The overwhelming majority of proposals included in the package of judicial reforms in Armenia correspond to European standards and contribute to the fight against corruption without threatening the independence of the judiciary, concluded the experts of the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission in an opinion published this week. Nevertheless, they emphasized that the proposal for the early retirement of certain judges of the Constitutional Court would not be objectionable in the draft law only if that retirement were on a strictly voluntary basis and did not hinder the effective functioning of the Constitutional Court, stated the press release issued by the Council of Europe’s press secretary.
The Venice Commission noted that in developing the judicial reforms in light of a “strong public demand,” the Armenian government acted responsibly and prudently, and was open to dialogue with both the Armenian public and international partners. As a result of the dialogue, the government withdrew from most of the most radical proposals, stated the opinion presented by the Venice Commission’s experts based on the request of Armenia’s Minister of Justice.
