United States is interested in expanding scope of co-operation with Armenia — Deputy Ministers receive delegation of Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs

Deputy Ministers of Justice Karen Karapetyan and Levon Balyan received the delegation led by Deputy Assistant Secretary in the United States Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Brandon Yoder. Director of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) at the U.S. Embassy in Armenia Alexis Haftvani was also attending the meeting. The Armenian party expressed gratitude for the scope of sustainable co-operation established between the Ministry of Justice and the INL office which has helped to make significant progress in the anti-corruption field and the penitentiary service sector. In particular, assistance has been provided for the development of strategic anti-corruption documents, the arrangement of advocate-client communication through video calls at penitentiary institutions, as well as the introduction of a Patrol Service initiated by the Ministry of Justice. Colleagues from the INL office noted that the United States is interested in expanding the scope of co-operation with Armenia and that reforms in the justice sector will also play a key role in this. In light of this, the Armenian party presented the significant progress that has been made in the judicial and legal sector, the anti-corruption field, the penitentiary and probation sectors in recent years, as well as the activities planned for the upcoming period. Potential assistance of the INL within the scope of implementation of these reforms was also considered. The Deputy Ministers welcomed the "Advancing Comprehensive Anti-Corruption Reforms" Project launched by the INL office in 2024 and the willingness of the INL to expand co-operation with the Ministry and support the implementation of anti-corruption reforms within the scope of this Project. During the meeting, the reforms in the penitentiary and probation sectors were also touched upon in detail; the need for introducing a new model of security management at penitentiary institutions with complete revision of the regulations envisaged for appointment to a position in the security management unit was particularly stressed. The INL office will consider the support to the Ministry in this area as well. At the end of the meeting, the parties reaffirmed their commitment to continue and further deepen the productive co-operation between the Ministry and the INL office.