Judge candidates’ and their family members’ property status will be checked through the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption. This is what Minister of Justice of Armenia Rustam Badasyan said during a discussion on vetting with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan today. Badasyan also informed that there are two tools that have been introduced in the Judicial Code and are referred to as integrity check of judge candidates.

“The first tool is psychological testing. The Judicial Code entered into force a couple of days ago, and in the course of three months, the Supreme Judicial Council will set the standards for psychological testing. All candidates will undergo psychological testing based on the best practice, and the Supreme Judicial Council will give an advisory opinion when the nomination is considered,” he said.

The Prime Minister asked what the government can do to see ‘bad’ judges leave, and the justice minister said the following in response: “For the first time, presenting a declaration and failing to give a proper explanation in case the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption detects increase of assets or decrease of liabilities through analysis, have been stated in the Judicial Code as a rule of conduct. For instance, a judge has acquired more assets during the reporting year, but the judge’s revenues show that he or she couldn’t have acquired so many assets.”

When Pashinyan asked about illicit enrichment and particularly if disciplinary liabilities can be instituted for assets acquired in 2013 or 2014, Badasyan said the following: “Here is where we see the difference between Albanian vetting and Armenian vetting. Armenia is criticized for not applying regressive force. If Armenia wants to do this, it means it has to check the judges of the entire judiciary immediately and in a short period of time. However, to do this, there is a need for constitutional amendments since it will be impossible to conduct widespread vetting without constitutional amendments.”