Regular session of Public Council adjunct to Minister of Justice was held

On 16 November, the Public Council adjunct to the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia held a regular session chaired by Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Davit Harutyunyan.

Davit Harutyunyan greeted the participants of the session, attached importance to the items included in the agenda and suggested that the members of the Council hold a constructive discussion.

According to the first item on the agenda, Deputy Minister of Justice Vigen Kocharyan introduced the process of fulfilment of the actions for 2017 pertaining to the competence of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia, arising from the National Strategy for the Protection of Human Rights. Vigen Kocharyan informed that, within the scope of the Actions, the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia has developed the draft Decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia "On making an amendment and supplements to Decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia No 1543-N of 3 August 2006". The draft Decision envisages the provision of the opportunity for a video call of up to twenty minutes twice a month for foreign detained persons or convicts whose close relatives cannot visit them, as well as for detained persons or convicts whose close relatives cannot benefit from short visits due to objective reasons (paying heed to the recommendation of the members of the Council, the Ministry of Justice published the draft Decision of the Government today on e-draft.am: https://www.e-draft.am/projects/558).

According to the Deputy Minister, in the context of the actions of the National Strategy for the Protection of Human Rights, the Ministry has also developed the draft Protocol Decision of the Republic of Armenia "On approving the 2018-2038 Strategy for Improvement of the Situation in the Penitentiary System of the Republic of Armenia and the 2018-2038 Programme of Measures for the Implementation of the Strategy", according to which separate measures have been envisaged with regard to the penitentiary sector. Vigen Kocharyan particularly stated that, according to the order of priority, the measure of developing and introducing standards aimed at ensuring appropriate conditions for persons with disabilities held in confinement at penitentiary institutions will be considered to be one of the target directions.

He also informed that the activities for introduction of the system of exchange of information with regard to birth registration with the bodies of the Civil Status Acts Registration Agency have been completed. The bodies of the Civil Status Acts Registration Agency carry out birth registration by referring to the information system of the unified register of medical birth certificates. At the same time, bodies of the Civil Status Acts Registration Agency transfer, at the wish of a citizen, the information with regard to birth registration to the information system of the Social Security Service of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Republic of Armenia in order to formulate the lump-sum child allowance.

Leading specialist of the Division for Drafting Anti-Corruption Policy of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Arpine Sargsyan introduced the draft Decisions of the Government of the Republic of Armenia "On approving the technical specifications of the unified electronic platform for whistle-blowing and the procedure for the maintenance thereof" and "On approving the standard form for the record-keeping and formulation of reports in case of internal and external whistle-blowing, as well as on establishing the procedure for implementation of the means of protection provided to a whistle-blower", arising from the Law of the Republic of Armenia "On the System of Whistle-blowing ", which are in the stage of modification, adding that the draft Decisions have been introduced for public discussion two more times. The employee of the Ministry talked about the standard forms of record-keeping and formulation of reports in case of internal and external whistle-blowing, the procedure for implementation of the means of protection provided to a whistle-blower, as well as introduced the technical specifications of the unified electronic platform for whistle-blowing and the procedure for the maintenance thereof.

Members of the Public Council, including representative of Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center NGO Heriknaz Tigranyan, President of the "Armenian Lawyers' Association" NGO Karen Zadoyan and President of the "NGO of Taxpayers and Businessmen Rights Protection" Armen Yesoyan submitted proposals with regard to the issue concerned, some of which the Ministry included in the draft on the spot and promised to make the remaining proposals a subject of discussion.

At the end of the meeting, the members of the Council informed that they would submit in writing to the Ministry of Justice recommendations with regard to the items on the agenda and a number of other issues.