ArmInfo.The Republican Party   of Armenia refutes the rumors circulating in the media that it,  allegedly, has already decided to participate in the December  parliamentary elections, and even made its proportional list.

ArmInfo. Statements made in recent days by officials on a number of sensational cases under investigation, and judicial verticals are often radical. This is stated in the statement of the member of the supreme body of the Republican Party of Armenia, former Minister of Justice David Harutyunyan.

ArmInfo. The member of the Republican Party of Armenia, ex-Minister of Justice David Harutyunyan is extremely concerned about the fact of the criminal prosecution of the second president Robert Kocharyan. In addition, the ex-minister thinks, the petition for the arrest of the ex- president of Armenia is devoid of legal language. He said this on July 27 in an interview with reporters.

ArmInfo. Head of the Compulsory Enforcement Service of Judicial Acts, the Ministry of Justice of Armenia Armen Harutyunyan was dismissed from his post.

ArmInfo.The Armenian government approved the draft amendments to the Criminal Code and a package of related laws on March 29 that regulate issues related to  the early release of prisoners or the easing of sentences.

ArmInfo. The meetings of the Armenian government will be closed. The corresponding draft law "On the structure and activities of the government" and amendments to the  package of related laws were adopted at the meeting of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia on March 7 in the first reading.  According to Justice Minister David Harutyunyan, the new government of Armenia, which will be formed in April this year, will consist of a prime minister, first deputy prime minister, two vice-premiers and  17 ministers against 18 at present. 

ArmInfo.The "Center for Penitentiary Medicine" SNCO will be established in Armenia. The corresponding draft decision was approved at a government meeting on March 1.

ArmInfo.The Armenian Appeal Court upheld the verdict of the court of general jurisdiction regarding the ex-Defense Minister of Artsakh Samvel Babayan and his  supporters accused of attempting to smuggle Igla from the Georgian Republic into the Republic of Armenia.

ArmInfo. The independence of the judicial system of Armenia will increase. The draft of the new Judicial Code of RA was adopted at the meeting of the Armenian parliament on February 7 in the second and final reading. According to Justice Minister David Harutyunyan, the new Judicial Code is aimed at ensuring external and internal independence of judicial system. Within the framework of the bill, it is envisaged to create a Supreme Judicial Council, which will replace the Council of Justice. The structure of the new structure will include not only judges, but also persons outside the judiciary. It is planned that some of the members of the new council will be represented by the judges themselves, and the other part by the parliament of the country. On both sides of the Council there will be 5 members, and the parliament will approve them, by a majority of 3/5 of the votes. Scientists - lawyers, members of the Supreme Judicial Council should not be in the public service, but the law does not prohibit them from being elected if they have held any position in state or local government bodies for the past 5 years. The Council will become the main body that will assume all the main functions to ensure the independence of the judiciary. The document establishes the rules of conduct of the judge, in particular, the possibility of exerting pressure on him, which he is obliged to inform the Supreme Judicial Council. The latter, in turn, must take immediate action to bring the person who attempted to exert pressure to justice. If the petition of the Supreme Judicial Council is left unanswered, the council undertakes to make a statement with a view to informing the public about each particular case. Another provision that regulates external independence concerns the protection of a judge from various criminal acts. The bill restricts the possibility of bringing a judge to criminal liability. The bill provides for the possibility of electing judges for certain periods. - 6 years for judges of the Court of Cassation and 3 years - for the judges of primary jurisdiction. After the expiration of this period, the judge can not be re-elected. One of the most important directions for ensuring internal independence is the independence of judges from the chairmen of courts, and therefore the powers of chairmen of courts are substantially limited. If earlier the chairman of the Court of Cassation was perceived as a representative of the state authority, now he will represent only the Court of Cassation in relations with other bodies. The project envisages the application of a number of new regulations aimed at improving the efficiency of the judicial system. For the first time, the document presents such concepts as "consideration of the case" and "reasonable time". It is proposed to highlight the specialization of judges in pre-trial proceedings, since currently the criminal cases at the pre-trial stage are considered by judges not only in criminal cases, but also in civil cases, which is explained by the lack of judges and the busyness of the courts. According to the draft, in the case of lawyers and prosecutors, a fine of up to 100 thousand drams may also be imposed as a sanction. Under the current code, lawyers and prosecutors can be warned by the court, they can be removed from the courtroom, or the court can ask the prosecutor general and the Chamber of Advocates to bring them to justice. Also, sanctions can be applied against judges who committed more than two gross violations of the current legislation. It should be noted that the draft of the Judicial Code was examined by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, and then was submitted to the parliament. Prior to that, additional discussions were held on it. In accordance with the reformed Basic Law of the country, the Judicial Code is a constitutional law, and at least 3/5 of the votes of deputies must be adopted. The document will come into force from the moment the new president of Armenia assumes the post.

ArmInfo. The Armenian government approved amendments to the law "On the structure of the government" at the meeting on February 1, which will be sent to the National Assembly of Armenia in the established order.

ArmInfo. An extra meeting of the National Assembly of Armenia will be held in Armenia. The correspondent suggestion to the Speaker of the Armenian Parliament was approved at a government meeting on February 1. According to the RA Justice Minister David Harutyunyan, the Government suggests holding an extraordinary meeting immediately after the completion of the next "four-day", which starts on February 6. The Minister stressed that the NA agenda contains numerous bills, the adoption of which will allow a smooth transition from April of this year to a parliamentary form of government. In this context, some unloading of the agenda at this stage will make it possible to avoid excessive congestion in Feb-March of this year. The government of the republic proposes to include 10 issues in the agenda of the extraordinary session of the RA National Assembly.

ArmInfo. "If the son of any of the officials is a successful businessman, we should not make far-reaching conclusions from this," Justice Minister David Harutyunyan told journalists on November 30 after meeting referring to corruption in the highest echelons of power.

ArmInfo.Artsakh ex Defense Minister Samvel Babayan according to the decision of the administrative court of Armenia was sentenced to six years of  imprisonment for an illegal import attempt of  Igla into the RA.

ArmInfo.

ArmInfo. Students of the Academy of Justice of Armenia will get reduced scholarships. Corresponding amendments to the laws "On the Investigation Committee" and "On the Academy of Justice" were approved at a government meeting on November 2. The package will be sent to the parliament of the country in the established order.

ArmInfo. The situation during discussion of the project "On the Prevention of Domestic Violence" came out of control: representatives of a number of public organizations in the literal sense attacked Justice Minister David Harutyunyan and the Ombudsman Armand Tatoyan.

ArmInfo. Justice Minister David Harutyunyan does not agree that domestic violence against women and children is an element of Armenian identity. With this in mind, he  said, protection from violence in the Armenian family is an urgent necessity. The Minister of Justice David Harutyunyan stated this in an interview with journalists on October 5 after the meeting of the Government, commenting on the bill on preventing domestic violence and protecting its victims.

ArmInfo. Justice Minister David Harutyunyan today presented seven steps developed by the Ministry on the way to eradicating corruption in Armenia at a press conference.

ArmInfo.

ArmInfo. In the Investigation Department of the National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia, a preliminary investigation was completed with respect to 7  defendants in the criminal case under investigation on the facts of  money laundering, as well as illegal acquisition, storage and  transportation of ammunition. This was reported by the press center  of the National Security Service of Armenia.