ArmInfo. The goal of transitional justice is to eliminate the mistakes of the past. This was announced at the international symposium on transitional justice by Armenian First Deputy Prime Minister Ararat Mirzoyan on October 5.
Mirzoyan noted that over the past 27 years elections have been falsified in Armenia, human rights have been violated, corruption has flourished, violence has been used against peaceful demonstrators, etc. "After the revolution, power was again returned to the people and now, to build democracy in the country, we need transitional justice. Its goal is to register violations committed in the past and solve current problems caused by them. However, I want to note that transitional justice in Armenia should operate exclusively within the law. It should not be opposed to the judicial system or interfere in their affairs, it will interact with it. Every action of transitional justice should be implemented in accordance with the Constitution and the international obligations of Armenia ", concluded the Deputy Prime Minister. Mirzoyan also noted that the purpose of transitional justice is not the arrest of thousands of people, but the exclusion of those actions that they committed in the past.
In turn, the professor of international law at Middlesex University in London, William Schabas, said that the concept of transitional justice is still very young,it is only 25 years old. "Each country has its own characteristics and its own specifics, the advantage of transitional justice lies in the fact that each country can adapt it to its own specifics. The main task of transitional justice is that there is no need to deny the past, on the contrary, given the crimes committed, you need to find decisions to prevent their recurrence, "said Schabas.
He also said that in the process of transitional justice, the system should be cleansed of those who had committed corruption offenses and many other crimes in the past. The professor also noted that one of the components of transitional justice is the restoration of human rights. "The fact is that transitional justice should in no case compete with the judicial system or challenge its decisions; on the contrary, it is designed to support and complement it. Judges should be free in their decisions, and accept them based on their experience and knowledge ", - stressed Schabas. The professor also noted that transitional justice is aimed at solving systemic problems in the country and in society, as well as at making institutional changes. "If a person is convicted of corruption, but he is ready to compensate for the damage caused to the state, he should not go to jail; an amnesty can be applied to him," said Schabas.
To recall, on August 17, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan spoke at a rally dedicated to the 100 days of the new Armenian government, demanding establishment of transitional justice bodies in the country. In this regard, he noted that today there is growing opinion that a significant part of the judiciary serviced the corrupt system and was its component. "In this sense, the mistrust of the judicial system remains very deep, which is certainly a very delicate topic, and we should not be tempted to interfere in the affairs of the judicial system in any case, but I want to say that from the first day I became prime minister, I had stated that I will refrain from a malpractice of giving instructions to judicial authorities and I did so. But on the other hand, I want to emphasize that this does not mean that some judges should continue to receive instructions from representatives of the previous corrupt authorities. I want to warn both former corrupted authorities and those judges who receive bribes from them-come to your senses and do not dare to joke with people, "- said Pashinyan. According to him, the bodies of transitional justice may be needed because there are many problems in the legislation of Armenia. He explained that the law "On illegal enrichment" came into force on July 1, 2017, and formally the process of returning the loot before this date can be problematic.