Fostering integrity and preventing corruption in the public sector in Armenia

Details
Published: August 9, 2022
Persons in Photograph (left to right): German Ambassador to Armenia Viktor Richter, European Commission DG NEAR Team Leader Bella Nestorova, Head of Anti-corruption policy elaboration and monitoring department at Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Hasmik Tigranyan, Beneficiary Project Leader and Chairwoman of the Corruption Prevention Commission Haykuhi Harutyunyan, European Union Ambassador to Armenia Andrea Wiktorin, Project Leader Ingo Sorgatz, Resident Twinning Adviser Diana Stepina
Persons in Photograph (left to right): German Ambassador to Armenia Viktor Richter, European Commission DG NEAR Team Leader Bella Nestorova, Head of Anti-corruption policy elaboration and monitoring department at Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Hasmik Tigranyan, Beneficiary Project Leader and Chairwoman of the Corruption Prevention Commission Haykuhi Harutyunyan, European Union Ambassador to Armenia Andrea Wiktorin, Project Leader Ingo Sorgatz, Resident Twinning Adviser Diana Stepina
Armenia

The “Fostering integrity and preventing corruption in the public sector in Armenia” Twinning Project will run for 24 months, starting in June 2022, and has a budget of EUR 1 million. The project is being implemented by the IRZ in lead, together with the Latvian Ministry of Justice – in co-operation with the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau – as a junior partner.

In the last five years, Armenia has made significant strides towards tackling corruption in the country. The establishment of the Corruption Prevention Commission in 2020 and the adoption of the Anti-Corruption Strategy for the period 2019-2022 are just a few examples that highlight the progress that has been made in the field of corruption prevention policy.

However, despite this progress, these efforts have only had a limited impact thus far and corruption remains a significant problem in critical areas of public administration.

This Twinning Project aims to support and enhance the reform process and ensure the effective functioning of the anti-corruption measures in place.

The overall objective of this project is, as the name states, to foster integrity and prevent corruption in the public sector in Armenia. Specifically, the project aims to develop and assist the implementation of anti-corruption education and public awareness programmes targeted at government officials as well as the general public. The project further aims to advance the implementation of Armenia’s Anti-Corruption Strategy, in particular by enhancing the monitoring capacity of the Anti-Corruption Policy Development and Monitoring Department of the Ministry of Justice.

The main project beneficiary is the Corruption Prevention Commission.

An Opening Event was organised on 13.06.2022 in Yerevan, with the participation of representatives of the Beneficiaries as well as the German Ambassador and the IRZ project team. An official Kick-Off event for the project is planned for fall 2022.

The project has four components:

First component: Build the institutional capacity of the Corruption Prevention Commission to develop and assist in the implementation of anti-corruption (integrity) education and public awareness programmes

The first component of the project focuses on enhancing the capacity of the Corruption Prevention Commission to develop integrity education programmes and/or training courses. It will do so by improving the existing infrastructure and by developing and publishing materials for such courses which can be introduced in the general and higher education systems. It will also put in place a professional development system for government officials in the field of integrity, and develop and publish related materials and a code of conduct.

Second component: Establish strategic communication and collaboration mechanisms

The second component is concerned with improving the communication channels and collaboration mechanisms between the Corruption Prevention Commission, the civil service and media, so that the general public has a better understanding and a greater awareness of the mandate and functioning of the Commission. The aim is to put in place mechanisms that allow the Corruption Prevention Commission to effectively cooperate with external stakeholders, including anti-corruption state institutions.

Third component: Support the implementation of the Anti-Corruption Strategy by building the capacity of the Ministry of Justice to monitor

The third component of the project focuses on the Anti-Corruption Strategy and its implementation. Activities under this component aim to improve the legal framework around the Anti-Corruption Policy, to increase public awareness about anti-corruption measures in Armenia, and to develop and introduce an effective methodology for monitoring the measures put in place. Finally, the component also aims to enhance the implementation of international anti-corruption commitments generally.

Fourth component: Improve business integrity

The fourth component looks at anti-corruption measures in state-owned enterprises. It will conduct an assessment of the existing anti-corruption measures in such enterprises, and will develop and introduce additional anti-corruption measures in state-owned and public enterprises.

