Objective 17 of the Action Plan stemming from the Judicial and Legal Reform Strategy 2019-2023 is to increase the efficiency of the advocacy system.
Iravaban.net talked about the topic with Ara Zohrabyan, former Chairman of the Chamber of Advocates, Director of the RA School of Advocates.
It should be noted that one of the strategic directions of the Judicial and Legal Reform Strategy is the expansion of the circle of beneficiaries of free legal aid, the development of alternative structures for providing free legal aid. Answering the question, what changes have been made in this area and what will change if more legal aid is provided free of charge, Ara Zohrabyan said, “First of all, I would like to mention that taking into account the socio-economic conditions of the Republic of Armenia, I certainly consider positive the expansion of the circle of beneficiaries receiving free legal aid. However, this process should be of a bilateral nature and the number of public defenders should be proportionally increased in parallel with the expansion of the circle of beneficiaries receiving free assistance. In my opinion, the number of public defenders is very disproportionate to the number of cases and the public defenders work overloaded.
It is necessary to introduce material incentive mechanisms in the Public Defender’s Office in order to encourage diligence.”
As for the development of free assistance systems, the specialist reports that the RA School of Advocates, together with the Chamber of Advocates, organizes free legal advice for citizens every Thursday, which also includes the preparation of written documents.
The strategy also envisages increasing the efficiency of the activities of public defenders. In conversations with Iravaban.net , for years, the employees of the Public Defender’s Office have stated that the workload is high, the salary is not high.
“The addressee of the issue of salary increase is the State. Yes, there is a different approach. The salary of the Public Defender is equalized to the salary of the Prosecutor of the Yerevan City Prosecutor’s Office, but the Public Defender does not receive the same prosecutor’s bonuses, which also depend on the length of service. The Public Defender also does not have the social guarantees of a prosecutor. Then, and as far as I know, the Management of the Chamber of Advocates is trying to improve the situation of public defenders, but it is not possible without the help of the State. As for increasing the work efficiency of public defenders, a system for assessing the diligence of public defenders has been introduced, which gives points to public defenders based on the number of cases, results and other criteria. Public defenders who show more diligence than others are exempted from the competition,” he said.
Referring to the point of the strategy, according to which the development of the activities of the School of Advocates is also envisaged, the Director of the School detailed, “Thanks to the former Director Simon Babayan, the School of Advocates is a long-established structure. The School of Advocates has been reformed from year to year. Admission standards and educational processes have become more stringent. In recent years, a number of capacities of the RA School of Advocates have developed. For example, the courses “Argument and Rhetoric” as well as “Psychological analysis of participants in the simulation trial” are additionally taught. The research material of the course is the behavior of the listener during the simulation trial: speech, posture, intonation, interaction with the judge, as well as with the opposite party.
We are currently exploring, in particular, the possibility of applying a code of conduct for admission to a law school; we review the curricula, we consider the issues of improving the organization of education and training related to the existence of the epidemic. I will talk about details and development plans in the future.”
Judicial and Legal Reform Strategy envisages improvement of the rules of the advocate’s conduct and integrity. According to Ara Zohrabyan, the Advocate’s code of conduct is a “living document”, which, of course, must be changed in accordance with the requirements of the time.
“The Chamber of Advocates of the Republic of Armenia in 2019 has already made changes in the Code of Conduct of Advocates, more in line with the requirements of that time. As we know, the gaps in the legal act appear during the practical application, so it is too early to record what gaps the legal act that has been used for about a year may have,” he said.
The structure of the Chamber of Advocates is also regularly mentioned. The Judicial and Legal Reform Strategy envisages the development of the internal structures of the Chamber of Advocates, and in this context, the Ministry of Justice has submitted for public discussion the Draft Law “On Making Amendments and Addenda to the Law on Advocacy”, which will prohibit the party membership for the Chairman of the Chamber of Advocates and the Director of the School of Advocates.
The Director of the School of Advocates is not in favor of this change.
“This approach would counter to the requirements of Article 46 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, as the Constitution clearly states for whom political activity may be restricted. This applies to judges, prosecutors, and investigators, servicemen in the armed forces, national security, police and other militarized bodies.
At the same time, I am not involved in politics at the School of Advocates. This is an educational complex, where students with or without different political views study. There are also civil servants and active supporters of the government among our listeners, and this cannot affect the educational process in any way. Moreover, the educational and examination processes are regulated in such a way that the director cannot show a subjective attitude.
According to my information, the Ministry of Justice and the representatives of the Chamber of Advocates are holding constructive discussions on the draft law,” Ara Zohrabyan said.
