On 18 June, an announcement was posted on the official website of the Judiciary of the Republic of Armenia announcing a competition for candidates for a non-judge member of the Ethics and Disciplinary Commission of the General Assembly of Judges.
On 30 June, according to the official announcement, it became clear that the data of 3 candidates were submitted to be included in the commission.
- David Hakobyan – by Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center (Executive Director Sona Ayvazyan),
- Syuzanna Soghomonyan – by “Armenian Lawyers’ Association” NGO (President Karen Zadoyan) ,
- Hasmik Harutyunyan – by “Protection of Rights without Borders” NGO (President Araks Melkonyan).
Later, on 6 July, in addition to the 30 June announcement an information was published, which informed about another 4th candidate, Arthur Harutyunyan, who was nominated by the “Informed Citizens’ Union” Consulting NGO (Executive Director: A. Musheghyan, however the program coordinator of the organization (Daniel Ioannisyan ) is better known to the public).
On 20 July, an announcement was made that the applications of three of the NGOs which nominated candidates to the non-judge members of the Ethics and Disciplinary Commission of the General Assembly of Judges had been approved by the Competition Committee. The application of the “Protection of Rights without Borders” NGO was rejected.
In order to organize and hold the competition, by the order No. 525-A of 12.06.2020 of the head of the Judicial Department, a tender commission in the following composition was formed:
- Narek Gabrielyan – First Deputy Head of the Judicial Department (Chairman of the Tender Commission),
- Armen Harutyunyan – Acting Head of the Legal Acts Development and Expertise Department of the Judicial Department (member of the Tender Commission),
- Khachik Ghazaryan – Head of the Department for Ensuring the Activities of the General Assembly of Judges and the Courts’ Staff (Member of the Tender Commission).
Updated:
Later turned out that the “Protection of Rights without Borders” NGO, represented by President Araks Melkonyan, filed a lawsuit in the Administrative Court on 23 July against the Competition Committee for the selection of non-judge members of the Ethics and Disciplinary Commission of the General Assembly of Judges with requirement to make a decision on submitting to the General Assembly of Judges, the organization’s member Hasmik Harutyunyan’s candidacy as a non-judge member of the commission.
The case was signed to Ruzanna Azroyan Judge of the Administrative Court. A trial was scheduled for 24 July, and on 27 July, the plaintiff’s request was temporarily granted. That is, Hasmik Harutyunyan will participate in the competition.
Iravaban.net introduces to your attention the activities of the 3 non-governmental organizations that have nominated candidates in the commission and what funding they have..
The “Armenian Lawyers’ Association” NGO was established in 1995 by a group of students and young lawyers of YSU Faculty of Law. We learn from the official website of the NGO that the goal of the organization’s activities and objectives are:
- Supporting the development of human rights protection and democracy institutions, introduction and strengthening of good governance mechanisms, introduction and development of efficient policies and mechanisms aimed at the elimination of corruption, contributing to the development of a system of governance corresponding to the principles of integrity, i.e., transparency, accountability and professionalism;
- Contribute to raising the level of citizens’ legal awareness, legal culture and perception through the promotion of laws and legal knowledge among citizens.
- Promote public participation in the development of public policies and decision-making at the national and local levels; allocation of public resource and public oversight processes; implement public oversight programs in the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of government, including in the areas of public budgets, public policies, public service delivery, and public procurement.
- Contribute to the implementation of the reform process and to submit proposals on the reforms, to carry out their advocacy and lobbying through mobilizing the community, conduct research in the aforementioned fields and etc.
The organization has been funded by the European Union for the last two years within the framework of the “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” project, which was implemented in partnership with 5 other organizations for a period of 34 months, which ended on 15 October, 2019. The budget of the program was 2,222,256 euros, of which 1․993․260 euros were spent, the rest of the sum was not transferred.
In 2020, the Armenian Lawyers’ Association operates mainly on its own resources, receiving a grant of SEK 400,000 from the Swedish government for a seven-month project to implement the “Youth4Anti-Corruption” project.
“Transparency International” NGO; the organization’s Website reports that the goals of the organization are:
- to support effective anti-corruption policy and transparent and accountable governance;
- to support holding of free, fair and transparent elections and the establishment of electoral institute;
- to promote reasonable, transparent and accountable public resource management, including the management of state and community property and financial resources;
- to foster democratic processes, including protection of human rights and public participation in the governance processes of the country.
The following donors are mentioned in the webpage of the organization:
Examining the grants section of the Open Society Foundations – Armenia website, which leads the list of donors, it becomes clear that on 25 December, 2019, the company provided $ 230,000, and in 2018, $ 26,000 and $ 155,000.
According to the official website of the “Union of Informed Citizens” Consulting NGO, the mission of the organization is:
- to raise public awareness in spheres of state and public significance. We consider this an essential and integral component of any democratic society..
- We are taking measures to increase the capacity of the media field in Armenia. Moreover, we ourselves are implementing media activities through the FIP.am fact-checking website, which combats misinformation and etc.
It is clear from the 2018 report that the organization received funding from the Open Society Foundations – Armenia and the National Endowment for Democracy.
It is clear from the grants section of the “Open Society Foundations – Armenia” website that in 2018, 3 transfers were made to the organization in the amount of $ 67,500, $ 91,000, and AMD 39,021,600.
In the 2019 report, the same companies again are the lead donors.
Below we present the general picture. You can get acquainted with the biographies of the candidates by clicking on their photo.
On 22 July, information on the non-governmental organizations, judges as well as information and CVs of the candidates nominated by them and the self-nominated candidates to the to the Performance Evaluation Commission of Judges and the Training Commission of the General Assembly of Judges were published.
2. Candidates for non-judge members of the Performance Evaluation Commission of Judges
- Ashkhen Gharslyan – candidate nominated by Yervand Khundkaryan, President of the Court of Cassation and Lilit Tadevosyan, President of the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation;
- Arsen Tavadyan – candidate nominated by “Armenian Lawyers’ Association” NGO (President Karen Zadoyan)
- Anahit Manasyan – candidate nominated by “Union of Informed Citizens” Consulting NGO (Executive Director: Ashkhen Musheghyan).
3. Candidates for non-judge members of the Training Commission
- Gabriel Petrosyan – candidate nominated by Judge Narine Hovakimyan of the Criminal Court of Appeal,
- Hasmik Harutyunyan – candidate nominated by “Protection of Rights without Borders” NGO (President Araks Melkonyan),
- Artashes Khalatyan – candidate nominated by “Armenian Lawyers’ Association” NGO (President Karen Zadoyan),
- Ashkhen Gharslyan – self-nominated candidate.
