Artak Zeynalyan receives United Nations Special Rapporteur

On 15 November, Acting Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Artak Zeynalyan received UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association Clément Nyaletsossi Voule.

The Acting Minister highly appreciated the current level of co-operation with the UN and attached importance to the visit of the Special Rapporteur to Armenia in the context of getting acquainted with the developments taking place in the country and discussing the possibilities for deepening of the co-operation.

Clément Nyaletsossi Voule expressed gratitude to Artak Zeynalyan for the reception and presented the issues of interest of their institution, which were mainly related to exercise of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly of citizens, the independence of the judiciary, the measures aimed at restoring public confidence in courts and the participation of civil society in decision-making processes.

Touching upon the issues raised by the guest, the Acting Minister of Justice noted that one of the purposes of this Government is to ensure the fundamental human rights guaranteed by the Constitution and, as an example, he emphasised the high level of tolerance demonstrated by the authorities towards the participants of a number of peaceful assemblies held during this period.

Talking about the independence of the judiciary, Artak Zeynalyan noted that the former government had a great influence on judicial authorities and the so-called "telephone justice" was widely practised. "From the very first day of its term of office, our Government declared that no judge would receive any orders. Judges are exempt from the obligation of receiving assignments from the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice,” the Acting Minister noted. In this context, Artak Zeynalyan also attached importance to the projects that are being continuously introduced in the e-justice sector and are aimed at ensuring transparency of the state activities, reducing corruption risks, etc. 

Touching upon the participation of civil society in the stage of decision-making, the Acting Minister noted that, in addition to other steps, one of which are public councils operating adjunct to Ministers, the State has also introduced a number of electronic tools for ensuring participation of civil society in the stage of development of legal acts.

The UN Special Rapporteur highly appreciated the position of the Government on the ensuring of independence of judges and noted that, with this, the Government guarantees rule of law in the country.

At the end of the meeting, the parties also discussed the process of activities that are being carried out for the fight against corruption and expressed willingness to deepen the co-operation.