Specialised Anti-Corruption Court to be established; the legislative package put up for public discussion

The Ministry of Justice has presented for public discussion the package of draft Constitutional Laws of the Republic of Armenia "On making amendments and supplements to the Constitutional Law ‘Judicial Code’”, "On making supplements to the Constitutional Law ’Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly’” and of related laws. The draft package proposes to establish a specialised anti-corruption court comprising at least 25 judges, 20 of whom will examine cases of corruption crimes provided for by Annex 6 to the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia, and 5 — the cases arising from applications and claims submitted based on the Law “On civil forfeiture of illegal assets.” The draft package proposes to establish a specialised anti-corruption court of appeal comprising at least 10 judges. According to the amendments proposed under the drafts, the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation will function with 8 judges, whereas the Civil and Administrative Chamber — with 13 judges. The drafts have prescribed the procedure for replenishing the Anti-corruption specialisation division of the list of candidates for judges of the Anti-Corruption Court, the Anti-corruption specialisation division of the promotion list of candidates for judges of the Anti-Corruption Court of Appeal, the requirements for judges, restrictions on the appointment of a judge, structures for checking the integrity of candidates for judges in all instances. In order to strengthen the general integrity of the bodies involved in the anti-corruption institutional system, the draft package also proposes to establish for the candidates of prosecutors a requirement to undergo an integrity check, which will contribute to the reduction of corruption risks and the strengthening of integrity in the prosecutor's office.

The Ministry of Justice looks forward to wide stakeholder participation in the form of suggestions and observations.