On 14 April, 2021, according to the Law “On Amendments and Additions to the Constitutional Law Judicial Code of the Republic of Armenia”, an Anti-Corruption Court was formed as a new specialized court. In order to ensure the effective investigation of anti-corruption cases on 9 February, 2022 the Law “On Changes and Amendments to the Constitutional Law Judicial Code of RA was adopted, which established the Anti-Corruption Chamber of the Court of Cassation.

The context of the presented legal regulations, created has created a situation where specialized courts examining anti-corruption cases operate in the First Instance Courts and the Court of Cassation. However, there is no separate court in the Criminal Court of Appeal to hear these issues. Ms Armenuhi Harutyunyan, Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia, said this at the extraordinary session of the Standing Committee on State andLegal Affairs on 16 December, presenting the package of Draft Laws “On Amendments to the Constitutional Law Judicial Code of the Republic of Armenia”.

The purpose of the draft authored by the Government is to ensure the organization of re-examination of judicial acts made in the of anti-corruption civil cases and cases on corruption crimes by a specialized Anti-Corruption Court of Appeal.

As a result of the adoption of the draft, the Anti-Corruption Court of Appeal will be established. The court will be composed of 12 judges, 6 of whom will deal with cases related to corruption crimes, and 6 will deal with appeals against judicial acts made in anti-corruption civil cases.

According to Armenuhi Harutyunyan, there will be no need to increase the number of new judges with the changes.

The draft will also regulate the regulations regarding the list of candidates for promotion to the Court of Appeal.

The main speaker informed that they received many proposals from MP Arpine Davoyan, which were jointly discussed and accepted.

As a result of extensive work, changes, which are aimed at keeping the judicial proceedings within a reasonable period of time for the judges, have been planned

The Chairman of the Committee, Mr. Vladimir Vardanyan, informed that the SJC has initiated a series of discussions on the implementation of judicial reforms. The legislative initiative was discussed in detail with the representatives of the judiciary. He emphasized the importance of accepting the proposals in order to relieve the burden of the judiciary and to implement more effective justice.

Ms Arpine Davoyan, Member of the Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs, briefly presenting the proposed changes, particularly highlighted the new powers assigned to the presidents of the courts, according to which an opportunity will be created to monitor the observance of reasonable terms of cases in the courts in accordance with the procedure established by the SJC.

Armenuhi Harutyunyan, in her concluding speech thanked for the extensive work, for the recommendations presented to significantly relieve the workload of the judicial system.

The revised draft received a positive conclusion.