On 22 July, the Supreme Judicial Council presented the list of candidates for non-judge members of the Performance Evaluation Commission of Judges.

The Performance Evaluation Commission of Judges consists of five members, three of whom are judges and two are legal scholars.

“Union of Informed Citizens” consulting NGO nominated Anahit Manasyan. It should be noted that the latter is the vice-rector of the RA Academy of Justice.

The Academy of Justice has been founded within the framework of 2012-2016 strategic program of legal and judicial reforms approved by the President of RA and according to the RA Government N 990 – A Decree made on the 13th of September, 2013, and adoption of “The Law of the RA on the Academy of Justice” on the 2nd of May, 2013.

The Academy is supervised by the Governing Board of the Academy which is composed of 7 members, consisting of

• the Minister of Justice or by his/her appointment the Deputy,
• three prosecutors appointed by Prosecutor General of the RA,
• three judges appointed by the General Assembly of Judges of the RA, representing the judges of civil, criminal and administrative specializations.

In other words, the Academy of Justice is a state non-commercial organization, and not a civil society one. In this case, how can one of the leading positions in the academy become a representative of the civil society in the commission?

In addition, without studying at the Academy of Justice, a lawyer cannot become a candidate for the position of a judge, as the academy organizes and conducts the professional training of candidates for judges on the basis of qualification tests. Anahit Manasyan, nominated as a non-judge member of the Performance Evaluation Commission of Judges by the Union of Informed Citizens Consulting NGO, teaches at the Academy of Justice, so she may have personal connections with many of the judges already appointed.

Moreover, the Unite of Organization of Training for Trainees of Judiciary of the Academy is under the coordination of the Vice-Rector of the Academy of Justice Anahit Manasyan. The unite carries out work in the following directions:

• initial training of persons included in the list of candidates of applicants of judges,
• continuous training of judges and persons included in the list of candidates of applicants of judges,
• initial training of those who have a scientific degree in the field of jurisprudence included in the list of promotion of candidates of judges for appointment to the position of judge of the Court of Appeal,
• continuous training of judicial servants and judicial bailiffs
• continuous training of state servants in the staff of the human rights defender of the RA,
• special training of judges and judicial bailiffs.

Notably, the Performance Evaluation Commission of Judges and the Training Commission should perform the functions, some of which are performed by the Academy of Justice.

Referring to the evaluation of judges’ activities, it should be noted that its objective is:

1) contribute to the selection of the best candidates when compiling the lists of candidates for judges to be promoted;

2) facilitate the selection of training areas for judges;

3) identify ways to improve the efficiency of the judge;

4) promote the self-improvement of the judge;

5) contribute to improving the efficiency of the court.

And all this argues that the vice-rector of the Academy of Justice has a possible conflict of interest, her involvement in the commission for evaluating the performance of judges does not comply with integrity principles. Moreover, serious doubts may arise about the impartiality of the work of the Commissions for Evaluating the Performance of Judges, as the inclusion of civil society representatives, including legal scholars, in the Commissions for Evaluating the Performance of Judges and their Professional Training is aimed at overcoming two obstacles: corporatism of judges and politicization. It turns out that we have two problems: on the one hand, ensuring the independence and self-government of the courts; and on the other hand, the threat of corporatism of judges. The only way to solve these two problems is to set up such commissions for evaluating the performance of judges and educational issues, the members of which are in a balanced proportion. This means that judges, who are members of the commission, in addition of not forming an absolute majority, should also be opposed and balanced by the presence of members of civil society.

In this regard, the representative of the civil society, the legal scientist, in this case the Vice-Rector of the RA Academy of Justice Anahit Manasyan, due to the conflict of interests as a result of her employment status at the Academy, may not be a member of the Commissions for Evaluating the Performance of Judges as it is unjustified. At the same time the evaluation of judges by the Vice-Rector of the Academy of Justice as a representative of civil society is at least not honest.