Kristinne Grigoryan remotely participates in 2020 UNDP Annual Meeting

Today, Deputy Minister of Justice Kristinne Grigoryan remotely participated in the 2020 UNDP Annual Meeting entitled "Strengthening the Rule of Law and Human Rights for Sustaining Peace and Fostering Development".

The Deputy Minister expressed gratitude for the invitation to participate in such an important event, noting that two years after the Velvet Revolution, the Government continues to adhere to revolutionary values, that is, strengthening of the rule of law, protection of human rights, the unwavering fight against corruption and effective implementation of the pretentious judicial reforms, in accordance with the Constitution and international commitments.

Highly appreciating the agenda of ongoing co-operation of the Government with the UNDP, Kristinne Grigoryan touched upon the comprehensive framework of reforms undertaken by the Ministry of Justice and presented the Strategy for Judicial and Legal Reforms, the Anti-Corruption Strategy and the Strategy on Human Rights and the action plans arising from those Strategies approved by the Government in 2019.

In the context of the above-mentioned Strategies, the Deputy Minister presented to her colleagues the new procedures for improving the guarantees for independence of the judiciary, for election of judges and prosecutors and for verification of property status; the activities being carried out to introduce electronic justice; the procedures for introducing the institutions of revelation of real owners, protection of whistle-blowers and civil forfeiture of illegal assets, as well as the efforts aimed at introducing active mechanisms to combat tortures and to prevent domestic violence and hate speech.

The Police Reform Strategy and the Action Plan for 2020-2022 were also touched upon.

During the meeting, the Deputy Minister also presented the legal mechanisms applied and the digital tools introduced by the Government ahead of the challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic in order to ensure protection of human rights, the rule of law and democracy.

Summing up, the Deputy Minister expressed gratitude to the UNDP for its active support and constructive co-operation for implementation of the earmarked reforms, emphasising that the Government is sufficiently resolute and has wide public support to advance the agenda of the earmarked reforms.