Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attended the high-level conference dedicated to the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Armenia themed "Independence of the Prosecutor's Office as a guarantor of the rule of law".
The event was also attended by the President of the Republic Vahagn Khachaturyan, the Prosecutor General Anna Vardapetyan, representatives of state bodies, high-ranking officials and experts of the Council of Europe and its member states, as well as heads of diplomatic missions accredited in the Republic of Armenia.
In his speech, the Prime Minister, in particular, noted:
"Honorable President of the Republic of Armenia,
Dear representatives of the judiciary,
Dear members of the Government,
Dear diplomats,
First of all, let me congratulate all the employees of the Prosecutor's Office, led by the Prosecutor General, on the occasion of the professional day and emphasize that the greatest expectation in the Republic of Armenia was and continues to be justice, justice in all spheres, starting from social to political. Of course, the most important expression of justice is perhaps the fair justice system. We, as a political authority, carry this message with us every day, starting from the social sphere and ending with significant reforms in the justice sphere.
Of course, it has nothing to do with the day, but also because I mentioned social justice, a very important event is happening in Armenia today: the minimum pension has come close to the basic food basket for the first time in the history of Armenia, and I must emphasize that in the case of non-cash pension spending for users of the casback system it also passed the minimum consumer basket.
But of course I would like to focus more on justice. We have also had significant salary increases in the justice sphere these years. The Anti-Corruption Committee was established with a high salary from the beginning, and the salaries of the employees of the Prosecutor's Office, judiciary, and investigative system have almost doubled. Of course, it is understandable that these approaches are not accepted kindly, but every time referring to the salary increase, I say that we do it first of all not for the sake of prosecutors, judges, investigators, but for the sake of citizens, because doing that we aim to increase the quality of justice provided to citizens. And, in this regard, our political task is to define a new standard of justice in Armenia, and I believe that this new standard is on the way to being defined, on the way to being approved. Of course, it's not an easy road, but we're consistently moving forward on that road.
I want to emphasize that as a result of long debates and discussions, the system of confiscation of illegal property was finally created in Armenia, again in the prosecution system. And that mechanism has started to work. Of course, the results are yet to come, but I am sure that also with the support of our international partners, we will be able to meet the expectations of the citizens of the Republic of Armenia in the conditions of the rule of law, because it is a very important component of sensing the justice.
I want to emphasize an important fact. today in the news of the Republic of Armenia very often there are reports that, for example, in criminal cases initiated under various circumstances, citizens, as well as representatives of the opposition, who are acquitted, who are convicted, including the most different decisions are made, and this is also a new form of justice, because there was time when a charge was submitted to a court, there was essentially a 99.99 percent chance that the charge would be upheld in court. Now it is not always like that, but on the other hand, of course, we expect, and I know it is also the approach of the Prosecutor's Office, to treat every case and approach it with the logic that, of course, the charges will be properly defended in court.
I would like to emphasize that the government's and political majority's attention to the judicial and prosecution system also has a very important economic motive. You know that, fortunately, very good economic dynamics are present in the Republic of Armenia, and we believe that additional spending and investments in the justice sector ensure further economic growth, because one of the most important conditions for the economy and investments is the rule of law and the existence of an equal legal framework.
Today, I cannot but emphasize one more historical fact. for the first time in the 105-year history of our prosecutor's office, a female lawyer is serving as the Prosecutor General, and this is a very important event. I must emphasize, as I have said before, that when nominating a candidate for the Prosecutor General, the political majority was not guided by gender dentistry, but by the logic of professional merits, but on the other hand, this is a very important symbol of deep substantive, socio-psychological changes taking place in our country. Also, thanking all the General Prosecutors who contributed to the work of the Prosecutor's Office, I am sure that this symbolic transformation will also mean deep changes in the Prosecutor's Office system, and we must record that we have a female lawyer not only in the position of the Prosecutor General, but also in the position of the Deputy Prosecutor General. Most recently, we had two female lawyers in the position of Deputy Prosecutor General, one of them is now the Human Rights Defender.
Today, I cannot but emphasize one more historical fact. for the first time in the 105-year history of our Prosecutor's Office, a female lawyer is serving as the Prosecutor General, and this is a very important event. I must emphasize, as I have said before, that when nominating a candidate for the Prosecutor General, the political majority was not guided by gender logic, but by the logic of professional merits, but on the other hand, this is a very important symbol of deep substantive, socio-psychological changes taking place in our country. Also, thanking all the General Prosecutors who have contributed to the work of the Prosecutor's Office, I am sure that this symbolic transformation will also mean deep changes in the Prosecutor's Office system, and we must record that we have a female lawyer not only in the position of the Prosecutor General, but also in the position of the Deputy Prosecutor General. Most recently, we had two female lawyers in the position of Deputy Prosecutor General, one of them is now the Human Rights Defender.
Congratulating all the employees of the Prosecutor's Office on the occasion of the day, I thank you for the work done. Of course, in the expectation of our people to have a just society, the Prosecutor's Office is at the forefront of that expectation between the courts and investigative bodies. And we hope and are sure that this mission will be fulfilled.
The role of the prosecution and legal system should also be the protection of democracy and law. I consider the role of the Prosecutor General's Office very important in the fight against corruption, because our belief remains that corruption is a permanent evil for every state, even more so for a state like the Republic of Armenia, whose challenges, for objective and subjective reasons known to us, are sometimes doubled, sometimes tripled.
The fight against corruption should continue to be Armenia's political, judicial, legislative, and media priority. Moreover, I would like to emphasize that we have never had and will never have a tendency to distinguish corruption according to past or present logic. Corruption is corruption no matter what year it happened. Any corruption in any year does the same damage in the future. And we cannot tolerate the presence of this phenomenon in us, our daily struggle against it should be more and more consistent.
Ms. Vardapetyan, if I'm not mistaken, I didn't have the opportunity to congratulate you on being elected to the position of Prosecutor General, at least publicly, and I want to congratulate you on being elected to that position. This is the first jubilee of the Prosecutor's Office under your leadership. I wish you all the best.
I thank you and all the employees of the Prosecutor's Office for the work done and I hope that together we will realize the aspiration of all of us, the expectation of the citizens of the Republic of Armenia to have a just state and a just society. Thank you."
The conference was organized by the European Union and the Council of Europe, co-financed by the "Partnership for Good Governance" program and implemented by the Council of Europe, within the framework of the "Support to the Implementation of Judiciary Reforms in Armenia" program.
