Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Vigen Kocharyan participates in the second session of the Armenia-EU Partnership Council

On 13 June of this year, Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Vigen Kocharyan participated in the second session of the Armenia-EU Partnership Council in Brussels. The session was moderated by Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini.

During the session, the Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia delivered a speech in which he presented the latest developments taking place in the judicial-legal sector and touched upon the process of developing a strategic policy in the sectors of the fight against corruption and human rights protection.

Touching upon the national agenda for judicial and legal reforms, the Deputy Minister of Justice reaffirmed the commitment and political will of the Government of the Republic of Armenia to implement the crucial and radical reforms in the judiciary in line with the Constitution and international standards. V. Kocharyan emphasised that the reforms will be aimed at ensuring justice and the principle of equality of all before the law and will contribute to the establishment of a truly independent, effective and accountable judiciary, with the view to restoring public confidence in the judiciary.

In his speech, Vigen Kocharyan welcomed the high-level political dialogue launched by Armenia and the European Union in the justice sector in September 2018. Highly appreciating the creation of such platforms, the Deputy Minister expressed gratitude to the EU for the technical and financial assistance that it provides to the justice sector and reaffirmed the willingness to deepen and expand the existing close co-operation.

Based on the results of the session, the Council issued a joint statement, by which the Council underlined the importance of an independent, effective and accountable judiciary that will contribute to not only human rights protection, but also to economic development and the creation of a favourable business environment for foreign investments. The Council welcomed the efforts that Armenia is currently making for comprehensive judicial reforms in line with the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia and international standards.