On 1 November, 2021, the CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia, and Armenian Lawyers’ Association published two joint expert studies on the following key issues:
- “Integrity Checking and Responsibility of Judges under the extraordinary conditions (of transitional justice): International experience and mechanisms for implementation in Armenia.” The study in Armenian language is available here.
- “Guarantees of Judicial Independence and Effective Functioning of the Court: International Experience and Mechanisms for Implementation in Armenia.” The study in Armenian language is available here.
The First study examined the mechanisms of Integrity Checking and Responsibility of judges in condition of emergency (transitional justice); International standards and basic standards for judicial reforms, including judicial vetting; International experience of judicial reforms, including judicial vetting by countries. Integrity Checking and Responsibility of judges in the Republic of Armenia under the extraordinary conditions (of transitional justice) was also studied, and on the basis of it the roadmap of mechanisms for conducting Integrity Checking of judges in the Republic of Armenia with short-term and long-term actions was proposed.
The Second study focuses on international experience of the legal status of judges, the role of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) in guaranteeing the independence of courts and judges. The experience of more than 15 countries was studied in its framework. Further, a roadmap on the basis of international and national experience was developed to increase the role of the SJC and implement priority reforms in the context of guaranteeing the independence of Armenian courts and judges.
The studies can be used by RA state bodies and civil society organizations to implement reforms in those areas.
Based on the above, we suggest the relevant bodies and all stakeholders, including representatives of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the Republic of Armenia, parties, professional non-governmental organizations, to start inclusive, constructive and in-depth discussions on the issues raised by the studies, aimed at consistent implementation of institutional, in-depth and real reforms in the judicial system of the Republic of Armenia, including for the consistent implementation of actions envisaged by the Judicial Reform Program.
Note: The CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia was founded on 28 November, 2014 in Yerevan, within the framework of the EU-funded “Multi-Faceted Anti-Corruption Promotion” project. The Coalition currently has 71 civil society organizations, and the Secretariat is run by the Armenian Lawyers’ Association.