The Judicial Projects Implementation Unit State Agency of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia contracted Ameria CJSC to implement the Court Monitoring Services project financed by the World Bank, by means of the Japan Government grant.
The Project aims at elaboration of a court monitoring methodology based on best international practice and introduction of court monitoring system in Armenia. Introduction of Monitoring and/or Evaluation System has become crucial for further development of the Republic of Armenia judicial system and increase of public confidence in terms of improvement of the judicial system and quality of work performed by courts. The Project aims at higher efficiency, transparency and accountability of judicial operations and services, improved awareness of judicial services, access to legal and judicial information strictly following the principle of independence of judicial system. While implementing the project all the peculiarities of the Armenia judicial system will be considered.
David Sargsyan, Head of Legal Practice of Ameria CJSC said - 'Ameria has rich experience in implementation of advisory programs, and this program is the logical continuation of the previously completed ones. It is important to put the emphasis correctly so that to ensure independence and public accountability of the judicial system. Correct monitoring and evaluation of the judicial system will result in continuous increase of responsibility. In these terms the results and further progress of the program are very important. The key objective of the judicial reforms is the enhancement of the role of judicial power and increase of public confidence in the judicial system. Establishment of the judicial system is the cornerstone of the country's right way of development. There are already some positive developments and I hope that the reforms and further developments will have positive character, too'.
The Court Monitoring Services Project is comprised of several thematic stages including (i) survey of the current condition of the court monitoring approaches in Armenia, (ii) study of best international practice, (iii) elaboration of methodology and (iv) its testing and implementation. While implementing the project Ameria will closely cooperate with state beneficiaries and the Republic of Armenia Chamber of Advocates, public organizations and other representatives of the civil society.
The project envisaged a workshop upon the end of the first stage to introduce the achievements and international practice to the stakeholders and to arrange discussions about the ways of developing more practical mechanisms and approaches for Court Monitoring Project in Armenia.
For this purpose a workshop was arranged in Tsaghkadzor on May 11-12, with participation of representatives of the Republic of Armenia Ministry of Justice, Republic of Armenia Judicial Department, Republic of Armenia Chamber of Advocates, Republic of Armenia Civil Court of Appeal, Judicial Reforms PIU, Republic of Armenia Human Rights Defender Office, GIZ and Trancparency International Anti-corruption Center, judges, and Mass Media representatives.
Ameria experts introduced the experience of France, Italy, the Netherlands, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, England and Wales. David Sargsyan assured that all the opinions and solutions presented during the workshop will be collected. They are based on the best practice and the peculiarities of the Armenian local system will be considered as well.
Arthur Tunyan, Director, Judicial Reforms PIU, said - 'The problem is that the courts should report on their activities and the society should have an opportunity and facilities to track their activities, including those of a definite court or a judge. Currently no direct regulations are applied for the society or Chamber of Advocates or other state authorities to be able to monitor the court activities. The only tool applied is the limited statistical data which are developed and presented to the public by the Judicial Department. But I do not find their quality and quantity satisfactory. The international practice shows that more statistical data are to be published and answers to a greater number of stirring questions are to be provided to the public'.
The workshop was rich in heated discussions. Ameria will sum up the results and use them in program development process. Once through with it the draft project will be submitted for broad public discussion.
The project is planned to be completed by the end of this year.
AMERIA CJSC
Ameria is a leading full-service advisory firm in Armenia with significant activity in the areas of corporate restructuring, mergers, acquisitions, legal advice, direct and portfolio investments, business and strategic planning, financial advisory and tax planning, public administration and reforms, etc. As part of Ameria Group, Ameria CJSC renders independent, confidential, and objective counsel through a uniquely harmonious and efficient system of five advisory units: Management Advisory Services, Financial Advisory Services, Assurance and Taxation, Legal Practice and Investment Banking.