Belgium attaches importance to reforms in the justice sector and is ready to implement programmes in this direction; Grigor Minasyan receives newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Belgium to Armenia

Minister of Justice Grigor Minasyan received newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Belgium to Armenia Eric De Muynck.

Grigor Minasyan congratulated the Ambassador on his appointment to the position and welcomed the decision of the Government of Belgium to open an embassy in Armenia which will provide the opportunity for development of the Armenian-Belgian relations.

Importance was attached to the already established bilateral co-operation in the sector of mutual legal assistance.

Grigor Minasyan expressed his gratitude to the Kingdom of Belgium for the addressable messages that it conveyed in relation to Nagorno-Karabakh during the United Nations Security Council meeting.

Ambassador Eric De Muynck expressed gratitude for the cordial reception and expressed his support for the reforms in the justice sector.

The Ambassador welcomed the efforts that the Republic of Armenia made for ratification of the Rome Statute, as this will contribute to the prevention of crimes against humanity. In this context, the Minister highlighted the importance of exchange of experience.

Both parties attached importance to the activities to be carried out in the fight against domestic violence and the opportunity of co-operation in this area. The Minister informed that a number of amendments have been made to the legislation on the fight against domestic violence, yet there is still a lot of work to do in this direction.

The parties discussed the sector-specific reforms that the Ministry of Justice is implementing to combat corruption. The Minister emphasised that the new Anti-Corruption Strategy, which has predetermined the main directions due to which the fight against corruption will continue, will be adopted soon. The activities to be carried out for development of the whistle-blowing institution were also noted.

The Ambassador also inquired about the activities to be carried out for reduction of the workload of the judicial system. In response to this, the Minister remarked that active efforts are currently being made for digitisation of the justice sector; in addition, certain civil cases of levying the amount have been withdrawn from courts of general jurisdiction and transferred to the competence of notaries public. Grigor Minasyan emphasised that due to the increase in the salaries of judges, working in the judicial system has become attractive; in addition, the judicial system has been replenished with new judges who have passed an exam in accordance with international standards.

Grigor Minasyan presented the effectiveness of application of house arrest and administrative control measures of restraint and the directions for co-operation. The implementation of possible programmes for capacity-building of persons deprived of liberty serving punishment in penitentiary institutions was touched upon.

At the end of the meeting, the parties discussed other issues of mutual interest.