Starting 1 July the Illegal enrichment is considered a criminal offense. Until now, there was no article on criminalization of the illicit enrichment in the RA Criminal Code.
“Since July 1, our law enforcement agencies are supplemented by a new instrument, the article that criminalizes the illicit enrichment. When considering corruption cases, our law enforcement officers may file cases using this article as well,” Mr. Suren Krmoyan, Deputy Minister of Justice of the RA said.
The Special Investigation Service shall examine the crimes related to the illicit enrichment, provides the RA Criminal Procedure Code.
This institute was implemented through the efforts of the Armenian Lawyers’ Association, within the framework of the European Union funded
“Multi Faceted Anti-Corruption Promotion” Project. ” This is a very important reform for us, we attach importance to the fact that it does not stay on the paper, in this case we have one opportunity – to carry out public monitoring. From July 1, we will consider the implementation of this reform, and periodically make reports and introduce it both to the public, to the government, and to the international bodies. That is, the implementing bodies will be under the professional control of public eye,” Mr. Karen Zadoyan President of the Armenian Lawyers’ Association says.
The criminalization of illicit enrichment does not mean that the prisons of Armenia will be filled with people who have accumulated wealth this way, there is still much work to be done. “Other tools to implement the reform, unfortunately, have not been introduced since July 1. I mean the institute for the protection of whistleblowers” rights, the platform as well as the Preventive Anti-Corruption Commission, which shall come into force in 2018,” Mr. Zadoyan said.
In addition to the law enforcement bodies, the Commission on Ethics of High-Ranking Officials of Armenia should also play the role in revealing illicit enrichment. The Commission is obliged by law to pass the suspicious information contained in the official declarations to the prosecutor’s office. Mr. Suren Krmoyan, Deputy Minister of Justice of the RA says, “They will work in case of enquiries, as well as will elaborate analytical tools, evaluate risks, and If they disclose risk of illicit enrichment they are obliged to pass these to the law enforcement agencies.”
According to Karen Zadoyan, in the past, the discussions on the existence of this institute’s were ending with disappointing observations saying that it is impossible to introduce it in our country, but just the opposite was proved, “By this we have proved that nothing is impossible. There should be consistency, will and united potential of the public and the authorities. In this case any reform can not only become a reality in the form of a law or a legal act, but also with the accomplishment and consequent outcomes that will be visible to the public,” Mr. Zadoyan emphasized.
