Minister of Justice: "Courts will be represented in a new revolutionary model as a result of the launch of the e-court system"

Today, Minister of Justice Artak Zeynalyan participated in the final event of the "Digitization of documents of court cases and introduction of an electronic courts system in the Republic of Armenia" project. Chairperson of the Supreme Judicial Council of the Republic of Armenia Gagik Harutyunyan, U.S. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Armenia Lynne Tracy, Chairperson of the Chamber of Advocates Ara Zohrabyan, judges and others participated in the event. The project was implemented by the Judicial Projects Implementation Unit of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia with the financial assistance of the United States Agency for International Development and in close co-operation with the Supreme Judicial Council. The e-court system was created within the framework of the project.

Attaching importance to the creation of electronic systems meeting the imperative of the time, Minister Zeynalyan noted that the Ministry has positive experience with this regard; since 2008, the Ministry has been developing and introducing more than a dozen electronic systems. "The electronic court system is a daring innovation that the Ministry of Justice jointly initiated with the USAID. As a result of the launch of the project, we expect that courts will be represented in a new revolutionary model, particularly, a number of reforms will be implemented,” Artak Zeynalyan said, attaching importance, among them, to the creation of a possibility to submit an electronic statement of claim in civil cases, the possibility to electronically transfer a case from court of one instance to another, the transition from internal circulation of documents to electronic circulation of documents in court, technical possibility to electronically familiarise with all the materials of a case, introduction of an electronic notifications system that will enable the launch of all the possibilities of electronic notification between courts and parties, creation of an electronic registry of advocates and interfacing of the electronic court system with all the necessary electronic governance systems. "We know that justice delayed is denied justice. We must make available not only "access" to court, but also "exit" from court so that the dispute is resolved quickly,” the Minister of Justice noted, adding that projects aimed at unburdening courts are being implemented. According to him, the scientific discipline of effective governance has led to the following formula: 21 judges per 100,000 population, but today, in Armenia, there are 7 judges per 100,000 population, and Armenia is the finalist in the Council of Europe. The Minister noted that there are a lot of things to do with regard to this.

The goal of the project is to develop and introduce a system of electronic courts, including electronic system for submitting claims, which will ensure on-line communication between courts and those using the court, will improve wider public access to the materials of court cases and court information, and will help facilitate, accelerate and reduce the costs of procedural actions. Currently, it is expected to introduce the system of claims in one court in respect of the "payment order" type of cases. Based on the results of testing, the system will be improved and gradually introduced in all courts, in all civil proceedings. This will make it possible to ensure smooth transition from the current system to the new one. The e-court system will significantly raise the level of access of citizens to court information, the transparency of courts, the predictability of court decisions and increase in public confidence in the judicial power.