During the work meeting with the President of the Republic of Armenia, the Minister of Justice Arpine Hovhannisyan reported on the main directions of the Ministry’s activities as well as on the institutional reforms undertaken for the fight against corruption.
The Minister said that the new body for preventing the corruption would be established on the basis of the senior officials of the Ethics Committee and would have status of an autonomous body taking into account the new solutions of the Constitution. According to the Minister, the new body will be granted with the independent guarantees in line with the international standards, its members will be appointed by the National Assembly, and in exercising their powers they will not be subject to any official or body, as well as they will enjoy the right of immunity. The body will be financed by the state budget and will have its separate staff.
Arpine Hovhannisyan also reported that the anti-corruption body had been assigned with new powers, such as the analysis of property, income and interest declarations, the supervision of maintenance of limitations and incompatible demands exercised on the officials and the implementation of measures aimed at raising the awareness level among public, etc. In case of violation of declarations, the body is entitled to apply the administrative means of responsibility towards officials, and in case of crime discovery, the appropriate materials will be sent to the Prosecutor’s office.
The Minister of Justice informed that a number of institutions aimed at preventing corruption had been amended, for example the system of interest declaration was included, the scope of people presenting declaration was expanded, and the rules for preventing the conflict of interests were clarified.
The President of the Republic of Armenia gave the appropriate orders.
At the end of the meeting, the President thanked the Minister of Justice Arpine Hovhannisyan for her activities during her tenure and expressed confidence that Arpine Hovhannisyan as the newly elected official at the National Assembly will work with the same enthusiasm and will be as active as she was in the government.