Minister of Justice receives Special Representative of the acting OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Combating Corruption

19/07/2018

Today, Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Artak Zeynalyan received the delegation led by Special Representative of the acting OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Combating Corruption, ex-Minister of Justice of Italy Paola Severino.

Minister Zeynalyan highly appreciated the biography and professional achievements of his counterpart, especially in the field for combating corruption.

Paola Severino attached importance to the velvet revolution that took place in Armenia and noted that the new Government would be successful as it had the support of the public and youth. Within this context, the representative of the OSCE considered the establishment of a specialised and independent anti-corruption body, which is included in the Government Programme and will have the power to perform operational intelligence, investigative and preliminary investigation functions, as the guarantee of the success of Armenia.

During the meeting, Paola Severinio shared the experience of Italy in the anti-corruption sector, the path to combating corruption, the issues that have emerged on this path and emphasised that one of the major guarantees for recording positive results in the combat was the existence of a developed, independent and professional judiciary.

At the end of the meeting, the parties also touched upon Armenia’s vision for combating corruption, improvement of the sector-specific legislation, the possibilities for assistance from the OSCE and Italy in the implementation of these activities and other issues.