The Armenian National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum has issued a statement on the support of the Platform for the implementation of judicial reforms in the fight against corruption in the Republic of Armenia, which reads:

The Armenian National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum:

– HAVING REGARD to the importance of consistent, participatory and transparent implementation of sectoral and institutional reform in Armenia;

– CONSIDERING it apparent that the fight of the new authorities against corruption and illegality driven by the public demand has encountered resistance by the successors of the previous criminal and oligarchic regime;

– ASSESSING the decision of the Constitutional Court on resuming on July 7, 2020 the examination of the suspended case on the basis of the application of Robert Kocharyan as an explicit act towards serving the collective interests of concrete political circles;

– HAVING REGARD to the threat to democracy and security, as well as to restoration of justice in the Republic of Armenia posed by the actions of the representatives of the previous regime;

– CONCERNED about the present trends within the judiciary towards obstructing the administration of justice:

HEREBY:

– WELCOMES the fight of the Armenian authorities against corruption and calls on them to employ the whole potential of the Armenian public to enhance the effectiveness of this fight;

– SUPPORTS the RA executive and legislative bodies in their determination to resolve the crisis of the Constitutional Court via constitutional amendments;

– WELCOMES the support of the European Union and the Council of Europe, as well as the heads of their member states in the process of ongoing reform in Armenia;

– CALLS ON  the Armenian authorities to take all necessary steps to ensure active and full participation of the Armenian public in the ongoing and forthcoming reform processes, in particular by creating institutional frameworks for the involvement of civil society in these processes;

– APPEALS to the Armenian authorities to be decisive and consistent in tհe implementation of their reform agenda;

– CALLS ON the Armenian authorities to give a legal and political assessment of the continuous seizure of state power by the previous criminal and oligarchic regime;

– URGES the Armenian authorities to implement full and profound vetting of the judiciary and to start this process without a delay;

– APPEALS to all the democratic forces in Armenia to leave aside any disagreement with one another and with the Armenian authorities and to unite efforts towards the implementation of democratic reforms in the country;

– CALLS ON the factions in the European Parliament to avoid any political assessment of the legal processes taking place in Armenia.

Note: The Armenian National Platform of the EU Eastern Partnership (EaP) Civil Society Forum (CSF) is a voluntary association of more than 230 Armenian civil society organizations, whose members make utmost efforts for the realization of the CSF mission in Armenia as well as in the entire EaP region. The ANP is consistent in implementing EaP projects, harmonizing the solutions of the country’s domestic problems with the EU standards, ensuring participation and awareness of all segments of general public and carrying out democratic reforms consistently.