Mr. Artyom Mesropyan, Lawyer/Coordinator of the CSO Development Program of the Armenian Lawyers’ Association, delivered a speech at the hearings on the topic “Comprehensive and Extended Partnership Agreement between the EU and Armenia” in the Parliament today.
“I am pleased to welcome all of you on behalf of the CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia and the Armenian Lawyers’ Association and to be present at this important event. Parliamentary hearings on the implementation of the Comprehensive and Extended Partnership Agreement between the Republic of Armenia and the EU prove that the state authorities are committed to a constructive dialogue with all stakeholders, including civil society organizations, to implement the commitments they have undertaken under the agreement.
The conduct of such a dialogue stems from the requirements of the provisions of a number of articles of the Agreement. For example, in accordance with Article 86, which provides, “The Parties shall encourage the involvement of all relevant stakeholders, including civil-society organizations and in particular social partners, in the policy development and reforms of the Republic of Armenia and in the cooperation between the Parties under this Agreement.”
According to Article 103 (2) of the Agreement, The aims of such dialogue and cooperation are: in particular to enhance civil-society participation in the public decision-making process, in particular by establishing an open, transparent and regular dialogue between, on the one hand, public institutions and, on the other, representative associations and civil society;
By re-reading these important provisions of the Agreement, I would like to emphasize once again that the active involvement of civil society organizations in the implementation of the provisions of the Agreement has no other direct alternative and neither could it exist.
Regarding the development of constructive dialogue and active cooperation between state authorities and civil society structures, I must say with certainty that the example of the CSOs’ Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia may be one of the best.
Since its inception in 2014, the CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia has been one of the key actors in the anti-corruption sector in Armenia, initiating and participating in the implementation of a number of anti-corruption reforms in the RA, including criminalization of illicit enrichment, introduction of the whistleblowing system and the institutional anti-corruption system, including the creation of the legislative framework for the creation of Corruption Prevention Commission, the introduction of the Institute of Beneficial Owners in the process of public procurement, implementation of a number of anti-corruption reforms in business and other areas.
Considering that the Agreement has particularly emphasized the reforms in the field of justice, I would like to note that in 2018-19 the CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia and the Armenian Lawyers Association which is the Coalition’s Secretariat, have been actively involved in the development of a number of strategic documents and their public discussions. These are the Anti-Corruption Strategy 2019-2022, the Judicial and Legal Reform Strategy 2019-2023, the Police Reforms Strategy 2020-2022. The Report “Applicability of the Mechanisms of Transitional Justice in the Republic of Armenia in the Light of International Experience” has been elaborated. The Government-Civil Society International Expert Conference on “RA Anti-Corruption Strategy in Light of International Experience” has been organised and conducted in cooperation with the state, international and local key actors. Professional and outreach events were held in Yerevan and in the regions of Armenia. The Coalition submitted about 133 proposals during the development of an anti-corruption strategy, with nearly 80 percent of them incorporated into the strategy and action plan.
In conclusion, I would like to emphasize that in the context of the fight against corruption, Government-CSO-Citizen joint efforts should be combined in the fight against corruption to achieve a common goal.
Civil society in the face of the CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia has made an irreversible contribution to the development of anti-corruption mechanisms, is ready to play an important role in the implementation process, which will not exclude the undertaking of an important process of monitoring, and we will confidently share the responsibility for the results of our joint activities. This is the attractiveness of participatory processes,” Artyom Mesropyan said in his speech.
