1 / 7

On May 31, the President of the RA National Assembly Ararat Mirzoyan received the high ranking delegation of the Council of Europe. The Director General of Human Rights and Rule of Law Christos Giakoumopoulos, the Secretary of the Venice Commission Thomas Markert, the Head of Justice and Legal Cooperation Department Hanne Juncher, the Executive Secretary of the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) Gianluca Esposito, the Head of the Council of Europe Office in Yerevan Natalia Voutova and the Political Advisor Maxime Longangue were in the delegation.

Welcoming the guests in the National Assembly the Head of the Parliament thoroughly has presented the processes developing in our country after the Velvet revolution, touched upon the reforms being implemented in different spheres, including electoral, judicial and tax systems, the steps which are aimed at fight against corruption, the further development of democracy and the further strengthening of civil society. Ararat Mirzoyan detailed the guests his vision of the transitional justice.

“We highlight that the reforms underway will be of institutional character, which would provide the continuity of the adopted policy,” Ararat Mirzoyan said.

Thanking for the warm reception Christos Giakoumopoulos has noted that their goal of the visit to Armenia is to discuss such problems with the authorities and different colleagues, as the independence of the justice system, the right to fair judicial examination, the fight against corruption and the protection of human rights. According to him, by the results of the situation assessment different structures of the CoE will propose short-term and mid-term experts’ support and the further directions of cooperation will be predetermined.

Both sides recorded the importance of the inclusion provision, different political forces and the active participation of the civil society in the processes of reforms.

The Head of the legislative body expressed his gratitude to the structures of the Council of Europe for the assistance shown in the most different spheres, as well as for the readiness of further cooperation.