The Ministry of Justice continues the practice of selectively collaborating with some members of the CSO community

On 5 November, the Ministry of Justice organized an enlarged meeting to discuss the directions of the process of forming a new Commission on Constitutional Reform and a Professional Committee.

The official statement of the Ministry says:

The Minister of Justice Karen Andreasyan discussed the directions of organizing the process of constitutional reforms and the formation of the Commission on Constitutional Reform (Committee) with more than 40 deputies, heads and representatives of law scholars, parties, international and non-governmental organizations.

Minister Andreasyan thanked those present for accepting the invitation for a continuous discussion and stressed that the Ministry, having a full agenda of reforms, attaches great importance and value to the professional support and interest of stakeholders. The Minister of Justice also thanked the former members of the Commission on Constitutional Reform for the huge work done and assured that the professional “legacy” left will be taken into account in the new process.

Karen Andreasyan presented the Ministry’s proposal to the guests in connection with the formation of the Commission, the Committee and the organization of the process, expressing hope that the drafts provided to those present will be improved based on the received proposals and observations, after which they will be put into official circulation. “We propose to form a Commission on Constitutional Reforms, which will include representatives of 3 parliamentary forces, 3 extra-parliamentary forces, 3 non-governmental organizations and a number of state structures: Minister of Justice, Representative of the Republic of Armenia in the European Court of Human Rights, Chairman of the Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs, representative of the Supreme Judicial Council, Human Rights Defender. The Board will select 5 scientific experts – neutral, non-political orientated lawyers, who will carry out the most important professional work – the development of the concept, and further the draft of the Constitutional reforms,” ​​ Karen Andreasyan, said and added that the Constitution should be written through wide public discussions with the people. “It is very important not only to have the best text of the Constitution, but also to have a text of the Constitution for which the people will honestly vote,” Minister Andreasyan said, adding that the IDeA Foundation will help to achieve that goal.

Assistant to the Prime Minister Anna Vardapetyan highlighted the initiative of the Ministry of Justice to make the public a participant in this important process from the very first stage and the approach proposed by the drafts, aimed at separating political and professional platforms and elaborating an inclusive text. “It is a great honor for every lawyer to work on the most important document of the state,” Anna Vardapetyan said and wished success to the starting process.

According to Yeghishe Kirakosyan, the representative of the Republic of Armenia in the ECHR, the former Chairman of the Commission on Constitutional Reform, although it has not been published, but before the 44-day war, the Commission has passed a long way, and the conclusions formed as a result, according to Kirakosyan, can serve as a good basis for reforms to make the further process smoother. “The model that is proposed will work quite effectively, as the separation between professional and political components is the right step. It will allow avoiding certain stalemates,” Yeghishe Kirakosyan stressed.

Further, Tigran Dadunts, Director of the “Legislation Development and Legal Research Center” Foundation of the Ministry, presented details of the draft legal acts developed by the Ministry of Justice, which referred to the process of forming a new Commission on Constitutional Reform and the Professional Committee and the procedure for its activities.

After the presentation of the drafts, lawyer-scientist Anahit Manasyan, President of “Peace Dialogue” NGO Edgar Khachatryan, lawyer-scientist Hrayr Ghukasyan, Program Director of the “Union of Informed Citizens” NGO Daniel Ioannisyan, President of “Helsinki Citizens Assembly-Vanadzor” Arthur Sakunts., Head of YSU Chair of Constitutional Law Vardan Ayvazyan, Representative of “Open Society Foundations – Armenia” Tatevik Khachatryan, NA Deputy Vahagn Hovakimyan, Leader of “Bright Armenia” Party Edmon Marukyan, NA Deputy Vigen Khachatryan, President of “Europe in La Association” NGO Lusine Hakobyan and the representative of the same NGO Tigran Yegoryan held speeches and made proposals

The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Armenia H.E. Nico Schermers, participating in the discussion, considered it significant to organize such an event at the beginning of the development of such an important document and assured that the Netherlands is ready to follow and support this process if necessary.

It should be noted that if we pay attention to the composition of the invited organizations, it becomes clear that the Ministry of Justice continues its non-constructive and non-inclusive approach, working exclusively with the same civil society organizations.

In particular, it is mentioned that various people made speeches and proposals, including Edgar Khachatryan, President of the “Peace Dialogue” NGO, Daniel Ioannisyan, Program Coordinator of the “Union of Informed Citizens” NGO, Arthur Sakunts, President of the “Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor Office” NGO, Tatevik Khachatryan, Representative of Open Society Foundations – Armenia ․․․

As we have already informed, the mentioned organizations have been funded or are being funded from one source for different years – “Open Society Foundations – Armenia” (popularly known as the George Soros Foundation). 

A few days ago, on 2 November, the Ministry of Justice organized a professional discussion entitled “Course of Judiciary Reform in Post-Revolution and Post-Election Armenia”, where the participant CSOs either coincided with the participants of this event or were again funded from the same source.

Iravaban.net has already referred to that event.