ArmInfo.Reforms of the judicial and legal system are the most important task of the Armenian government. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this on February 8 at a meeting dedicated to reforms in the police system.
According to him, the process of forming the Ministry of Internal Affairs will begin in the near future. This year, tangible results are expected in the formation of the patrol service. This process has already begun, and at the meeting it will be necessary to decide on solutions for urgent tasks. The program, as the Prime Minister recalled, was somewhat delayed due to the hostilities. Today, the head of government continued, it is extremely important to complete this part of the project on time.
Note that one of the areas of reform will be the creation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which will develop policy and bear political responsibility for the reform process. The initiative proposes to retain the post of chief of police, provided that he will be appointed by the prime minister at the proposal of the minister. It is envisaged to distinguish between civilian service in the police and military. For example, the Visa and Passport Office and the Investigation Record Center will become a civil service. It is also planned to create a Patrol Service and a single operational control center. This will happen as a result of the merger of the Traffic Police unit and the patrol service. It is also proposed to include in the structure of the Ministry the Center for Financial Monitoring of the Central Bank, as well as to include the functions of the Migration Service in the new organizational and legal structure of the police. As part of the reforms, it is envisaged to reorganize the internal troops into the National Guard, which, if appropriate, will be able to participate in maintaining public order, to ensure the protection of objects of strategic importance (the functions of the Main Directorate of State Protection are transferred to the National Guard). It is envisaged that the National Guard will participate in the prevention and suppression of riots, in the implementation of anti-terrorist measures, in ensuring the legal regime of martial law and in emergency situations, in assisting in search and rescue operations in case of natural disasters or man-made disasters, in ensuring the safety of transportation special cargo.
Let us recall that the goal of the reform is to transform the police into a modern, specialized and technically equipped, respected and reliable law enforcement force, to create an image of a policeman inherent in a democratic rule of law. To achieve this goal, it is proposed to solve a number of issues, in particular, to revise and reform the system of training and professional development of police officers in terms of both the content of the program and the method of training, to create an executive body with mechanisms for developing and implementing policy, accountability and civil oversight, and also carry out a structural and functional analysis of the police service in line with changes in the reform guidelines.