Judicial-legal, anti-corruption reforms, reforms in Penitentiary and Probation Services discussed with CoE representative

Deputy Minister of Justice Karen Karapetyan met with Director General of Human Rights and Rule of Law of the Council of Europe Gianluca Esposito. The Deputy Minister expressed gratitude for the support provided by the CoE to the Ministry of Justice for implementation of the agenda for strategic reforms aimed at protecting human rights and strengthening the rule of law, and for development of democratic mechanisms.

The parties discussed the progress of the programmes being implemented by the Council of Europe and the recorded achievements, including the programmes being implemented as part of the agenda of reforms in the judicial-legal sector, the anti-corruption sector, and the Penitentiary and Probation Services. During the meeting, co-operation with the Venice Commission under the judicial-legal, electoral and human rights protection reforms was touched upon. Karen Karapetyan presented the progress in implementation of the Recommendations of the Report of the Fourth Evaluation Round on Armenia of the Council of Europe's Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) and the current activities under the Fifth Evaluation Round. Developments regarding the new agenda of the Armenia-EU co-operation, the course of reforms in Armenia in the judicial-legal sector, anti-corruption field, human rights protection and development of democratic institutions were discussed.

Gianluca Esposito highly appreciated the achievements of the Government of the Republic of Armenia and the Ministry of Justice in the field of human rights protection, judicial-legal reforms and anti-corruption and reaffirmed the willingness to deepen co-operation.

At the end of the meeting, the parties also considered the possibilities of expanding the scope of support by the Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law of the Council of Europe to provide support for implementation of judicial-legal reforms, the 2023-2026 Anti-Corruption Strategy and in a number of other directions.