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At March 14 regular sitting, the NA Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs debated the Report on Implementation Process and the Results of the RA Government Programme (2021-2026) for 2021 approved by the N 234-A decision of the RA Government of 28 February 2022. As the Minister of Justice Karen Andreasyan informed, works had been done also in the penitentiary sphere. Optimalisation works were done, as a result of which billions of drams were saved. 10 penitentiary institutions (PI) of 12 formerly functioning ones work now, the penitentiary institutions of Kosh and Hrazdan were shut down. It is designed to close several penitentiary institutions being in a deplorable state, opening new ones instead of them.

“The repairing of a penitentiary institution will be waste of direct means, instead of them we shall quickly build a new penitentiary institution, which will have all necessary divisions, also in the form of a big hospital. It means we’ll have the medical institution and all the holding regimes in the same complex,” he said. The Minister informed that they had already started the model works with the German, as well as the EU colleagues. It was noted that a big plot of land was allocated to build a penitentiary institution near Erebuni penitentiary institution. The issue of financing is also solved to certain extent: the EU and Canadian colleagues are also interested in it. “This is the issue that we can expect financing from the state budget,” Karen Andreasyan said.

The Minister also presented the other implemented works. During the financial year the salaries of the employees of the RA Expertise Centre were increased by 85%, and the new equipment was received. The Minister noted that the salaries of the Centre’s employees were very low, and they were not reviewed for many years. “The results are visible: there was growth of quantity and quality of expertise by 15%,” the Minister documented. Karen Andreasyan answered the deputies’ questions.