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The Supreme Judicial Council nominated the candidacies of Lilit Grigoryan, Artak Krkiasharyan and Mushegh Harutyunyan for the vacant position of the judge of the judicial composition of the corruption crime investigation of the Anti-Corruption Chamber of the Court of Cassation.

The item was debated at NA June 29 extraordinary session with the order established by Article 135 of the constitutional law the NA Rules of Procedure.

The candidate Artak Krkiasharyan opined that the effective and uncompromising fight against corruption is one of the prior problems of the democratic and legal states. In this respect he considered remarkable the fact that the RA Government especially emphasized the essential change of the anti-corruption institutional system by the decision on Approving the RA Anti-Corruption Strategy and 2019-2022 programme of measures of Its Implementation. In terms of the establishment and the continuous development of the institutional system of the fight against corruption the creation of the anti-corruption specialized courts was highlighted. In the candidate’s opinion, the specialized investigation on corruption cases will reach to a new level the efficiency of the fight in the sphere. In this context, Artak Krkiasharyan attached importance the role of the Anti-Corruption Chamber and its judges. To the candidate’s conviction, in case of being elected his experience and professional knowledge will allow decently implementing the duties of the judge of the Anti-Corruption Chamber of the Court of Cassation.

The next candidate Mushegh Harutyunyan, touching upon the peculiarities of the justice system, and noted particularly the delays of some cases. That, according to him, can result in the decrease of public trust towards the judicial system, put under doubt the capacities and commitments of the state in the sphere of investigation of corruption cases. With respect to the late justice, Mushegh Harutyunyan especially underlined the activity and the role of the Anti-Corruption Chamber. He also presented the motivations, which gave a basis for nominating his candidacy and spoke about the specialized activity.

In her speech the NA deputy Heriknaz Tigranyan referred to the steps undertaken by the Government in the fight against corruption. It was noted after 2018, abrupt increase of the Corruption Perceptions Index was recorded. It means that the power could work out the anti-corruption strategies in a way that not only a chain of anti-corruption bodies was created, but also public perception towards the corruption was also formed. According to Heriknaz Tigranyan, the political power showed that it has real will for fighting against corruption.

According to the law the NA Rules of Procedure, the candidate for a judge of the Court of Cassation is elected by secret ballot, by at least three fifth of the votes of the total number of the deputies by secret ballot.

Let us note that the candidate Lilit Grigoryan was not present at the meeting.