Minister of Justice presents to Vice-President of the European Commission Věra Jourová the judicial and legal reforms taking place in Armenia

Minister of Justice Grigor Minasyan had a meeting with Vice-President of the European Commission, Commissioner for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová in the Kingdom of Belgium. Grigor Minasyan expressed gratitude for the considerable support that the European Union has provided to the justice sector for the development of mechanisms based on democracy, guaranteeing human rights, as well as the rule of law. The Minister also highly appreciated the effective co-operation with the European Commission and the visit that the latter paid to Armenia within the scope of a fact-finding mission. Grigor Minasyan emphasised the EU's commitment to further deepen the co-operation with Armenia and added that adoption of the new Partnership Agenda will serve as a major impetus for further expansion of the existing close co-operation in the justice sector. The Minister of Justice also touched upon the Joint press statement following the 5^th meeting of the EU-Armenia Partnership Council reaffirming the joint commitment of Armenia and the EU in the areas of human rights, the rule of law and democratic principles, as well as in the fight against hate speech and disinformation. Grigor Minasyan also presented the reforms in the judicial and legal sector and in the area of human rights protection, as well as touched upon the progress that Armenia has made in the anti-corruption field and the achievements that it has made with regard to international indicators.

The parties considered the legislative initiatives aimed at combating disinformation and regulating the activities of the mass media.

Touching upon the process of refining the legislation on mass media, Grigor Minasyan noted that the draft is also aimed at introducing a system of self-regulation of the mass media in line with the advanced European practice. Talking about the reforms in human rights protection, Grigor Minasyan mentioned that the Government's comprehensive policy is also being implemented within the scope of the 2023-2025 Action Plan arising from the National Strategy for Human Rights Protection. In this context, the process of drafting the Laws "On ensuring legal equality" and "On national minorities" was touched upon, and it was emphasised that the drafts were developed in an inclusive and participatory manner, with the active involvement of non-governmental organisations. The Minister also presented to his colleague the processes and latest developments of the accession of the Republic of Armenia to international convention mechanisms.

Věra Jourová highly appreciated the efforts of the Government of Armenia and particularly of the Ministry of Justice in the field of human rights protection, the judicial and legal sector and the anti-corruption field. She attached importance to the initiatives for reforms and the transparency and inclusiveness of the processes for development of those initiatives. Talking about the need to improve the mass media sector and to fight against disinformation, Věra Jourová touched upon the EU's Audiovisual Media Services Directive and the campaign personally conducted by the Commissioner for the fight against disinformation ahead of the elections. In this context, Ms Jourová expressed willingness to support Armenia within the framework of the existing toolkits.

At the end of the meeting, the parties agreed to continue co-operation aimed at protecting human rights and ensuring the rule of law, improving the mass media sector in line with the best European standards and fighting against disinformation.