Thursday, June 13 2019 13:49

ArmInfo. The draft law "On confiscation of property acquired by illegal means", developed by a working group formed by a decision of the Prime Minister of Armenia, will also answer the question of what fate awaits property acquired by unlawfully judges. On this June 13 after a government meeting in an interview with journalists, Deputy Minister of Justice Anna Vardapetyan said.

According to her, in the shortest possible time the government of Armenia will submit to the public a package of legislative measures aimed at reforms in the judicial-legal system. The legislative package includes programs planned in the short and long term to reform the judicial and legal system, including with respect to transitional justice and vetting. In the work on the development of a package of legislative measures involved all departments related to the judicial system.  As Vardapetyan pointed out, the adoption of a separate law regulating legal relations in the sphere of transitional justice or vetting is not planned, since both in the first and in the second case these mechanisms are only a tool, not a process of justice. As for the draft law "On confiscation of illegally acquired property", it is sent to international expert organizations to verify its compliance with international standards. After its approval by international experts, it is planned that the document will go through a process of public discussion.

When asked whether it was possible to argue that former Minister of Justice Artak Zeynalyan's resignation is related to his disagreement with the vetting, Anna Vardapetyan said: "No, it's impossible". The deputy minister did not rule out that she could head the Ministry of Justice, only stating that, as of today, she had not received the relevant proposal.

To recall, on May 20, in his speech on the judicial-legal system, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan stated that "the time has come to carry out a surgical intervention in the judicial system. This process should go as follows: All judges in Armenia should be subjected to vetting. In other words, the public should have complete information about their political connections and genealogy, property status, as well as about their personal and professional qualities manifested during the previous period.  All those judges who have been recognized by the European Court of Human Rights to have committed gross violations of human rights should resign, or be removed from their posts. All those judges who know inside themselves that they cannot be impartial and objective should resign, providing thereby a crucial service to the Republic of Armenia and its people.  Now the introduction of transitional justice mechanisms is a vital necessity for the Republic of Armenia, and we need to summarize within a couple of months the work done in this area for the past seven or eight months.  There should be a legislative work in the National Assembly to implement this vital agenda for our country and to have a truly guaranteed independent judicial system in Armenia. Should there arise the need for constitutional amendments, we will resort thereto, we will take that step by holding a popular referendum, if necessary.  All this work should be done within the framework of cooperation with international reputable organizations in this field, international best practices and international commitments undertaken by Armenia. We have been discussing a relevant agenda for a long time with the UN, the Council of Europe, the European Union, the OSCE, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank, and I hope all our international partners will stand by Armenia since we do not want to have a another puppet judicial system, but rather a truly independent, truly objective judiciary, based on the rule of law, which is in line with the priorities of the civilized world. In this regard, we should cooperate widely with the Armenian civil society, non-governmental organizations, and expert community. I want to emphasize that the time has come for realistic, reliable and institutional solutions to the fight against corruption.", the Prime Minister stated.