Session of the Public Council for including recommendations of non-governmental organisations in the Government Programme

On 21 May, an extraordinary session of the Public Council adjunct to the Minister of Justice took place under the chairmanship of Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Artak Zeynalyan for discussing the issue of including the recommendations of non-governmental organisations in the Programme of the Government.

First Deputy Minister of Justice Artur Hovhannisyan, Deputy Ministers Suren Krmoyan, Vigen Kocharyan, Artak Asatryan, representatives of more than two dozens of non-governmental organisations also participated in the session.

Minister Zeynalyan greeted the participants of the session and noted that the Ministry of Justice expected recommendations from the Council members that would be discussed and included in the Programme of the Government.

The Minister informed that the new Programme of the Government would be targeted at the years 2018-2022 and clarified that, from the legal perspective, there is no other opportunity, though it is envisaged to hold snap parliamentary elections as soon as possible for the purpose of having the real picture of the legislative body and so that executive authorities can express the will of the people.

The members of the Public Council have submitted recommendations for prevention of corruption, improvement of the conditions at penitentiary institutions, confinement conditions of convicts, protection of their health, the institute for conditional early release and the Probation Service.

There were also opinions on the need for making amendments and supplements to the Electoral Code of the Republic of Armenia, to the Law of the Republic of Armenia "On national minorities", as well as the issues concerning improvement of the institutes of observation and deposit, raising the level of effectiveness of the judiciary and other issues were addressed.

At the end of the meeting, an agreement was reached to submit, in writing, the recommendations presented during the meeting to the Ministry of Justice within a short period of time.