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 Gevorg Mkrtchyan, the Head of the Public Defender’s Office.

–Mr. Mkrtchyan, one of the strategic directions is the expansion of the circle of beneficiaries of free legal aid, the development of alternative structures for providing free legal aid. What changes have been made in this area and what will change if more people will receive free legal aid?

– Of course, the free service of a larger circle of citizens can be considered a positive change for the society, but the initiator of such a change must also evaluate its consequences.

Obviously, this will lead to a significant increase in the number of applicants for the Public Defender’s Office, which will naturally put an additional burden on.

Therefore, if these volumes are served in the same number, in addition to not providing quality professional assistance to a wider range of citizens, it may also have a negative impact on the quality of ongoing work.

In this context, referring to the expansion of the list of free legal aid providers envisaged by the draft law, I consider it necessary to note that the inclusion of individual lawyers in such a list cannot be a change in the actual volume of services provided, because:

– Many advocates have provided free legal aid before such regulation, and its availability may not lead to an increase in the amount of free legal aid provided.

– Not underestimating the work done by the legal clinics within the universities, but I cannot at least not be concerned about the integrity, timeliness and quality of the service provided, as the Public Defender’s Office cannot ensure control over it because there is no such possibility provided by law. In addition legal clinics are not in employment relations with the RA Chamber of Advocates (or the Public Defender’s Office), and at the same time the students of the latter, not being lawyers, are in no way constrained by the Code of Conduct for Advocates.

– It is also planned to increase the efficiency of the activities of public defenders. In conversations with us for years, the employees of the Public Defender’s Office have stated that the workload is high, the salary is not high. What steps do you think have been taken in this direction?

– I cannot agree with the statement that the draft law will increase the efficiency of the activities of public defenders. Moreover, as I mentioned above, the additional workload will make it even more difficult for citizens to have timely and proper service.

The issue of public defenders’ salaries has not been resolved for years, although the number of cases is growing every year by an unprecedented number. This is due to the increase in the categories of beneficiaries and the effective work of the Public Defender’s Office, but the amount of salary does not change.

The amount of the Public Defender’s salary is regulated by law, it is defined in the amount equal to the official rate established by law for the Senior Prosecutor of the Yerevan City Prosecutor’s Office.

However, as we know, prosecutors receive bonuses and also receive additional state benefits, which are not provided to the Public Defender.

– As the Head of the Public Defender’s Office, what changes do you see needed in this sphere?

– In order to increase the efficiency of the work of the Public Defender’s Office and to serve the proposed volumes more effectively, I think that first it is necessary to increase the number of Public Defenders and the established salary, as the terms offered to highly qualified and having extensive professional experience lawyers are no longer attractive. Whereas the existence of the latter is in the interests of our society.

– According to the strategy, the development of activity of the school of advocates is also envisaged. You also attended the school. What visible changes have taken place in the last two years or what would you change?

– I have not gone through School of Advocates myself, but I was professionally jealous of the advocates who had the opportunity to go through that forge, as the latter were also given practical skills. Whereas those who only joined the ranks of advocates with exams had to spend a long time developing their own professional skills using theoretical knowledge.

The School of Advocates has continued to develop, both in recent years and in previous years. The dynamic development of the professional skills of the School students is noticeable.

In connection with the above, it is naturally not desirable to introduce mechanisms to bypass the study of the School of Advocates, I consider it a step backwards.

– The Judicial and Legal Reform Strategy envisages improvement of the advocate’s conduct and integrity rules. What gaps do you see here? 

-Actually, within the framework of the strategic goal of the Judicial and Legal Reform Strategy 2019-2023, the Government considered it necessary to take measures for the development of legal structures of receiving free legal aid and the institutional development of the Chamber of Advocates and one of the areas selected to ensure this are the measures aimed at the improvement of the Code of Conduct of Advocates, approved by the General Assembly of the Chamber of Advocates in 2012.

In this regard, it is noteworthy that in 2019 the General Assembly of the Chamber of Advocates revised the Code of Conduct for Advocates and I do not see the need to revise it again.

Whereas in other areas, such changes in the provisions of the draft law, including the structures of the right to free legal aid, which may lead to the registered problem, namely the unloading of the Public Defender’s Office, has not been implemented.

Moreover, the number of people entitled to public protection has been increased, which will increase even more in the second half of 2022 after the entry into force of the new procedures of Criminal Procedure.

– The structure of the Chamber of Advocates is also regularly talked about. 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 on amendments and additions to the Law on Advocacy, according to which a ban on party membership will be imposed on the President of the Chamber of Advocates and the Director of the School of Advocates. Are you in favor of this change?

– It would have been possible to talk about the mentioned regulation if it did not contradict the current Constitution. Article 46 of the RA Constitution stipulates that every citizen shall have the right to establish a political party together with other citizens and the right to join any political party.

It is also noteworthy that the Chamber of Advocates and/or any person representing the School of Advocates have never used their status for political purposes, and such an arrangement is an end in itself and does not solve any problem.