Reforms implemented in the justice sector of the Republic of Armenia over 25 years presented

Today, Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Arpine Hovhannisyan participated in the conference on "The Reforms Implemented in the Justice Sector in the Republic of Armenia Over 25 Years". The goal of the conference organised with the support of the European Union was to record the reforms implemented in the justice sector over the past 25 years, identify the existing sector-specific problems and predetermine future steps.

Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Armenia, Ambassador Piotr Switalski, Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Suren Krmoyan, heads of non-governmental organisations and others attended the conference.

According to the Minister, over the past 25 years, Armenia has come a long way in the justice sector in order to ensure access to justice, rule of law and recognition of human rights. "There are still challenges and omissions in this process. The solutions to some of them will be found before the end of the current stage of reforms (end of 2016), and we will address the others in the new stage of reforms," said Arpine Hovhannisyan, calling on those present for an open and sincere discussion.

 Head of the EU Delegation, Ambassador Piotr Switalski mentioned that the European Union was interested in supporting the programmes for legal and judicial reforms. According to him, the experience of countries in Central and Western Europe show that it is impossible to move towards more liberal systems hinged on universal values (democracy, rule of law and human rights) without an effective justice system.

Arpine Hovhannisyan expressed gratitude to the key partner in the sector-specific reforms — the EU Delegation to Armenia, as well as to all the interested parties and institutions for the support that is being shown and the effective co-operation.