Today, Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Artak Zeynalyan met with Human Rights Director of the Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law of the Council of Europe Christophe Poirel and discussed a number of issues related to the judicial-legal sector. Head of the Council of Europe Office in Yerevan Natalia Vutova also participated in the meeting.

During the meeting, the parties touched upon the course of implementation of major legislative initiatives, particularly the activities for the development of a number of new draft strategies, the launch of the "Penitentiary Medical Centre", etc.

Touching upon the issue of having an effective judiciary in Armenia, Artak Zeynalyan stated the fact that effective governance requires three times fewer judges than needed. "Whereas there are 21 judges per 100,000 residents in Europe, in Armenia there are 7 judges per 100,000 residents. From the perspective of social guarantees granted to judges, the position of Armenia is also troubling," the Minister noted and expressed willingness for continuity of the enhanced co-operation.

Christophe Poirel expressed gratitude to Minister Zeynalyan for voicing the sector-specific issues and expressed the willingness of the CoE to support the judicial and legal reforms being implemented in Armenia.