The Armenia-Europe Conference under the title “Strengthening the Rule of Law and Democracy” is taking place in Brussels. During the discussion, Ms Syuzanna Soghomonyan, Expert of the Armenian Lawyers’ Association, CSF ANP WG1 Coordinator, made a speech.

She spoke about the activities of the EU-Armenia Civil Society Platform, the work done and the plans. The expert also referred to transitional justice, the institution of disciplinary action against judges, as well as anti-corruption reforms. “Starting from August 2018, various expert discussions regarding the implementation of judicial vetting had begun, but as such, we cannot say that judicial vetting took place in Armenia. They were replaced by disciplinary proceedings.”

Syuzanna Soghomonyan noted that according to the results of the comparative analysis carried out after 2020, the disciplinary proceedings initiated against judges were mostly initiated by the Minister of Justice. “We need to understand what structure the bodies applying responsibility should have. A balanced approach should be used.”

She also spoke about e-justice, which was introduced in 2019, but no serious progress has been made in that regard. In her speech, Syuzanna Soghomonyan highlighted the importance of anti-corruption education within the framework of anti-corruption reforms, and noted the lack of personnel in the system.