President held a meeting on the prospects of development of the RA state service system

Today, President Serzh Sargsyan held a meeting to discuss prospects of development of the RA state service system. Present at the meeting were the Prime Minister of Armenia, Minister on International Economic Integration and Reforms Vache Gabrielian, Head of Government Staff-Minister David Harutyunian, Minister of Justice Arpine Hovhannissian, Head of the Civil Service Council Manvel Badalian, Chairperson of the high-level officials Ethics Commission Siranush Sahakian, and relevant officials from the Presidential Administration.

At the beginning of the meeting, speaking about the legal process of the formation of the state service system, which commenced with the adoption in 2001 of the RA Law on Civil Service, the President of Armenia underscored that later it became a base for the adoption of nearly two dozen laws for other types of services. The implementation of the mentioned laws allowed to achieve a considerable success in the formation of different types of the state service.

According to the President, through the years the RA Civil Service Council, as an independent body, has been playing a significant role in maintaining a proper and regular functioning of a number of state governance bodies. Serzh Sargsyan said that at the initial stage sticking with the centralized model was justified, however in line with new realities the social developments require new approaches and there appears a necessity to look for new solutions. “The improvement of the state service structure has always been in the center of our attention and remains a priority for the state. I believe, the time has come to try to improve the system using a new model,” underscored President Sargsyan. The Vice Prime Minister, Minister of International Economic Integration and Reforms Vache Gabrielian presented the essentiality of reforming the state service system, results of the research conducted towards that end, positive and negative aspects of the models developed based on the results of the research, as well as the model, which in government’s view, will be the most efficient. According to Vache Gabrielian, it implies the change of status for the Civil Service Council, which will inevitably result in reviewing the scope of responsibilities of the Council.

In the framework of the meeting’s agenda, Minister of Justice Arpine Hovhannissian reported on the package of legal amendments under discussion which will create a unified anticorruption body. According to Minister Hovhannissian, it will be created based on the high-level official ethics commission, resulting in the expansion of the authority of the commission.

After the discussions, the President of Armenia presented his approaches regarding these issues and gave corresponding instructions. Noting that the proposed model has certain advantages, the President expressed the view that it could be taken as a base for future works; however according to Serzh Sargsyan, it is necessary to establish a working group to ensure the productivity of the entire process and to painstakingly discuss every detail. The group will comprise representatives of all interested structures, and their positions and observations will be taken into consideration.

At the same time, the President stressed the importance of considering during such discussions the peculiarities of the new constitutional regulations, stemming objectives and problems. He said that it is important to provide for a strict division of functions between the government and independent bodies and ensure their efficient cooperation.