President Serzh Sargsyan conducted a working meeting with the representatives of the judicial branch

Today, President Serzh Sargsyan conducted a working meeting at the Court of Cassation related to the prospects of the implementation of the 2012-2016 program of the events aimed at the reformation of the RA legal and judicial systems.

Present at the meeting were the members of the RA Justice Council, other representatives of the highest court and judicial authorities. Tasked by the President of Armenia, the Presidential Administration conducted a research on the pattern of the implementation of the disciplinary policy in the last five years, existing positive and negative trends. The representatives of the judicial branch were familiarized with the findings. It was noted that in the last two years, works of the RA Justice Council have registered certain positive development which primarily relates to the toughening of the disciplinary policies. However, along with this fact it was specially underscored that the toughening of these policies, actually can be assessed positively only if supported by the objective, predictable and uniform standards for the assessment of the relevant structures. From that point of view, the problems registered in the last five years have become issues under discussion.

After the working meeting highlighted were the pivotal provisions which underlie the activities of the RA Justice Council. Their implementation will guarantee the realization of the principle of the public accountability of the judges.

In his remarks addressed to the representatives of the judicial authorities, President Serzh Sargsyan, stressing the importance of the timely and due implementation of the 2012-2016 program of events aimed at the reformation of the RA legal and judicial systems approved in June 2012, noted that one of the primary goals of the reformation is to ensure the liability and independence of the judges which is an issue of concern for our public. According to the President of Armenia, roles of the RA Court of Cassation, Judicial Department and, certainly of the RA Justice Council are equally important.

“Every law-governed state, attaching importance to the independence of the judicial authorities, views it also as a unique means to take responsibility and become accountable before the society. We too are well aware the value of that independence; however we should also realize that there is no absolute independence otherwise we will literally create an atmosphere of impunity. It should be absolutely clear for every one.

Each instance of impunity of a person, who represents justice, renders worthless his independence and, naturally, his fairness. It is impossible to anticipate public trust when an entire branch of power along with its substructures looks like a self-sufficient and isolated structure which lives and functions by its own rules.

Even though in recent years, a serious work with positive outlook has been conducted to break these stereotypes, nevertheless I think it’s still not sufficient for making the judicial authorities fully accountable. It is no longer plausible to justify the current problems by the Soviet legacy or by the difficulties of the transitional period,” President Sargsyan underscored.

In his remarks addressed to the representatives of the judicial authorities, the President of Armenia noted that it is necessary to take note of one’s own mistakes, not to shun from speaking about them, initiate necessary solutions to redress them, as well as to be more considerate of the complaints of our citizens which reveal the shortcomings. “I stress in particular the importance of speaking out loud. As I have already said, the judicial system is not a self-sufficient body; positive changes within that body should become known to our public. I urge you to be open and transparent. Find out means to present and explain them, and you will immediately see the positive results. Success of the judicial system is not in its being perfect, cannot be. Mistakes and failures happen in every country, in every system. Success of the judicial system is in the public trust. Trust is able to elevate the entire system by several grades, multiply your success, move forward every decent initiative and probably also to ban improper ideas. And you are well aware that public trust can be shaped first through the establishment of the common judicial practices, and second through the implementation of the unbiased disciplinary practices.

Thus, on the road toward the resolution of the existing problems, the disciplinary practices carried out by you become of primary importance; they must define the objective standards by which the judges are subjected to disciplinary liability.

The judicial system may not tolerate open and vicious breaches of the law, violations of the human rights and, certainly, those who act that way. I believe, with this regard the role and import of the highest court is of special significance.

Inevitability of the disciplinary liability and other responsibility stipulated by the law must be provided by the common and nondiscriminatory standards. There must not be privileged persons in the system, and now the time has come for the concrete steps and actions.

However I believe it would not be redundant to remind that we are not going to conduct a witch-hunt in the system. We are talking about structural changes, about daily work.

For you, the program of legal and judicial reforms should signal a start of a new working mode with the new standards. Already today, your work must be coherent and congruent with the process of reformation,” President Serzh Sargsyan underlined at the working meeting with the representatives of the judicial authorities.