During a discussion on vetting with Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan today, Minister of Justice Rustam Badasyan said the Ministry of Justice will set up a Performance Evaluation Committee with the purpose of making reforms in the judiciary.

“The Committee will consist of five members to be elected by the General Assembly of Judges. There will be judges and civil society representatives in order to make sure the evaluation is transparent. The current Performance Evaluation Committee can institute disciplinary proceedings, but this is not its mission,” the minister said.

The Prime Minister asked what happens if it is recorded that a particular judge has committed violations in previous court judgments. In response, Minister Badasyan said the following:

“The violations and the statutes of limitation vary. The judge has the right to address the Ethics and Disciplinary Committee, which has the right to institute disciplinary liabilities and submit a petition to the Supreme Judicial Council. Currently, if a judge has to address the justice minister to consider institution of disciplinary proceedings against him or her and if he or she doesn’t have an application, the justice minister isn’t entitled to discuss any issue regarding disciplinary liability of a judge, but if the Performance Evaluation Committee detects violations committed intentionally or with gross negligence, it will have the right to transfer the case to the Ethics and Disciplinary Committee” he said.

Badasyan stated that this practice might not be successful. “Armenia can undertake constitutional amendments and introduce a successful and widespread vetting system by taking into consideration all the practices, but it will inevitably be risky,” he said. In response to this, the Prime Minister said the government isn’t going to swing the sickle and reap everything and will give the judiciary a chance to solve the existing problems.