Today the Government held the first Cabinet meeting in 2021, chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

The Executive approved the Government’s initiative on amending the Judicial Code of the Republic of Armenia, on a package of bills on amending the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia and on amending the Law on the Academy of Justice.

The bill is meant to enhance the efficiency of pre-trial and corruption-related criminal proceedings, provide for a more efficient use of resources and reduce corruption risks. According to Minister of Justice Rustam Badasyan, this package introduces the institute of specialized judges exercising judicial control over pre-trial proceedings, as well as the specialization of judges investigating corruption crimes.

With reference to the package of bills, Nikol Pashinyan noted that Armenia is initiating a crucial stage of judicial reform. “We are in for a new patrol police to be set up in the near future. The aforementioned package is an important part of our reforms. We are forming a specialized court staff to solely deal with pre-trial proceedings. This is a widely used practice in the world. And, in fact, there will be a new procedure for selecting and appointing judges based on the moral test,” the Prime Minister said.

The Government next amended the procedure of conducting medical-social examinations. According to Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Mesrop Arakelyan, the decision introduces a simplified procedure to be followed in approving the provision of means of support to servicemen and civilians wounded in war.

The Government amended one of its previous decisions: the investment process by the non-public specialized contractual investment fund Anti-crisis investments Entrepreneur + State CJSC Manager of anti-crisis investments Entrepreneur + State. The amendment suggests calling off some subparagraphs of the annex to the decision. Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan noted that the requirements provided for by these sub-paragraphs will drastically limit the range of the Fund’s potential beneficiaries.