A High-Level Public-Private Dialogue Conference on the Judicial Performance and Statistics Systems Evaluation is organized and underway today on 14 June. The Conference is organized within the framework of the “Multi-Faceted OGP Action: Open Justice & Anti-Corruption Commitments” project. The Conference is organized with participation of the RA Ministry of Justice, Supreme Judicial Council of the RA, “Armenian Lawyers’ Association” NGO and the CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia.
Chairman of the RA Supreme Judicial Council Mr. Karen Andreasyan, H.E. Mr. Vassilis Maragos, the Head of the European Union Delegation to Armenia, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Karen Karapetyan, OGP Coordinator/Point of Contact of the Office of the Prime Minister of the RA Ms. Lilya Afrikyan, Chairman of the Governing Board of the CSOs Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia Mr. Movses Aristakesyan, as well as other professionals in the field and judges are participating.
ALA President Mr. Кaren Zadoyan in his speech mentioned that participants may have a question: how are the assessment of judges and the judicial statistics system related to each other.
“The fact is that the analysis of international standards and best practices proves that statistics can be an effective tool in the case of systematic and conscious application of judicial activities, in assessing performance, planning and effective management of courts,” the ALA President said.
Karen Zadoyan emphasized that measurement and evaluation of performance in the judicial system can be carried out at 3 levels: domestic, individual courts and individual (judges).
“We believe that one of the main issues is that reforms aimed at improving the system of individual assessment of judges should be considered more broadly, as part of the formation of a vision aimed at modernizing the structures of measurability and evaluation of the judicial system, where statistics will become a tool for assessing, planning and effective managing the results of judicial activities,” Karen Zadoyan noted.
Details in the video.
In his opening speech Mr. Karen Andreasyan, Chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council in his opening speech noted that the EU has been and is the major supporter and partner of judicial reforms, and also thanked the Ministry of Justice, which always provides great support for judicial reforms.
“This is the most important topic of the judicial system, of course I understand that we have urgent problems, we are interested in well-known political cases, today the country is affected by certain political developments, foreign political challenges, and in all this, when certain issues arise problems, for example, protestor activity or police backlash, the first thing we hear is ‘what the courts are going to do?’ When we talk about the economic and political problems of the country, we always mention the role of the courts. Often, some people try to make the courts a scapegoat and find the courts guilty,” he said.
According to him, today the topic of evaluation of judges is the most relevant one, and the structures that have understood how important it is. This means that they also understood what the essence of judicial reforms is.
Details in the video.
H.E. Mr. Vassilis Maragos, the Head of the European Union Delegation to Armenia, welcomed the evaluation process of judges based on objective criteria.
Addressing the conference, the Ambassador emphasized that the use of statistics and statistical analysis is extremely important for the effectiveness of justice and anti-corruption systems.
“The EU attaches importance to the implementation of reforms aimed at strengthening the rule of law and democracy in RA, including judicial reforms. At the moment, we are providing budgetary and technical support to Armenia. The EU attaches importance to discussions of such processes as inclusive as possible, with the involvement of all interested parties. We also welcome the implementation of such measures by the Armenian Lawyers’ Association and the CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia,” the Ambassador noted.
Details in the video.
Mr. Karen Karapetyan, RA Deputy Minister of Justice welcomed the members of the forum on behalf of the Ministry, thanked the ALA, for providing the OGP constant and continuous support to these processes.
He mentioned that since 2018, the RA Government has kept the agenda of judicial and legal reforms as its primary target and within the framework of this agenda, of course, the continuous reform of the judicial system is of cornerstone importance, with a vision of strengthening the more transparent, efficient and trustworthy judicial system.
“In cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, as well as with the American partners, the SJC has developed a new package of reforms aimed at reforming the entire system for the assessment of the courts, and in accordance with international standards, its modernization, starting from the review of the standards, until, as Mr. Andreasyan thoroughly presented, the review of the platform that implements the entire process, namely the evaluation board. The proposed changes are primarily aimed at creating an independent body that carries out evaluation of courts to ensure objectivity of evaluation and at the same time to reform the system of criteria and indicators for evaluation of judges, including more objective quantitative and qualitative elements,” Karen Karapetyan said.
Details in the video.
According According to Ms Lilya Afrikyan, OGP Coordinator/Point of Contact of the Office of the Prime Minister of the RA, the initiative has been a participatory platform for years, where the action plan of the Government of Armenia was formed exclusively in a participatory manner and the commitments were presented by civil society and citizens. “It is very important that all commitments really stemmed from the public need and were citizen-centered. We have had a number of commitments that have introduced transparency and anti-corruption systems, for example, the of declaration system of officials, the e-draft platform, which provides citizens the opportunity to be a participant.
It is for the first time that while developing the plan for 2022-24, we undertook the obligation of a statistical tool for the judicial system. At that time, the strategy of the judicial system had not yet been adopted and it was very difficult for the Government to undertake such a commitment.
Details in the video.
In his opening speech, Mr. Movses Aristakesyan, Chairman of the Governing Board of the CSOs Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia, welcomed the organization of the conference, he considered it a new impetus for the constructive “trilogue” of Government-Civil Society-Development Partners.
“It conforms to the obligations undertaken by Armenia under the The Armenia–EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement and the Kuala Lumpur Statement on Anti-Corruption Strategies of 21-22 October 2013.
