The courts in Armenia will be unloaded

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. 

Prime Minister has developed a package of legislative changes in the  Civil Code of Armenia and the Judicial Code. In particular, it is  proposed to reduce the number of court cases with the signatures of  court chairpersons to 10%, with the exception of cases considered by  the Yerevan court of general jurisdiction.  Thus, issues relating to  the distribution of cases, limitation of congestion between judges  will be resolved.  The proposed changes also provide for a clear  formulation of provisions concerning the delaying of cases, which  should henceforth become well-founded. In the cases of confiscation  of property worth up to 2 million drams, a simplified procedure for  considering cases is provided. It is also proposed to establish  electronic communication between notaries, banks and credit  organizations, giving the notary offices the right to own digital  signatures and electronic print.

The package establishes that one court of general jurisdiction will  operate in the city of Yerevan with an increase in the number of  judges, which will improve the management of courts and optimize  budget resources.

The meeting also discussed the issue of increasing the number of  judges of the Administrative and Appeals Courts, as well as the  problem of improving the effectiveness of the mechanism for appealing  against judicial decisions.  The Prime Minister welcomed and highly  appreciated the submitted legislative package, having entrusted after  resolving a number of technical issues, to submit it to the  government apparatus.

To recall, on  November 17, the Armenian parliament in the first  reading made amendments to the Judicial Code and a number of related  laws. According to the First Deputy Minister of Justice of the  Republic of Armenia Artur Hovhannisyan, today both the Administrative  and Appeal Courts operate in an extremely busy regime. If, for  example, today a complaint is received, then the courts will be able  to consider it only in July 2019. This is due to the fact that when  in 2010 the Administrative and Appeal Courts were created, the number  of judges of the Administrative Court was 16 people. Subsequently,  the number of judges was increased by another 10 persons, but the  number of judges of the Court of Appeal remained unchanged - 6  people. As a result, it is not possible to ensure the right of  citizens to a fair trial, since complaints are not considered on  time. If in 2010, the Court of Appeal examined 1496 cases, then by  June 2017 this indicator was close to the level of 3145 cases. Based  on this circumstance, the Armenian government came up with a  legislative initiative to increase the number of judges of the Court  of Appeal by 3 units, and, on the contrary, to reduce the judges of  the Administrative Court by 3 persons. Thus, there will be no  problems with financing the activities of the judges.