President Serzh Sargsyan held a meeting with the staff of the Ministry of Justice

President Serzh Sargsyan visited today the Ministry of Justice. First, the President of Armenia familiarized with the working conditions, observed the reception hall, conversed with the employees. Later, at the conference hall he held a meeting with over three hundred employees of the Ministry. During this visit, which is conducted in the framework of the President’s visit to the RA Ministries and agencies, the Minister of Justice and his Deputies reported on the reforms implemented in 2010-2013 period of time, improvements, developments, existing problems, and avenues to solve them.

The President directed questions to the authors of the reports and answered all questions raised by the participants of the meeting. In response to the questions related to the improvement of the working conditions and mitigation of social problems, the Serzh Sargsyan noted that, naturally, the Ministry of Justice employs good lawyers who can easily find job in the private sector. Underscoring that he has already spoken in detail about the state policy of the annual salary increase for the state employees starting January 1, 2014, the President stressed that in three years it will translate into a considerable increase of wages. He expressed confidence that through this policy as well as through all other packages aimed at the resolution of the social problems of the state employees, working at the Ministry of Justice very soon will become a competitive option compared to working in the private sector.

President Serzh Sargsyan responded to many other questions related to the area of justice, internal and foreign policies of Armenia, separate areas such as education, transportation, social and technical issues, transparency in state governance processes, challenges facing our country, means to confront them, and regional developments. The President spoke in detail also about the continuity of the reform strategy in Armenia and procedural issues related to Armenia’s membership to the Customs Union.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the President urged all those present to work more actively. “We have entered a stage, when we really have to double our efforts. On one hand, we have to carry on with the reforms, bringing them to a logical conclusion; on the other hand, we should be able to move forward the new process related to the Customs Union. There is an enormous amount of work to be done: nearly 50 major documents are to be introduced at the National Assembly. The main burden of preparing and multiple other issues will lie on your shoulders. It means, we have to extend our working hours and increase the efficiency of our work,” the President of Armenia underscored and wished every success to the employees of the Ministry. He expressed readiness to listen to all their proposals, ideas and innovations aimed at the improvement of the Ministry’s works.

For the long-time and efficient work, the President awarded Susan Grigorian, the Director of the Official Manual Ltd, and Karen Khtrian, the Head of the Agency of Expert Appraisal of the Legal Acts at the RA Ministry of Justice with the Presidential Letters of Commendation.