On 18 August, the Competition Board for the selection of a candidate for the vacant position of a member of the Anti-Corruption Committee adopted the decision MG-O-08, by which it presented the names of the persons who had passed the interview stage of the candidate for a member of the ACC.

It should be noted that this decision is not legitimate, as there is a problem with the two members of the Board from the legal and integrity aspects.

Notably, the members of the Board were:

According to the order signed by the President of the National Assembly Ararat Mirzoyan on 19 February, 2021, the individual staff of the Competition Board for the election of a candidate for the position of a member of the CPC was approved.

These are:

1․ Liana Ghaltaghchyan – Deputy Chief of the Prime Minister Staff

2․ Heriknaz Tigranyan – Deputy Chairman of the Standing Committee on Health and Social Affairs of the National Assembly.

3․ Mikael Khachatryan, Head of the RA Ombudsman’s International Cooperation Department.

4․ Irina Piloyan – Financial Director of the RA Chamber of Advocates, lawyer.

It should be noted that according to the order, the 5th member nominated by the SJC was Narek Gabrielyan. By the RA President’s decree of 8 April, 2021, he was appointed a judge of the Civil Court of Appeal, due to which the relevant point of the order on being a member of the Board was declared invalid on 14 April. The vacancy of the SJC member has not been filled yet, in fact the Competition Council operates with a staff of 4 people.

We referred to this in more detail in the investigation “How and who have failed anti-corruption institutional system in Armenia”.

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Liana Ghaltaghchyan

One of the members who signed the decision, Liana Ghaltaghchyan, who is considered the representative of the government in the Competition Board , was  relieved of the post of Deputy Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister by the decision of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on 3 August.

Legal logic suggests that the above decision should have been followed by the government’s decision to dismiss Liana Ghaltaghchyan from the Competition Board and nominate a new member of the Board, which was not done. Liana Ghaltaghchyan’s continued de facto tenure as a government representative on Competition Board is legally vulnerable and illegitimate.

It has already been mentioned that two members of the Board, Liana Ghaltaghchyan and Heriknaz Tigranyan, are members of the Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center, and before receiving state positions, they worked in that center as well.

On 6 June, 2021, the National Assembly discussed the candidacy of Tatevik Barseghyan, who was nominated for the vacant position of a member of the CPC by the decision of the Competition Board.

It is clear from the biography that the latter worked at the Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center (TIAC) ​​in 2012-2019, and currently is a member of TIAC.

It follows that there is also a problem of integrity, as Liana Ghaltaghchyan, as a member of the Competition Board, has tried to see an alley as a member of the CPC, which includes an obvious conflict of interest. Liana Ghaltaghchyan cannot be a member of the Competition Board both from the legal and integrity aspect.

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Herknaz Tigranyan

As for another member of the Competition Board, Heriknaz Tigranyan, it should be noted that we had previously  investigated that the appointment of Heriknaz Tigranyan as a member of the Competition Board for the election of candidates for the chairman of the Anti-Corruption Committee is illegal , as according to point 3 of Article 18 of the Law on the Anti-Corruption Committee, a person with party affiliation cannot be appointed a member of the Board, and Tigranyan is a member of the “Civil Contract” Party.

Earlier, a special sitting of the NA Council chaired by the NA President of the 7th convocation Ararat Mirzoyan was held on 6 July, Iravaban.net published the decision approved during it.

The Council decided to invalidate the decision of the Council of the National Assembly of June 29, 2021 “On appointing a member of the Competition Council to be formed for the election of candidates for the chairman of the Anti-Corruption Committee” ACKHO-041-A. 10 members of the National Assembly Council voted for the voting (the NA Council consists of 17 members).

It should be emphasized that the NA Council made a legal mistake here as well, as the decision should not have been repealed in accordance with Article 37 Part 1 of the Law on Normative Legal Acts, but it should have been declared invalid under Article 38 Part 1 of the same law, according to which:

A normative legal act is declared invalid by an act of a legislative body, its legal successor or a body endowed with relevant authorities, if the sub-legislative normative legal act has been adopted or enacted in contradiction with a normative legal act of higher legal force. Thus, it can be concluded that Heriknaz Tigranyan is a law-breaker because she has violated a provision of the law.

As already reported, on 6 June, 2021, the National Assembly discussed the candidacy of Tatevik Barseghyan, who was nominated for the vacant position of a member of the CPC by the decision of the Competition Board.

It is clear from the biography that the latter worked at the Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center (TIAC) ​​in 2012-2019, and currently is a member of TIAC.

Thus there is also a problem of integrity, as Heriknaz Tigranyan, as a member of the Competition Board, has tried to see an alley as a member of the CPC, which includes an obvious conflict of interest.

Taking into account that Heriknaz Tigranyan has violated the law, she cannot be a member of the Competition Board, both from the legal and integrity aspect.

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According to Article 10.1 of the Corruption Prevention Law, the meeting of the Board is valid in case of participation of the majority of the total number of members of the Board. If the Board currently has 4 members, two of whom cannot be members of the Competition Board from a legal point of view, it follows that the decisions taken by the mentioned staff can no longer be legitimate.

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Մարիամ Գալստյան

It should be added that Mariam Galstyan, Head of the Anti-Corruption Policy Development and Monitoring Department of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia, was appointed by the Government as a candidate for a member of the Competition Board formed for the election of candidates for the post of Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Committee (14 June decision of the Government). At the first sitting, on 20 July, she was elected Secretary of the Council.