Armenia, Eurojust to exchange "classified information"

ArmInfo.On September 10, the National Assembly of Armenia gave the green light to the ratification  of a cooperation agreement with the EU's single justice agency.

On April 5, in Brussels, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic  of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan signed the agreement "On cooperation  between the competent authorities in the field of legal cooperation  between the Republic of Armenia and the European Union in the field  of criminal proceedings of the Republic of Armenia and the European  Union Agency for Cooperation in the Field of Criminal Justice  (Eurojust)".

As Deputy Minister of Justice Karen Karapetyan stated earlier,  presenting the draft ratification, the purpose of the agreement is to  develop international cooperation between Eurojust and the competent  authorities of the Republic of Armenia in the fight against organized  crime, terrorism, money laundering, human trafficking and other  serious crimes. The document also provides for the creation of a  single space of standards and regulations in the relevant areas,  including the justice sector.

, - Karapetyan noted. Ratification of the  agreement will simplify and make more targeted the work of Armenian  diplomatic missions abroad in providing legal assistance to citizens  of the Republic of Armenia, added Deputy Prosecutor General of the  Republic Yeghiazar Avagyan.

The agreement provides that the Republic of Armenia appoints a  prosecutor for cooperation issues in order to implement communication  and cooperation between Eurojust and the competent authorities of the  Republic of Armenia. Eurojust, in turn, may appoint a contact  representative - the Minister for Cooperation.

As stated in the explanatory note to the document, Eurojust has a  wide range of jurisdiction in the fight against transnational crime,  therefore the Agreement will provide an opportunity to effectively  cooperate with the competent authorities of the EU member states in  criminal proceedings, and the representation of the RA Prosecutor's  Office in Eurojust will speed up the process of information exchange  and improve the quality of mutual support. According to the Deputy  Minister, the agreement has duly passed all the necessary domestic  procedures, and it also does not contradict the RA Constitution.

During the discussion of the project in the relevant committee,  opposition MP Armen Gevorgyan pointed out that the document does not  specify what is meant by the exchange of   information, to which the deputy minister only called on the  parliamentarian .  Eurojust is the EU's  single justice agency, whose main activity is coordinating  cooperation with EU member states in criminal matters, including  non-EU member states, partner states that are in the process of  European integration. The agreement, as a rule, provides for the  exchange of information between the relevant departments.