Minister of Justice participates in conference entitled "The Republic of Armenia Anti-Corruption Strategy under International Experience"

Today, Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Tigran Khachikyan participated in the Government-Civil Society International Expert Conference entitled "The Republic of Armenia Anti-Corruption Strategy under International Experience".

Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Piotr Świtalski; Prosecutor General of the Republic of Armenia Arthur Davtyan; Adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister Suren Krmoyan, Resident Representative at UNDP Armenia Dmitry Mariyasin, President of the Armenian Lawyers' Association, the "Commitment to Constructive Dialogue" Project Manager, organiser of the Conference Karen Zadoyan participated in the Conference organised by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia, the Armenian Lawyers' Association and the CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition.

On behalf of Minister Artak Zeynalyan, Deputy Minister of Justice Tigran Khachikyan expressed gratitude to the partnering organisations for organising the Conference and to the participants for making, with their presence, their contribution to the development and implementation of the anti-corruption policy, a process that requires responsibility. According to Tigran Khachikyan, the Government of the Republic of Armenia is well aware of the hazard of corruption and its irreversible impact on rule of law, human rights protection and development of economy, and everybody has faced the consequences of the negative impact of corruption in practice.

"As you have noticed, the determination to extirpate corruption is vividly reflected in the Government Programme as well, and with the purpose of leading the fight against corruption in a coordinated manner, importance is attached to the combination of strategic and institutional steps. In the context of the above-mentioned, I attach great importance to the organising and implementation of such conferences, as they serves as an additional platform to listen to the recommendations and concerns of civil society, learn about the experience shared by international experts and the opinions of representatives of state bodies," the Deputy Minister noted.

Deputy Minister Tigran Khachikyan also touched upon the key significance of the event and noted that it will be composed of discussions on component elements that play a decisive role in the fight against corruption, particularly the issues on the mechanisms for recovery of stolen assets, the whistle-blowing system, preventive actions in the fight against corruption and anti-corruption education.

In this context, Deputy Minister Khachikyan expressed confidence that the Ministry of Justice is currently gathering opinions submitted by all interested parties and, after the draft — based on those opinions — is elaborated in the nearest future, it will be submitted for public consideration once again. Besides, touching upon the
whistle-blowing system, Deputy Minister Khachikyan noted that the electronic whistle-blowing system will be presented to the public in the nearest future, and for the whistle-blowing system to be a success, he expects everybody's active participation in respect of showing intolerance against corruption.

Let us mention that during the discussion, the type of an independent anti-corruption body, international experience in introducing the institution of returning illegally acquired assets, anti-corruption education and other issues will also be touched upon.