New Criminal, Criminal Procedure and Penitentiary Codes to enter into force starting from today

The new Criminal, Criminal Procedure and Penitentiary Codes, under which the approaches and institutions provided for by the existing legislation are undergoing changes, are entering into force starting from 1 July 2022.

The new legislation sets a qualitatively new benchmark in the criminal justice sector, with the aim to fight against crime more effectively, provide for an effective mechanism for criminal proceedings, reduce the application of arrest and imprisonment, introduce individual planning of punishment and ensure re-socialisation of perpetrators.

The Ministry of Justice has performed extensive work to ensure application of the Codes. In particular:

several discussions have been held with stakeholders so that the legislation, which enters into force starting from 1 July, is put into action as smoothly as possible;

the drafts of nearly 100 laws and nearly 2 dozens of secondary legislation acts providing for amendments to related laws have been developed and adopted;

training courses have been conducted for the employees of law-enforcement bodies for months, including training courses conducted with the support of international partners;

webinars have been developed along with and based on the training courses, and they are available on the official website (https://justiceacademy.am/#2413) and YouTube channel (https://bit.ly/3xzGrWk) of the Academy of Justice;

at the same time, guides for application of the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes have been developed with the support of the Council of Europe.

We call on our colleagues of law-enforcement bodies to benefit as much as possible from the effective solutions provided for by the new Codes; these solutions are aimed at ensuring effectiveness of proceedings, revealing criminal offences, as well as providing for greater guarantees for human rights.

The Ministry will be consistent in order to identify all the potential issues and make sure they are addressed.