Minister: New Judicial Code aims at ensuring independence of the judiciary

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.