Armenia’s Minister of Justice Artak Zeynalyan received today the high-ranking delegation led by Director General of the Directorate for General Human Rights and Rule of Law of the Council of Europe Christos Giakoumopoulos.

As reported the Ministry of Justice, among the delegates were Secretary of the Venice Commission Thomas Markert, Head of the Department of Justice and Legal Cooperation Hanne Juncker, Executive Secretary of the Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO) Gianluca Esposito, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Yerevan Natalia Vutova and Political Advisor, representative of the Directorate for Political Affairs Maxim Longang.

The justice minister welcomed the delegation’s visit and highly appreciated the current level of relations between Armenia and the Council of Europe. “Over the past year, the Prime Minister has stated several times that Armenia has the political will to have an independent judicial power, and the democratic reforms that took place in Armenia are sufficient to reinforce an independent judiciary in terms of institutions,” Artak Zeynalyan said.

The minister informed that the Ministry of Justice undertook the development of a strategy on judicial and legal reforms earlier this year, and the strategy will be submitted to the government for consideration in the fall.

Touching upon the application of transitional justice, Zeynalyan noted that it is on the agenda and emphasized that Armenia also looks forward to the support of experts from the bodies of the Council of Europe.

Head of the delegation of the Council of Europe Christos Giakoumopoulos expressed gratitude for the reception, stated that Armenia’s judiciary is in a process of radical reforms and expressed the support of the Council of Europe to the implementation of those reforms.

Minister Zeynalyan assured that the reforms in the judiciary will be implemented in line with the Constitution of Armenia and the assumed international commitments and will ensure wide inclusivity.