A new Code of Criminal Procedure of Armenia will help significantly unload the country's penitentiaries, Justice Minister Hrayr Tovmasyan told media after discussions on the new draft code developed by the working group of the Justice Ministry with participation of representatives of the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ).
The minister explained that the penitentiaries are overloaded as the country's lacks alternative measures of restraint, for instance, house arrest or administrative supervision. The new Code will introduce these measures of restraint as an alternative to arrest, the minister said. He hopes the penitentiaries will be significantly unloaded and arrest as a measure of restraint will be chosen at the very outside. "This is the most important component of the suggested amendments, I think," the minister said.
In addition, the minister said, the new Code stipulates that a defendant's confession cannot serve as a ground for charges unless it is confirmed by proves.
"The third important component of the new Code is a significant increase in the role of the courts. From now on, it is the court that must classify violation at law," the minister said.