ArmInfo. Armenian courts do not fully guarantee the protection of human rights. This was discussed at  the meeting of Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan held the day before with the Chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council Gagik Harutyunyan.

ArmInfo.

ArmInfo.The Armenian Prosecutor General's Office will study the compliance of declarations with actual incomes of officials. On May 23, the Prosecutor General of Armenia Artur Davtyan stated from the rostrum of the parliament, answering the question of the deputy from the "Tsarukyan Bloc" faction, Naira Zohrabyan.

ArmInfo. An alternative way of resolving court disputes will be introduced in Armenia through the introduction of the institution of a conciliator. The draft law "On  the Institute of the Mediator" was adopted at the meeting of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia on May 5.

ArmInfo.The judicial system in Armenia should be out of politics. This was stated in the parliament by the leader of the protest movement, candidate for Prime Minister  of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan.

ArmInfo. The current executive power of Armenia with existing legal norms cannot conduct free, competitive and transparent elections in accordance with democratic  standards.  This opinion was expressed by a number of Armenian public  organizations in their statement, taking into account the experience  of monitoring several elections in the country.

ArmInfo. When initiating the Constitutional reforms there were no personal considerations. Prime Minister of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan stated this in an interview with the "Shant" TV channel, answering the question whether the  Constitutional reforms are not the cause of the protest actions,  since people assume that these reforms were implemented so that Serzh  Sargsyan actually continued to direct country.

ArmInfo. The focus of the Ministry of Justice is the protection of human rights. At present, the National Strategy for the Protection of Human Rights is being implemented in Armenia. This was announced by the Minister of Justice David on February 20 at a press conference Harutyunyan.

ArmInfo. On February 9, the Armenian parliament adopted amendments to the sensational law "On Amendments and Additions to the Civil Procedure Code" and a package of related laws that provide for penal sanctions against lawyers in the second and final reading. Presenting the draft, RA First Deputy Minister of Justice Artur Hovhannisyan stressed that the introduction of a system of judicial fines against lawyers and prosecutors in Armenia up to 100 thousand drams for contempt of court will help to effectively ensure the normal course of trials and court hearings. The deputy minister noted that if the court session is in progress in a criminal case and the lawyer does not attend the sessions several times, the court is obliged to support the normal course of the proceedings. Artur Hovhannisyan noted that it is possible to protect the interests of citizens without violating judicial rules and sanctions do not pose any danger to bona fide lawyers. In addition, according to the deputy minister, judicial sanctions are not only for lawyers, but also for prosecutors, who are also required to maintain order during the court session. Since February 7, lawyers in Armenia have been striking against the introduction of such sanctions. Strikes led to the fact that the courts were paralyzed, and cannot continue their work. Artur Hovhannisyan said that the second reading received several proposals, which were accepted by the authors of the document. In particular, it is envisaged to establish that the courts will receive the right to appeal to the Constitutional Court, if the legal acts carry doubts as to whether their provisions comply with the requirements of the Basic Law. Taking into account the fact that the Judicial Code has already been adopted by the country's parliament, it became necessary to introduce a number of its provisions into the presented package. In particular, it is provided that the Court of Appeal should be guided by the majority of votes of the Chamber of Appeal in the process of taking the case to production. Another innovation concerns the handling of cases involving damage to real estate. It is provided that the issue of compensation for this damage can be considered by the court of primary jurisdiction of the area in which the property is registered in the real estate cadastre. According to the bill, plaintiffs are entitled to file lawsuits and applications in electronic form. The executive lists of ships are immediately sent to the Service for the Compulsory Execution of Judicial Acts, and not to the claimant. The package also provides for a method of expedited consideration by courts of claims. Decisions of judicial acts are published on the official website.

ArmInfo. In 2017, 1,207 crimes were recorded in the Armed Forces of Armenia and other military units, which is 11.1% less than in the same period in 2016. This is stated in the report presented at a meeting held under the leadership of the Prosecutor General of Armenia Arthur Davtyan and dedicated to summing up the results of the military prosecutor's office of the country in 2017. The Minister of Defense of Armenia Vigen Sargsyan also participated in the meeting. The Prosecutor General's Office notes that out of 1207 crimes - 768 cases or 63.6% were directed against military service, 439 or 36.6% - crimes of a different nature. "Of the above 1207 crimes, 191 or 15.8% - serious or especially serious, in particular 111 serious and 80 especially grave crimes. Compared to 2016, the number of serious crimes decreased by 6 cases or 5.1%, and especially grave crimes by 286 cases or 78.1%. However, these figures are incommensurable with the indicators of 2016, as most of the incidents in 2016 are related to the April "four-day war" and crimes committed by the enemy. Of the 80 serious crimes - 21 murders committed by the enemy, 3 - murders committed by servicemen, 53 - attempts of murder committed by the enemy, 1 attempted murder by a colleague, 1 theft of arms and ammunition on a particularly large scale, "the agency report says. The military prosecutor, Deputy Prosecutor General of Armenia Vahe Harutyunyan, who represents the results of the year, noted that according to an analysis conducted by the Prosecutor General's Office, the Armed Forces still carry crimes related to the violation of the military regulations and non-military relations between servicemen. The department also provided rates of crime detection in the Armed Forces, in particular 97.8% against 98.2% in 2016. "Repeated crimes reduced by 38.1%, which is conditioned by the work carried out by the command of military units and military police departments." In 2011, 116 such cases were recorded, in 59 cases or almost 100% more than in 2016. 36 criminal cases were initiated, indictments against 72 persons were sent to the courts, "the Prosecutor General's Office said in a statement. During the meeting, it was stressed that the increase in the number of crimes that are of a corrupt nature is due to the growing intolerance in the society, as well as the various activities undertaken to identify such crimes. Meanwhile, the Prosecutor General stressed that despite the reduction in the number of grave and particularly serious crimes in the Armenian Armed Forces, no indicators can be considered satisfactory if the army continues to suffer human losses, serious health damage, suicide. Davtyan also expressed concern over the facts of delaying the proceedings, which, he said, is completely unacceptable. He instructed to apply all measures of prosecutorial influence in order to ensure prompt judicial proceedings.

