Today, on 19 January, the National Assembly adopted in the first reading the legislative package on the establishment of Anti-Corruption Court and the Anti-Corruption Court of Appeal.

The draft was adopted by 85 for, 18 against, and 3 abstentions.

According to the draft, the cases reserved for the jurisdiction of anti-corruption courts under the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia, as well as civil cases initiated through civil litigation to protect the property and non-property interests of the state and lawsuits for confiscation of property on the basis of the Law on Confiscation of Property of Illegal Origin ((hereinafter, also civil cases initiated with claims of protection of state interests.) are subject to the anti-corruption court.

The Anti-Corruption Court will have at least 25 judges, at least 20 of whom must be specialized in the investigation of corruption crimes, and at least 5 judges specializing in civil cases initiated in defense of state interests; the Anti-Corruption Court of Appeal with at least 10 judges.

The Anti-Corruption Court of Appeal will function with at least 6 judges specializing in the investigation of corruption crimes, and at least 4 judges specializing in civil cases initiated in defense of state interests.

The drafts define the procedure for filling the list of candidates for judges of the anti-corruption specialization department of the Anti-Corruption Court and the procedure for filling the anti-corruption specialization department of the list of candidates for promotion of judges of the Anti-Corruption Court of Appeal. It is noteworthy that it is proposed to fill the first staff of judges of the Anti-Corruption Court and the Anti-Corruption Court of Appeal with the same procedure, with the difference that the candidates for judges to be promoted to the Court of Appeal require more professional experience.

There are also stricter restrictions on the appointment of a judge of the anti-corruption court and the anti-corruption court of appeal. In particular, restrictions are provided for a judge, former judge, prosecutor, former prosecutor, investigator, former investigator, detective, former detective, lawyer, or former attorney if the latter has received one of the disciplinary penalties specified in the draft within the last five years.

Details here.