On 24 January, 2020, the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia submitted draft laws on amendments and supplements to the Draft Law of the Republic of Armenia “On Anti-Corruption Committee” and the related laws on the Unified Website for Publication of Legal Acts’ Drafts www.e-draft.am.
According to the justification of the draft, it is proposed to establish a new, specialized, anti-corruption investigative body, the Anti-Corruption Committee, which will carry out investigations and will have the necessary toolset for detecting corruption crimes.
The Armenian Lawyers’ Association and the CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia studied the Draft and submitted to the Ministry of Justice an expert opinion and recommendations aimed at neutralizing the provisions of the Draft that involve risks, including those related to the establishment of the Committee and ensuring its genuine independence.
The expert opinion and recommendations of the Armenian Lawyers’ Association and the CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia can be found here.
It should be noted that the development of the Draft was provided for in Annex N 2 (event 2) to Decision No 1332-N of the Government of the Republic of Armenia dated October 3, 2019 on “Approving the Anti-Corruption Strategy of the Republic of Armenia and its Implementation Action Plan for 2019-2022” (hereinafter: Strategy).