ArmInfo. The independence of the judicial system of Armenia will increase. The draft of the new Judicial Code of RA was adopted at the meeting of the Armenian parliament on February 7 in the second and final reading. According to Justice Minister David Harutyunyan, the new Judicial Code is aimed at ensuring external and internal independence of judicial system. Within the framework of the bill, it is envisaged to create a Supreme Judicial Council, which will replace the Council of Justice. The structure of the new structure will include not only judges, but also persons outside the judiciary. It is planned that some of the members of the new council will be represented by the judges themselves, and the other part by the parliament of the country. On both sides of the Council there will be 5 members, and the parliament will approve them, by a majority of 3/5 of the votes. Scientists - lawyers, members of the Supreme Judicial Council should not be in the public service, but the law does not prohibit them from being elected if they have held any position in state or local government bodies for the past 5 years. The Council will become the main body that will assume all the main functions to ensure the independence of the judiciary. The document establishes the rules of conduct of the judge, in particular, the possibility of exerting pressure on him, which he is obliged to inform the Supreme Judicial Council. The latter, in turn, must take immediate action to bring the person who attempted to exert pressure to justice. If the petition of the Supreme Judicial Council is left unanswered, the council undertakes to make a statement with a view to informing the public about each particular case. Another provision that regulates external independence concerns the protection of a judge from various criminal acts. The bill restricts the possibility of bringing a judge to criminal liability. The bill provides for the possibility of electing judges for certain periods. - 6 years for judges of the Court of Cassation and 3 years - for the judges of primary jurisdiction. After the expiration of this period, the judge can not be re-elected. One of the most important directions for ensuring internal independence is the independence of judges from the chairmen of courts, and therefore the powers of chairmen of courts are substantially limited. If earlier the chairman of the Court of Cassation was perceived as a representative of the state authority, now he will represent only the Court of Cassation in relations with other bodies. The project envisages the application of a number of new regulations aimed at improving the efficiency of the judicial system. For the first time, the document presents such concepts as "consideration of the case" and "reasonable time". It is proposed to highlight the specialization of judges in pre-trial proceedings, since currently the criminal cases at the pre-trial stage are considered by judges not only in criminal cases, but also in civil cases, which is explained by the lack of judges and the busyness of the courts. According to the draft, in the case of lawyers and prosecutors, a fine of up to 100 thousand drams may also be imposed as a sanction. Under the current code, lawyers and prosecutors can be warned by the court, they can be removed from the courtroom, or the court can ask the prosecutor general and the Chamber of Advocates to bring them to justice. Also, sanctions can be applied against judges who committed more than two gross violations of the current legislation. It should be noted that the draft of the Judicial Code was examined by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, and then was submitted to the parliament. Prior to that, additional discussions were held on it. In accordance with the reformed Basic Law of the country, the Judicial Code is a constitutional law, and at least 3/5 of the votes of deputies must be adopted. The document will come into force from the moment the new president of Armenia assumes the post.

ArmInfo.

ArmInfo.The new Armenia-EU framework agreement is not directed against a third party. This was stated by the head of the European Union delegation in Armenia,  Ambassador Piotr Switalsky, in an interview with the Resurrection  Analytical Program of Azatutyun TV.

ArmInfo.. For 9 months of 2017, the subdivisions of the Prosecutor General's Office and the National Security Service of Armenia considered 52 criminal cases of  corruption. They carried out criminal prosecution against 70 persons  with power or official powers in official or commercial organizations.

ArmInfo. Issues related to the legislative regulation of unloading of courts, the distribution of court cases and the simplification of certain judicial procedures,  became the subject of discussions at the meeting held yesterday,  which was held by the Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan. As the RA Government's press service reports, the meeting reported  that the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia in  fulfillment of instructions. 

ArmInfo. Peaceful and democratic Turkey is the only possible way of its peaceful  coexistence with other countries of the region. A similar opinion was  voiced by ArmInfo deputy of the faction of the pro-Kurdish People's  Democratic Party in the Turkish parliament Karo Paylan.

ArmInfo.

ArmInfo.Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan thinks that reload of the courts creates serious risks from the point of view of administration of justice, Karen  Karapetyan said during the Government session of Armenia on June 29. 

ArmInfo.

ArmInfo. There is an unacceptably high level of suits for arrest in Armenia as a  preventive measure. The Ombudsman of Armenia stated this on April 13  during a press conference in Yerevan.