The Ombudsman attended the seminar organized by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), which was held in Strasbourg on 26-27 May. The seminar discussed issues regarding the role of national institutions specialized in advising authorities and other relevant actors in order to promote policies and practices to ensure equality and combating discrimination.

During the sessions Mihail Cotorobai was referred to the experience of the Office of the Ombudsman in this area, citing in particular the information the Ombudsman sent to the Parliament about the legislative initiative of a group of lawmakers to repeal the law on equality No. 121 of 25.05.2012.

This initiative, according to the Ombudsman, constitute a threat to human rights and fundamental freedoms and would present a setback from the achieved level of equality in Moldova. The Ombudsman also stated that the argumentation of the lawmakers' recommendation not to support the project in question stressed that the legislative initiative is contrary to the general course of Moldova to ensure respect for human rights as one of the basic components of the European course of our country, in case it passes, it will be the cause of major difficulties in the relations with international organizations in human rights.

Also, Mihail Cotorobai spoke about the recent launch of the Study and guidance on investigating hate crime, which aimed to strengthen and streamline the national system of protection against hate crime. He pointed out that former and current officials of the Office of the Ombudsman are co-authors of this study.

Mihail Cotorobai also stressed that in order to promote policies and best practices for the prevention and combating of discrimination, establishment and consistent application of a legal non-discriminating framework in Moldova, the Ombudsman's Institution signed agreements of cooperation with the Council for the Prevention and Elimination of Discrimination and Assurance of Equality and the Public Association "The Nondiscrimination Coalition". The lawyer also spoke about other activities organized by the Ombudsman's Institution who aimed to promote policies and practices to ensure equality and combating discrimination.