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At November 10 regular sitting of the NA Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs, the draft law on Ratifying the Agreement on Facilitating Application of the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in the Criminal Matters of 20 April 1959 between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Italy was debated by Kristinne Grigoryan’s presentation.

The Agreement has a goal to improve the cooperation between the two countries on certain forms of the mutual assistance, including the legal assistance in the criminal matters. It also adds the provisions of the European Convention of 20 April 1959 on Mutual Assistance in the Criminal Matters and facilitates its application.

According to the Agreement, the parties are obliged to show legal assistance to each other, which includes the provision of the materials and documents regarding the criminal procedure, carrying out investigative actions on persons, places and objects, implementation of searches, freezing assets and confiscation, the seizure of any items on the incomes and criminal crime, informing on the results of the criminal procedure and other actions.

The co-rapporteur NA deputy Aram Vardevanyan indicated the presented special opinion of the judge of the Constitutional Court (CC) Yervand Khundkaryan on the document on indecently introducing the relevant document. He informed that he would vote abstained.

The Committee members have noted that the problem is of technical nature, and there is the decision of the Constitutional Court related to the issue.

The RA First Deputy Minister of Justice Kristinne Grigoryan has noted that the special opinion of the CC Judge Yervand Khundkaryan does not refer to the issues of compliance of the Constitution with the obligations under discussion. The thing is about the procedure issue, which is overcome.

The draft law was endorsed.

At the author’s proposal the package of the draft laws on Making Addendum to the Criminal Code and on Making Addendum to the Criminal Procedure Code was postponed up to two months.