The Commission for the Prevention of Corruption has submitted for public discussion the Draft on making changes and additions to the decision on the Register of Gifts which the CPC adopted in 2023.

According to Iravaban.net, the need to adopt the draft is due to the Laws “On Making Amendments and Additions to the Law on State Property Management”, “On Making Amendments to the Law on State Protocol” adopted by the National Assembly on 11 April, 2024, regarding the registering, handing over and evaluation of gifts received by persons holding public positions and public servants in connection with the performance of their official duties, maintaining the registry of gifts and making changes to the submitted data, cases of violation of restrictions on accepting gifts with the need to harmonize the information provision procedures, as well as to improve them.

With the adoption of the Law “On Amendments and Additions to the Law on Public Service”, the scope of permissible gifts was changed, materials provided free of charge for the purpose of official use are no longer considered gifts, and property provided as a reward, state gift or incentive in cases defined by law, including: the weapon given as a reward by the prime minister was included in the list of permissible gifts. Ceremonial gifts have been removed from the list of non-accountable gifts, the latter are already subject to accounting.

The authors of the draft note that as a result of the above changes, a conflict has arisen between the rules and the law established by the decision N 01-N of the Corruption Prevention Commission dated 22 December, 2023.

The Law “On Amendments to the Law on State Protocol” provides that the State Protocol service will perform the services of registering the gifts subject to be registered under the Law on Public Service, in the name of the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Deputy Prime Ministers, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, parliamentary delegations, heads of bodies subordinate to the Government and the Prime Minister and their deputies.

Before the above-mentioned addition was made, registering of the gifts was subject to implementation only by the person holding a public office or a public servant who received the gift.

The Law “On Amendments and Additions to the Law “On the Management of State Property” defines the methods of disposal of property handed over to the state, including perishable property, animals, immediate disposal of property requiring substantial maintenance costs, and in the case of perishable property, by the decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia destruction in specified cases and in the order. In this case, it is necessary to define the shortest deadlines for the delivery of the corresponding gift in the order of gift delivery.

Thus, the draft proposes:

1. to bring the range of gifts subject to accounting into compliance with the provisions of the Law on Public Service;
2. stipulate that if the gift to be delivered is live or according to the list defined by the Government’s decision, it is considered perishable property or requiring significant maintenance costs, then the person holding a public position or the public servant is obliged after receiving the gift or after returning from a business trip, and consulting on the admissibility of the gift in case of applying for an opinion, after receiving the corresponding advisory opinion,  immediately  hand it over to the Secretary General (other equivalent official), and the Secretary General (other equivalent official) is obliged to  immediately  ensure the transfer of the gift to the State Property Management Committee or the body defined by the legislation on local self-government;
3. to provide for the possibility for the State Protocol Service to register the relevant gifts and to fill in the data presented in the register of gifts, to apply to the Commission for the change, correction, or completion of the already filled data in the cases provided for by the Law “On State Protocol”.
4. Provide that the gift is handed over by a person holding a public office or a public servant to the Secretary General (another equivalent official) on the basis of a handover-acceptance act in accordance with the prescribed model form.

The period for public discussion of the Draft in E-draft has expired on 28 June. It has not yet received the approval of the executive.

Some of the photos used in the publication were created using AI.

This publication was prepared by the “Armenian Lawyers’ Association” NGO in cooperation with CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia within the framework of the “Multi-Faceted OGP Action: Open Justice & Anti-Corruption Commitments” project implemented with the support of the Open Government Partnership (OGP), in the framework of the European Union funded “EU for Integrity Programme for the Eastern Partnership” Action.

The publication expresses the position of the author, the ALA, which does not necessarily coincide with the position of the OGP and the EU.