“Whoever is against this plan is against Armenia’s development”
Implementing the "2012-2016 RA Legal and Judicial Reforms Strategic Plan" is a matter of honor for the Armenian authorities. This is what Minister of Justice Hrayr Tovmasyan said with full responsibility today. "This is not a mere expression of good will. The plan truly includes goals, and it is our objective to accomplish those goals."
According to the minister, whoever goes against this plan will go against Armenia's development. The minister compares the solutions to the current issues of the judicial system with building a home. "When you're building a home, you don't see the results for a while. Only after a while does the new building start rising. This plan is aimed at raising the building."
This plan costs several dozens of million drams and, according to Minister Tovmasyan, the government will do everything possible to not include the credit plan, but provide grants and funds from the state budget. Serzh Sargsyan's assistant Georgi Kotoyan assured that this strategic plan was against corruption and was aimed at maintaining the full independence of the judicial authorities.
The officials' pledges don't instill hope in President of the Helsinki Committee of Armenia Avetik Ishkhanyan. According to him, if there are no legislative reforms, then everything else is just phony. "No matter how many reforms we make, we will still have a judicial system dependent on the government."
Minister of Justice Hrayr Tovmasyan today also touched upon the court's verdict for Armenian National Congress (HAK) activist Tigran Arakelyan. According to the verdict, the young man has been sentenced to six years in jail for hooliganism and applying force against a state authority. "The courts make the decisions, not me. My response will be viewed as influence on the court because the investigation into that case is in progress."
