Component 1: Supporting the civil justice reform - enhancing the independence, efficiency and quality of the judiciary

Project title

 Implementation of judicial reforms

Component 1: Supporting the civil justice reform - enhancing the independence, efficiency and quality of the judiciary.

PROJECT DURATION

Duration: 36 months.  The project runs from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2021.

Partnership for Good Governance: PGG

The Council of Europe is implementing this project under the “European Union/Council of Europe Partnership for Good Governance”.

Euro 905 000
Beneficiaries / Partners
  • Ministry of Justice
  • Judiciary
  • Justice Academy
  • Parliament
  • Supreme Judicial Council and other judicial governing organisations
  • judges
  • advocates
  • mediators
  • arbitrators
  • court users and the public at large
overall objective

To further promote judicial independence, the effectiveness of legal proceedings and access to justice in Armenia by providing legal drafting support to the post constitution justice reform processes in the fields of justice, judiciary and disciplinary frameworks, as well as by enhancing the application of mediation and arbitration in accordance with Council of Europe standards and recommendations.

key issues to be address
  • further implementation of the CoE standards and best practices of the Member States on the independence, impartiality, efficiency and quality of the judiciary;
  • increasing the role and efficiency of the work of the Judicial Self Governing Bodies to ensure the independence of courts and judges;
  • low level of practical application of arbitration and mediation as alternative dispute resolution methods.
PROJECT COMPONENTS

1.  National legal acts on the judiciary are developed, revised and implemented in line with Council of Europe standards

Aim of the component: to provide advice and support to the Armenian authorities in developing national legislation on functioning of the judiciary, including through the provision of expertise/assessments/opinions/recommendations.

2. The transparency and efficiency of the work of the Judicial Self-governing Bodies, namely the newly established Supreme Judicial Council and the General Assembly of Judges is enhanced with the support of the Project

Aim of the component: to support with the development of internal procedures and institutional capacities of the judicial Self-governing bodies in compliance with the Council of Europe standards, recommendations and best practices.

3. Equal access to justice and legal certainty is enhanced and the efficiency of the performance and management of the courts are improved in line with the Council of Europe standards

Aim of the component: to support the mechanisms allowing a more effective access to justice for vulnerable groups; to support with the development of court management tools and the application of the CEPEJ efficiency and quality measurement tools; to increase the awareness of court users about their rights and obligations, as well as the rights and obligations of judges, prosecutors, advocates and other parties of the case.

4. Practical application of arbitration and mediation in Armenia is improved in order to facilitate access to justice and for the benefit of the public, the reduction of the backlog of cases and the overall economic growth.

Aim of the component: to support Armenian authorities in developing and improving the national legislation on and practical application of alternative dispute resolution; to enhance the dialogue between judges and mediators/arbitrators; to raise the awareness of the general public about the alternative dispute resolution methods.

Armenian website
Direct access to Armenian website for further information.

Actualité

Retour Online discussion of the post-adoption review of the Judicial Code of Armenia

Online discussion of the post-adoption review of the Judicial Code of Armenia

On 26 February 2021 an online discussion of the ''Post-adoption review of the Judicial Code of Armenia'' took place within the framework of the Partnership for Good Governance (PGG II) Project ''Support to the judicial reform – enhancing the independence and professionalism of the judiciary in Armenia'' (further – the Project), funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe.

One of the Project components is focused on the assessment of legislation related to the justice system of Armenia and the provision of recommendations as to strengthening the independence, impartiality and efficiency of the judiciary in Armenia, in line with the Council of Europe standards.

In March 2020, following the Joint Opinion CDL-AD(2019)024 of the Venice Commission and the Directorate of Human Rights of the Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law (DGI) of the Council of Europe, the National Assembly of Armenia adopted the Law on Amendments and Addenda to the Judicial Code and 13 related laws, which entered into force in May 2020. In December 2020, the Project initiated a post-adoption review of the amended Judicial Code with the objective to identify to what extent the recommendations provided by the Joint Opinion CDL-AD(2019)024 are incorporated into the amended Judicial Code.

The post-adoption review was conducted by international experts Mr. Gerhard Reissner (former President of the Consultative Council of European Judges) and Mr. Duro Sessa (former President of the Consultative Council of European Judges, the President of the Supreme Court of Croatia). Both experts have been involved broadly in the expert work in many Council of Europe member states, including by various Council of Europe Committees. They were also a part of the group of rapporteurs engaged in providing the Joint Opinion of the Venice Commission CDL-AD(2019)024 in 2019.

The objective of the discussion was to agree with the Armenian stakeholders the preliminary findings and conclusions of the post-adoption review with regard to the Judicial Code. The discussion was attended by the representatives from the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Judicial Council, the Court of Cassation, the Delegation of the European Union to Armenia. Following the exchange of opinions during the online discussion, the text of the post-adoption review will be finalised with the account of the suggestions and commentaries of the national partners. The final version of the post-adoption review will be disseminated publicly.

Yerevan, Armenia 26 February 2021
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