Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan held a consultation to discuss steps and measures aimed at handling the courts’ heavy workload through equal distribution of cases, simplified case study procedures, as well as issues related to the postponement of court sessions.
The Ministry of Justice was reported to have developed a legislative package of amendments to the Judicial Code and the Civil Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia in compliance with the Prime Minister’s instruction. The amendments suggest reducing to ten percent the limit of cases submitted to court chairmen, except for the President of the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction. This will help cope with the problem of case distribution and disproportionate workload between judges.
The proposed amendments provide for a clearly formulated clause on the delay of court sessions in the Judicial Code, which must stipulate that such decisions should be exclusively substantiated. A simplified procedure is envisaged for dealing with cases implying alleged confiscation of up to two million drams. At the same time, as an extrajudicial measure, it is proposed to establish a system of electronic communication between notaries, banking and credit organizations and providing notaries with electronic stamps and signatures.
The legislative package stipulates that Yerevan will have one common jurisdiction court. It was reported that the number of judges, and thereby, the effectiveness in the management of courts and budgetary resources will be enhanced.
The need for increased number of judges at the Administrative Court of Appeal and enhanced efficiency in the processing of administrative appeals was discussed during the meeting.
Prime Minister Karapetyan appreciated the proposed legislative package and instructed to submit it to the Government Staff after addressing some technical issues.