Completion of the EU project on judicial reform in Armenia

Details
Published: August 5, 2022
Andrea Wiktorin, EU Ambassador to Armenia (on the left), Yeranuhi Tumanyants, Deputy Minister of Justice
Andrea Wiktorin, EU Ambassador to Armenia (on the left), Yeranuhi Tumanyants, Deputy Minister of Justice
Armenia

IRZ brought the EU Grant “Consolidation of the Justice System in Armenia” to a formal conclusion on 21 July 2022 with the high-level expert conference “Judicial Reform and Access to Justice” in Yerevan. The conference addressed the role of judicial reforms in the development of democratic structures and the challenges that emerge in these processes.

Andrea Wiktorin, EU Ambassador to Armenia, used her welcome address to stress the central importance of a reliable judiciary for the country’s economic development. Deputy Minister of Justice Yeranuhi Tumanyants pointed out that the Armenian government has already undertaken efforts in the field of judicial reform, for instance its decision to continue the judicial reform strategy, which was reached on the same day. A study on the public perception of the quality of the judiciary in Armenia was designed and commissioned as part of the project and is expected to yield important impulses. The findings were presented during the conference.

The project included three components targeting the Ministry of Justice of Armenia as well as the central judicial actors – so the Supreme Judicial Council, the Justice Academy, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Bar Association, the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption as well as the judiciary itself – which supported the fundamental judicial reform under the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement between Armenia and the EU.

In addition to extensive training components and the development of a court assessment programme, the last few months of the project focused on a number of legal reforms with contributions from the project.

The results of the project were presented to a larger audience at the conference, which was also attended by the cooperation partners Expertise France, the Latvian Court Administration, representatives of several embassies of EU states and other judicial projects and funding bodies, as well as law firms and companies. Ongoing implementation is now in the hands of the Armenian actors.

How is a penitentiary institution built according to the standards of the European penal system?

Details
Published: July 20, 2022
Working group from the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia for the new penitentiary institution in Armenia; 3rd from the left: Arpine Sargsyan, Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia
Armenia

IRZ organised a study strip to Baden-Württemberg from 20 to 24 June 2022 as part of the technical assistance provided to the Armenian Ministry of Justice regarding the planned construction of a new correctional facility. The itinerary included visits to the penitentiary institutions in Karlsruhe, Offenburg and Stuttgart, as well as to the Bildungszentrum Justizvollzug Baden-Württemberg, a training centre for prison staff in Germany.

The technical assistance aims to accompany the construction of a new correctional facility in Armenia according to the latest standards of a humane penitentiary system as early as during the planning phase.

Intense discussions between the Armenian delegation and the German team of experts in the respective correctional institutions focused on prison concepts and their structural feasibility and were followed by on-site visits.

Led by the Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia, Arpine Sargsyan, the Armenian delegation consisted of the penitentiary expert team from the Armenian Ministry of Justice, the commissioned architect and the president of the NGO Social Justice.

The following consultants were involved in the discussions on the German side:

  • Thomas Müller, Prison Director at the Karlsruhe Penal Institution,
  • Hans-Peter Wurdak, Prison Director at the Offenburg Penal Institution,
  • Matthias Nagel, Prison Director at the Stuttgart Penal Institution,
  • Heiko Oberle, Deputy Prison Director at the Karlsruhe Penal Institution,
  • Dr Joachim Obergfell-Fuchs, Director of the Bildungszentrum Justizvollzug Baden-Württemberg,
  • Heinz Brüche, correctional officer, Bildungszentrum Justizvollzug Baden-Württemberg.

IRZ has advised the Armenian Ministry of Justice on reforms of the Armenian penitentiary system for several years (on the draft of the new Penitentiary Code, which entered into force on 1 July 2022, on staff training at various penitentiary institutions and on other matters).

Key support in questions of penitentiary law relating to the new correctional facility building is entrusted to IRZ expert Thomas Müller, who has provided advice on the penitentiary system for several years together with Heinz Brüche.