Wednesday, May 23 2018 12:06

ArmInfo.On May 23, the Armenian parliament approved the draft amendments to the Criminal Code and a package of related laws that regulate issues related to the early release of prisoners or the easing of sentences.

According to Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia  Suren Krmoyan, the amendments are aimed at bringing the current  legislation of the country in compliance with the requirements of the  RA Constitution. Since the authority of the RA President on early  release or mitigation of the term of punishment has changed, the  system for resolving this issue is also changing. From now on, the  issues of early release or mitigation of the sentence will be dealt  with by an independent commission. Conceptual approaches to the  solution of this issue are changing. In particular, to grant the two  services - the penal correctional and probation services - the right  to deal with issues of early release. When submitting an application  from a convicted person, both services in parallel mode and  independently from each other will have to conduct research on the  behavior of the prisoner, assess the risks of committing repeated  crimes in the future. In the event that both services issue a  positive opinion, the matter is transferred to the court. If there is  a negative opinion from one of the services, the prisoner will have  the right to demand consideration of the matter in court. And if  there are negative conclusions from both structures, the prisoner in  court will have the opportunity to challenge these decisions.

The official recalled that under the current legislation, without the  consent of the convict, they could begin the process of early  release, which meant that the convicted person did not have the right  to freely express his position in this particular process. "This  leads to the fact that the convicted person does not appear in the  court sessions, and after the release there is a problem with the  fulfillment of the duties assigned to him," the Deputy Minister of  Justice stressed. According to Suren Krmoyan, the President of  Armenia previously determined the order and authority for the  formation of independent bodies of early release, and now this right  is transferred to the executive branch.