Next Monday, 27 November, the Council of Europe's anti-corruption body, the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), will participate in a conference in Yerevan on the implementation by Armenia of the latest recommendations by GRECO.

The latest evaluation report on Armenia was published in February 2016; it focused on prevention of corruption among parliamentarians, judges and prosecutors. The report, in particularly, noted that the judiciary in Armenia was particularly prone to corruption and its independence needed to be strengthened. There were concerns about the lack of clear separation of powers, the weakness of the Parliament and insufficient transparency in public decision-making. GRECO specifically recommended that the rules on the acceptance of gifts by parliamentarians, judges and prosecutors, as well as on submitting regular asset declarations, on their control and enforcement be further developed and made more effective. Further improving the transparency of the parliamentary process, adopting a code of conduct for members of parliament, preventing circumvention of the restrictions on business activities by parliamentarians, were also among the recommendations.

The conference is organized by the Council of Europe and the Human Rights Defender of Armenia. Gianluca Esposito, Executive Secretary of GRECO, will be a keynote speaker at the event.

The conference will take place on 27 November at the Armenia Marriott Hotel Yerevan.

The conference is organized under the project “Support to the implementation of the judicial reform in Armenia” funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe.