"On the initiative of the President of the Supreme Judicial Council, Karen Andreasyan, with the involvement of the Ministry of Justice, since November 2022, another encroachment is being carried out in the direction of limiting the independence of the judiciary.
A draft was drawn up by the SC and discussions were organized in order to provide a cover for public and professional discussion, the purpose of which was to eliminate or change the form of one of the important bodies of the administration of the judiciary, the General Assembly of Judges, the Judges' Performance Evaluation Committee, and the possibility for the president of the SC to obtain new leverage over the judiciary. , the president of the Union of Judges, Alexander Azaryan, made such a statement. He emphasizes that in the initial project on making amendments and additions to the constitutional law "Judicial Code of the Republic of Armenia", it was even proposed to entrust the verification of judges' activities not only to the judicial department, but also to the Ministry of Justice. :
"Then, under the objections of the judges and even the international expert invited by them, they recorded a certain retreat from the initial wishes and drew up a project that, among others, suggested that judges with at least two years of work experience be checked every two years, and the process would be carried out mostly by non-judges and their through the commission formed by ).
Even though the judges have expressed negative positions regarding similar attempts since November 2022, the President of the BSC and officials subordinate to him tried to implement the mentioned changes, creating the illusion of a public discussion, presenting the project as an initiative of the judiciary. Moreover, Karen Andreasyan, as the BSC, also presented his wishes on his personal websites as an established reality, and after meetings with representatives of all international organizations, he stated that he presented the new evaluation system to them, expecting support. discussions dedicated to the presentation of the new system, that is, they considered it as an established reality. (see link). Later, the Ministry unwillingly submitted the project package to the Venice Commission for consideration.
The Union of Judges also sent a negative opinion on the project to the Venice Commission. Yesterday, on October 14, 2024, the comprehensive and negative position of the Venice Commission was published on almost all key points of the project, which is available on the organization's website. Thus, it is once again documented that With the package of the new legislative draft, the SC, represented by the chairman of the council, tried to limit the independence of the judiciary by including one of its governing bodies, the Judges' Evaluation Commission, under its control. It should be noted that although there is a need for reforms in the mentioned area. , but the changes should primarily come from the independence of the judiciary as a starting point, and the rest are subordinate to the independence of the judges. This issue, as well as Karen Andreasyan's "disciplinary proceedings" against the independence of the judges and the judiciary in recent days, will be addressed in the near future. said in the statement of the President of the Union of Judges.
