Series of public discussions on draft Anti-Corruption Strategy launched

Today, a public discussion on the draft Decision of the Government "On Anti-Corruption Strategy of the Republic of Armenia and its Implementation Action Plan for 2019-2022" took place with participation of Deputy Minister of Justice Tigran Khachikyan. The discussion was organised by the Ministry of Justice and the Freedom of Information Centre NGO.

The Deputy Minister expressed gratitude to the partnering non-governmental organisations for their active participation, emphasising that the Ministry of Justice attaches importance to involvement of the interested society in the development of such a fundamental document. Tigran Khachikyan urged to also show active participation in the competition to be held for being engaged in the Anti-Corruption Council.

Presenting the three pillars of the Strategy, namely anti-corruption education, establishment of an anti-corruption institutional body and prevention of corruption, Tigran Khachikyan noted that different directions for the fight against corruption will be considered within the framework of those pillars. In the context of the establishment of an institutional system, the Deputy Minister presented the process of creating a unified body for investigating corruption crimes and for carrying out preliminary investigation of operational intelligence measures under those cases.

Touching upon the selection of a separate model for the bodies with the competence to fight against corruption, Khachikyan noted that, according to the policy-making body, two different functions, that is, the process of accepting declarations and carrying out preliminary investigation in corruption cases, cannot be combined; based on this and a number of other justifications, the application of a separate model was selected.

A number of other provisions reflecting the goals of the draft Strategy were touched upon during the meeting as well. Summing up, Khachikyan informed that such public discussions will also be held in other cities of Armenia.

The discussion was followed by a question-and-answer session with the participants of the discussion.