On August 1, the discussion of the Draft Anti-Corruption Strategy of the Republic of Armenia and its Implementation Action Plan for 2019-2022 with participation civil society organisations was held in Yerevan.

The discussion was organised by the Armenian Lawyers’ Association, CSOs Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia and the Committee on State and Legal Affairs of the Public Council and the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia within the framework of EU funded “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” (CCD) project.

This meeting will summarize a series of discussions with specialized civil society organisations, groups, and local authorities. Mr. Karen Zadoyan, Coordinator of Secretariat of the CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition, “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” Project Manager, mentioned in his opening remarks.

“We, as a coalition of civil society organisations, have proposed an Armenian model of combating corruption because we find that the international experience is very good to learn lessons so that we do not duplicate the failed examples and localize the successful ones. In the first circle, it consists of a body we call the multi-functional body, which include the three components of fighting corruption: anti-corruption education, corruption prevention and the inevitability of punishment. In the second circle is the specialized body of the prosecutor’s office. The third circle is the judicial system. We believe there should be specialised courts, because currently there is mistrust in the judiciary,” Karen Zadoyan said, presenting the key components of the strategy.

Mr. Rustam Badasyan, the RA Minister of Justice welcomed the discussion, thanking those civil society organisations that organised joint discussions with the Ministry. “This is not going to be a robust document and is subject to constant change, so if we see that we have not planned something in a few months or failed to give a full financial assessment, we can revise it and change it, of course, not including conceptual issues,” the Minister noted that this strategy would be different from the previous ones.

“The Public Council has been with anti-corruption civil society organisations and experts since its inception and is now ready to provide its platform for such discussions, development and reviewing drafts, and recommendations,” Mr. Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, a member of the Public Council said.

Ms. Srbuhi Galyan, the Deputy Minister of Justice, presented the Drafts of the Anti-Corruption Strategy and its Implementation Action Plan for 2019-2022   to the attention of the.

Notably, similar discussions have already been organised in Gyumri, Gavar, Vanadzor and Armavir.