European Commission to provide Armenia with 30 million euros for  implementation of  reform program in country`s judicial system

ArmInfo.. The European Commission will provide Armenia with 30 million euros for the  implementation of the reform program in the country's judicial  system. At the meeting on September 24, the RA government approved  for signing a draft agreement with the EC.

As Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan noted in his speech, out of  the amount of 30 million euros, 3 million euros will be allocated for  technical assistance (mainly consulting services), and the remaining  27 million euros will be allocated to the state budget in three equal  parts. The program aims to support the implementation of justice  reforms in line with the commitments made by Armenia under the  Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement. The overall goal of  the program is to ensure the rule of law and effectively combat  corruption in the justice sector. The specific goals are to  strengthen independence, morality, accountability in the justice  system, improve the quality of services and improve their efficiency,  and strengthen the judicial system's response to corruption. The  program is based on the 2019-2023 Judicial and Legal Reform Strategy.  Priorities will include combating corruption, independence of judges,  impartiality and accountability of the judiciary. The program  reflects the priorities of the RA anti-corruption strategy, one of  which is the creation of specialized anti-corruption courts and  relevant prosecutorial and investigative bodies.

RA Minister of Justice Rustam Badasyan stressed that the program  should be implemented by the end of 2023. The republic will receive 9  million euros in separate tranches annually. The first 9 million  euros are expected to be received in 2020. They will be divided into  three components.

The first component involves checking the image of judges, taking  into account their property status.  Currently, the Commission for  the Prevention of Corruption is carrying out this work with regard to  the judges of the Supreme Judicial Council and the Constitutional  Court. This work should rid the judicial system of manifestations of  corruption. 

The second component is related to improving the quality of services  in the judicial system, which provides for the introduction of an  electronic mechanism, alternative mechanisms for the consideration of  court cases, arbitration proceedings. As a result of the application  of these mechanisms, by the end of 2023, the burden on the judicial  system will decrease by 40%, which, in turn, means a 40% reduction in  the time for consideration of court cases. Currently, many processes  in the courts of Yerevan have already been digitized, and work is  underway to introduce electronic mechanisms related to bankruptcy.

And finally, the third component concerns the anti-corruption  institutional system. It is planned, in particular, to create  anti-corruption courts and investigation bodies for corruption cases.   In turn, RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stressed that in the issue  of democratic reforms, the European Union is Armenia's main partner.  This partnership naturally moves forward.