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The law on Diplomatic Service was adopted in 2001. A need emerged to upgrade the sphere and update the service, presenting the amendments and addenda being proposed in the law the Chair of the RA NA Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs Vladimir Vardanyan said. The draft law on Making Amendments and Addenda to the law on Diplomatic Service was discussed at the Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs on June 1.

The draft was worked out from the necessity of resolving such problems emerged practically, which are connected with the introduction of the public service system in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the ensuring of the specification of the functioning of legislative norms, the change of the diplomatic degrees, the adequacy of the exercise of the right to the latter’s free move on the fact of having the RA citizen’s and diplomatic passports, the specification of providing diplomatic passport, taking as a basis inner-state and international legislation norms.

Within the framework of the draft elaboration, working discussions were held with the counterparts of the NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

According to Vladimir Vardanyan, necessity emerged to comply the law with the law on Public Service passed in 2018.According to the law on Civil Service, the civil service system will be introduced in the supporting structural sub-units in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Secretary General will have a deputy, who will be considered a civil servant and will coordinate the work of the supporting specialized structural sub-units, which will be of essential importance for providing regular activities of the Ministry.

On the scale of diplomatic degrees, new changes were proposed, the class degrees of the second and first secretaries will be changed, which according to Vladimir Vardanyan, were impeding the advancement in the sphere diplomatic service. It is also based in the study of the international experience.

The regulations of the relations connected with providing and denial of diplomatic passports. Providing diplomatic passports to the RA citizens will be carried out on the basis of the RA citizen’s passport. In case of the alumni of the Diplomatic School appointed an Attaché in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the study process in the Diplomatic School will be seen as a professional experience. As the rapporteur evaluated, this change will bring an update to certain extent in the sphere of diplomatic service.

Vladimir Vardanyan answered to the deputies’ questions, presenting clarifications to the term of the diplomatic passport and on the provisions referring to the regulations being carried out in the personnel reserve.

The Committee proposed to organize the debate of the draft law in 24-hour regime.

The draft law was endorsed.

The Committee debated in the second reading and endorsed the draft law on Making Amendments and Addenda to the constitutional law the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly. In the event of passing the draft, necessary preconditions will be created in terms of providing quorum for the implementation of the regular activities.

The debate of the draft law on Making Addenda to the RA Penitentiary Code and the enclosed presented draft laws was postponed for two months.