On 11 February of this year, under the chairmanship of RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the first full session of the Anti-Corruption Policy Council took place in Jermuk. Representatives of legislative, executive, judicial systems, as well as civil society organizations and other bodies participated in the meeting. Issues related to the current situation and prospects for development of corruption prevention were discussed during the session of the Council. In particular, the declaration system, financial control of parties, anti-corruption education, integrity studies, assessment of corruption risk and other issues were discussed.
During the session of the Anti-Corruption Policy Council, the member of the Council, President of the Armenian Lawyers’ Association, Karen Zadoyan, raised a question about the need to develop a New Anti-Corruption Strategy of the Republic of Armenia, because the previous Anti-Corruption Strategy of the RA for 2019-2022 was completed on 31 December, 2022. Karen Zadoyan proposed to develop the New Anti-Corruption Strategy of the RA based on the well-known international principles relating to the process of developing anti-corruption strategies, the design and content of anti-corruption strategies and the monitoring and evaluation of anti-corruption strategies defined in the Kuala Lumpur Statement on Anti-Corruption Strategies. Karen Zadoyan urged the Anti-Corruption Policy Council to think outside the box and set the term of the new strategy for 10 years.
At the meeting of the Council, on the recommendation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, it was decided that the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia, based on principles of inclusiveness, would establish a working group to develop a New Anti-Corruption Strategy of the Republic of Armenia.
The President of the Armenian Lawyers’ Association referred to anti-corruption education as well. According to him, along with the New Strategy, it is necessary to introduce a systematic, large-scale and realistic anti-corruption education program in order to raise the level of anti-corruption perception of citizens and make citizens the main actors in the anti-corruption fight.
Let’s remind that in 2022, the Armenian Lawyers’ Association published the Alternative Public Monitoring Report on the Implementation of the RA Anti-Corruption Strategy and its Implementation Action Plan for 2019-2022, which included proposals for inclusion in the scope of the new strategy.