 1, 2007. Till January 1, 2007, Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica shall make into the federal budget an annual contribution equivalent 1/6 of the federal budget expenditures for maintenance of federal organs of state power, with the exception of expenditures for paying off and servicing the public debt of the Republic of Moldova incurred as of the date of entry into force of the Constitution of the Federation, as well as expenditures for maintenance of federal organs of state power exercising their powers on the matters under the jurisdiction of the Subjects of the Federation outside the territories of the Subjects of the Federation.
14.8. Financial obligations incurred by the Republic of Moldova before entry into force of this Constitution shall be fulfilled from the federal budget, and financial obligations of Pridnestrovie - from the budget of Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica.
14.9. State, municipal, and private property rights acquired under laws of Pridnestrovie before entry into force of the Constitution of the Federation shall not be subject to revision, but shall be recognized and protected on the territory of the Federation.
14.10. The right of ownership on the property being in the public ownership of Pridnestrovie shall be divided into the federal property and the property of Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica in accordance with federal organic law on the basis of division of powers into the matters under the jurisdiction of the Federation and the matters under the joint jurisdiction established by corresponding federal laws and federal organic laws. The property being in the state ownership of the Subjects of the Federation shall be transferred to the municipal ownership, as well as privatized in accordance with laws of the Subjects of the Federation.
14.11. Till 2015, federal organic laws shall be approved by a 3/4 majority of votes of the established number of Senators.
14.12. Till 2020 the House of Representatives shall be elected in accordance with federal organic law on the basis of universal, direct and equal suffrage by secret ballot according to proportionate electoral system on the basis of a federal list of candidates and regional lists of candidates (to be compiled in proportion to the population of respective territories).
14.13. Till 2015, the Federal Constitutional Court shall make decisions at least by nine votes.
15. To prepare a draft Constitution of the Federation the Parties have established the Joint Constitutional Commission composed of plenipotentiaries from each of the Parties, and invited international experts from the guarantor-countries, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (the OSCE), European Union, as well as the European Commission For Democratization Through Law (Venice Commission) of the Council of Europe as observers. The Joint Constitutional Commission shall work according to its own regulations and consider the principles of the state system provided by this Memorandum to be determinative and obligatory while working out the draft Constitution of the Federation.
The draft Constitution of the Federation shall be published in the media for public discussion on March 31, 2004 at the latest. The nation-wide referendum on adoption of the Constitution of the Federation shall be held no later than on October 31, 2004.
The leaderships of the Republic of Moldova and Pridnestrovie undertake commitments and guarantees to provide all conditions needed for holding a nation-wide referendum on the entire territory of the Republic of Moldova within its internationally recognized borders in accordance with democratic standards of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe.
Beginning from the day of adoption of this Memorandum, on the territories of the Parties there should be no restrictions on activity of political and social associations, on distribution of the media registered by competent bodies of the sides, as well as on movement of representatives of organs of state power and citizens. As far as the referendum is concerned, campaign shall be conducted without any restrictions in accordance with laws of the Parties.
The Constitution of the Federation shall be considered as adopted, if a majority of eligible voters cast their votes in its favour on the territories of the Parties, with counting of the votes taken separately. Single agreed by the Parties standard voting paper shall be used for the voting procedure at the referendum. Nonadoption of the Constitution of the Federation at the referendum shall not lead to changing the actual status of the Parties. In this case the Parties shall undertake to continue their work on working out and submit to the referendum a new draft Constitution of the Federation within a six month period.
