Minister of Justice: Introduction of transitional justice in Armenia  will not contradict Constitution

ArmInfo. Transitional justice in Armenia will not contradict the Constitution of the country, Minister of Justice of Armenia Artak Zeynalyan stated this at a press  conference summing up the results of 100 days of work.

The Minister noted that the Armenian government will make every  effort so that this sector makes jealous and becomes the best, like  the "velvet revolution" in the country. "In the issue of transitional  justice, we will use the experience of other countries in order not  to repeat their mistakes, and we will also study the experience of  neighboring Georgia, which has already passed this stage," the  Minister said.

"I assure you, we do not intend to establish extraordinary courts,  moreover, I want to note that the transitional justice will in no way  contradict the Constitution of the country, the conventions and  international obligations of Armenia." Everything will be exclusively  within the framework of the law.  "Courts will not be dissolved,  there will be no court that will control the other courts, the  Constitution will not be violated by one iota, "the minister said.

Zeynalyan stressed that transitional justice will be aimed  exclusively at restoring human rights.  To note, the former Minister  of Justice of Armenia "Republican" David Harutyunyan issued a  statement in which he stated that according to the Judicial Code,  state and local government bodies, as well as officials, are obliged  to refrain from actions that may pose a threat to the independence of  courts or judges.  To recall, on August 17, Armenian Prime Minister  Nikol Pashinyan spoke at a rally dedicated to the 100 days of the new  Armenian government, demanding establishment of transitional justice  bodies in the country. In this regard, he noted that today there is  growing opinion that a significant part of the judiciary serviced the  corrupt system and was its component. "In this sense, the mistrust of  the judicial system remains very deep, which is certainly a very  delicate topic, and we should not be tempted to interfere in the  affairs of the judicial system in any case, but I want to say that  from the first day I became prime minister, I had stated that I will  refrain from a malpractice of giving instructions to judicial  authorities and I did so.  But on the other hand, I want to emphasize  that this does not mean that some judges should continue to receive  instructions from representatives of the previous corrupt  authorities. I want to warn both former corrupted authorities and  those judges who receive bribes from them-come to your senses and do  not dare to joke with people, "- said Pashinyan.  According to him,  the  bodies of transitional justice may be needed because there are  many problems in the legislation of Armenia. He explained that the  law "On illegal enrichment" came into force on July 1, 2017, and  formally the process of returning the loot before this date can be  problematic.