On 28 November, 2014, 60 civil society organizations from the regions of Armenia and the city of Yerevan adopted the declaration on the establishment of the CSOs Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia, by which the CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia (hereinafter – CSOs) was founded.
From the moment of its creation until now, mostly without any funding, with the professional efforts and personal funds of its organizations, it has initiated and participated in the implementation of a number of anti-corruption reforms in the RA, including the criminalization of illicit enrichment, the whistle-blowing system and the anti-corruption institutional system, including the creation of the legislative framework for the Corruption Prevention Commission, introduction of the institute of beneficial owners in the process of public procurement, the implementation of a number of anti-corruption reforms in business and other sectors. The Coalition was actively involved in the development and public discussion of Armenia’s 3rd, 4th and 5th anti-corruption strategies and action plans for their implementation,” Movses Aristakesyan said.
Details in the video.
Ms. Ani Mkhitaryan, Judge of the Civil Court of Appeal of the RA, the Head of the Working Group on Judicial Performance Evaluation Reforms, emphasized that the discussion refers to a very important issue. Then she presented the content of the changes implemented by the working group, emphasized several key issues that were important for discussion.
“The evaluation system is an innovation in our legal system, it was introduced in 2018. As a new institution with no precedent, there was a need for the SJC to conduct a study of international experience in order to create a methodology for assessment that would ensure the implementation of the standards defined by the Code,” Mkhitaryan said.
According to her, the system was created, which also reflected the best international experience, but in RA it did not achieve the result for which it was created.
Mr. Marat Atovmyan, Vice President of Armenian Lawyers Association, Expert on Judicial and Anti-Corruption Issues, noted that there are at least two important prerequisites for ensuring the rule of law in a democratic society.
“It is the existence of an independent judiciary, an independent judicial system and having competent courts that will ensure a high level of justice and high quality. Individual assessment of judges is related to these two pillars. Individual assessment of judges’ work should certainly improve the quality of justice, but should not violate the principle of judges’ independence.
According to the expert, there is a risk that the judge may work by ignoring objectivity just to have high standards.
Ms․ Mariam Zadoyan, “Multi-Faceted OGP Action: Open Justice & Anti-Corruption Commitments” Project Expert, noted that the relevant justice guidelines of the Council of Europe, as well as the experience of the EU countries, the USA and the CIS countries were studied.
“According to international standards, firstly, the main variables on the flow of court cases that are presented include data at the level of the reporting year. For example, the number of cases at the beginning of the year, the number of cases entered during the year, the number of cases resolved during the same year, and the number of current unresolved cases at the end of the calendar year,” she said.
According to Mariam Zadoyan, the question arises whether the information about the Constitutional Court should also be expressed in the judicial statistics or not.
Ms. Armine Alikhanyan, Head of the Department of Judicial Practice Analysis and Monitoring at the RA Judicial Department, spoke about the judicial statistics maintained by the department.
“It is aimed at ensuring the efficiency, transparency and accountability of the courts to the public. Judicial statistics are carried out exclusively electronically. This means that we have electronic court case cards that are filled out for each case. It is through these cards that all the information regarding the court case is reflected, based on which the courts give the reports,” Armine Alikhanyan said.
According to her, the entire court case, from initiating to archiving, can be seen with the specified cards.
“If the cards are not filled in properly, we will have an incorrect picture of the court cases or the completed court cases in the judge’s proceedings,” the speaker said.
Details in the video.
Ms. Susanna Davtyan, Chief lawyer of the fifth department of Control Service of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia, talked about the work done in connection with the implementation of the judicial statistical-analytical tool. She pointed 2 features of the implemented system:
“The implementation of the mentioned instrument is of essential importance from the point of view of evaluating the efficiency of the courts. Judicial activity will become more transparent and accountable. In addition, the tool plays a key role in the effective resolution of the court case,” Susanna Davtyan said.
According to her, the international experience was studied and the best option was chosen. Davtyan mentioned that now they are in the stage of software solutions.
Details in the video.
Further, the representatives of the state institutions, judges and the representatives of the civil society discussed the problems of the existing system in a “question and answer” format, talked about the prospects and possibilities of the new system.
ALA President Mr. Кaren Zadoyan in his closing remarks thanked all the participants of the conference, emphasized that the association uses its potential, experience, and abilities so that Armenia has a truly independent judiciary.
“We will try to help the actors of the sector in the direction of raising awareness. Judicial reforms must be visible to the public, people must believe in them, and the correct messages are very important. In that regard, Iravaban.net, operated by the ALA, will henceforth address judicial reforms in a more professional and accessible way, will try to deliver all messages, and the ALA will continue its monitoring activities in both strategic and judicial processes, presenting recorded gaps and problems. And the most important thing is that the structure shall work for the improvement of public policies in terms of public dialogue,” Karen Zadoyan said.
According to the speaker, the Association will continue to address sector problems and solve them in the format of such events. ALA supports the point of view that true judicial independence has no dilemma. “The judiciary must be 100% free from the influence of political changes. We must have such systems and structures.”
Karen Zadoyan thanked all those present, supporting structures, as well as the European Union, thanks to which it was possible to organize and hold the event.
Details in the video.
