Ararat Mirzoyan: We need transitional justice to build democracy in  the country

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.