ArmInfo.The Ministry of Justice of Armenia has paid and continues to pay serious attention to the problem of court overload. The head of the department, Grigor Minasyan, stated this on March 26 at a meeting of the RA National Assembly Commission on State and Legal Issues.
According to him, this problem, which displeased a significant part of society, was associated with delays in the conduct of trials and long periods of consideration of lawsuits. In this context, as the minister noted, last year was a turning point in resolving this issue. In particular, notaries of the republic have been given the right to consider claims for transactions not exceeding 2 million drams, which has led to a 70-80% reduction in the workload of courts considering civil cases.
Minasyan also said that as part of the program to combat corruption, the salaries of judges were increased, which is very important from the point of view of increasing the efficiency of the judicial system. In particular, the salaries of judges of the primary instance increased by 60% and the salaries of judges of the Court of Appeal by 55%. This measure allowed to increase the number of judicial corps by 300 units. However, as the minister noted, even this amount is not yet enough. For example, for 3 million people in the country there should be 1,500 judges, but in the country this number is much less.
Minasyan noted that significant work has been done to digitalize the judicial system. From February 1 of this year. An electronic system of civil cases has been launched for legal entities, in which about 850 plaintiffs have already registered. It is planned to begin discussions on the availability of this site for individuals by the end of 2024, but this will only happen when the ID card institute is fully operational.
Minasyan noted that electronic platforms related to bankruptcy and the institution of conciliator were launched in pilot mode. Tenders were held, which identified the winners for their development and application.