Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan spoke about the judicial system on the live stream. He said that he is constantly receiving reports that the judicial system in Armenia actually has been paralyzed because the judges and the courts do not know what to do and how to act. “They are probably accustomed to instructions. There are ideas that maybe it makes sense not to paralyze the system and help to find way out from this or that issue. I want to say that this is a red line for me and I cannot allow any representative of the government to cross the red line. Two things are needed to have a fair judicial system: letting judges make decisions within the scope of their authority, and closing all the ways that solve problems through bribe: any judge who takes bribe should know that he will be prosecuted”.
Pashinyan clearly stated: “Ladies and gentlemen, there will be no instructions from Baghramyan 26 directed to the judges anymore”.
The Prime Minister said that any government official has the right to give any instructions to the judges. Today, judges in Armenia have guarantees of operation in accordance with the Constitution, and they should utilize these guarantees, they should make an objective judgment for any case based on the evidence available to them. This rule should not be broken.
Pashinyan also said that views have been voiced as if sometimes it is allowed to break rules for good purposes. “I think it will become a habit in the future, with all the complicated consequences. I want to state clearly that no one in the Republic of Armenia has the right to interfere in the judicial system’s work, even people within the judicial system, and if judges have assumed responsibility, have assumed that post, they should also take responsibility to make judgments and decisions. I would like to make an important political stress in this context. For a long time, we have come across a situation when the penitentiary institutions are crowded and two people are detained for each one place. This issue is a bit of a political approach”.
Pashinyan said that he shares the view that the realities must be taken into account while setting detention sanctions. When someone’s detention is not justified, he should not be detained. “Penitentiaries are overcrowded and inmates sleep in turns. This is torture”. He said he supports the position of the Minister of Justice, the number of prisoners should not exceed the number of beds available in penitentiary institutions.
Referring again to the operation of the judges, the Prime Minister said that the authorities will no longer give instructions to the judges whether what decision to make, and the judges will be responsible for their own decisions, they must make legitimate, objective judgments that must be born exclusively within the framework of the Armenian legislation, international conventions and ECHR judgments. He said that there is a will to have an independent judicial system and we will have such a system: “No office will give instructions anymore, those who give will be punished. Judges who try to take bribe will be punished”.
Hripsime JEBEJYAN
