Focus Group Discussion on the Ban on Accepting Gifts with the Participation of Representatives of State and Private institutions and CSOs

On 26 January, the 2nd focus group discussion on the commitment “Register of gifts related to the exercise of official duties of persons holding public positions and of public servants” of OGP-Armenia National Action Plan 2022-2024 was held.

The topic of the 1st focus group discussion was the issue of the actions taken to implement the commitment “Register of gifts related to the exercise of official duties of persons holding public positions and of public servants” so far, as well as a number of questions and recommendations regarding the creation of a digital registry of gifts were discussed. This time, the main purpose of the discussion was to familiarize with the institution of the prohibition of accepting gifts, as well as the existing and planned regulations regarding it.

Representatives of the RA Ministry of Justice, the Prime Minister’s Office’s OGP-Armenia Initiative, the Ministry of High-Tech Industry, the Civil Service Bureau of the Prime Minister Office, the RA Investigative Committee, the RA Anti-Corruption Committee, the National Assembly, the RA Human Rights Defender’s Office, the Central Electoral Commission, as well as “Ucom” CJSC, “BDO Armenia” and a number of civil society organizations took part in the discussion.

Ms Elina Geghamyan, adviser to the Minister of Justice of the RA, acted as a speaker at the focus group discussion. She spoke about the improvement of the institution of prohibition of accepting gifts and the establishment of a body that supervises the prohibition of accepting gifts within the framework of the “Register of gifts related to the exercise of official duties of persons holding public positions and of public servants” commitment, as well as the existing and planned regulations.

The participants of the discussion asked a number of questions about hospitality, public supervision, existing regulations in the case of free service, regulations regarding expenses incurred during business trips and state visits, regulations related to giving gifts, as well as both the current regulations and the planned drafts in the near future, which will anticipate changes in the regulations.

This discussion was organized and carried out within the framework of the “Multi-Faceted OGP Action: Open Justice & Anti-Corruption Commitments” project implemented by the “Armenian Lawyers’ Association” (ALA) NGO with the support of the Open Government Partnership (OGP), funded by the European Union (EU) within the framework of the “EU for Integrity Programme for the Eastern Partnership” Action, and is intended to providing support to the Government in the implementation of  two commitments under the OGP-Armenia National Action Plan 2022-2024: E-Justice and Gift Registry.