Discussions around the new draft Penitentiary Code

01/11/2019

Today, the Minister of Justice participated in the first meeting of the series of the two-day discussions devoted to the new draft Penitentiary Code of the Republic of Armenia, organised by German Foundation for International Legal Co-operation.

The Minister extended his gratitude to the Federal Republic of Germany and especially to the German Foundation for International Legal Co-operation for effective
co-operation and the meeting with the Ministry of Justice.

Rustam Badasyan emphasised the fact that the expert potential of educational institutions and especially that of the Law Faculty of Yerevan State University might greatly contribute to the implementation of sector-specific reforms.

The Minister also noted that, currently, implementation of reforms in the penitentiary and probation sector is one of the priorities of the Government. Accordingly, draft Strategy of Penitentiary and Probation Sector for 2019-2023 is currently at the stage of elaboration. It will be soon submitted to the Government for approval.

At this stage of reforms, Minister Badasyan attached importance to the adoption of the new Penitentiary Code, which will be in line with international standards, and the effective activities being carried out at this direction by the Working Group engaged in the development of the Code.

 Highly appreciating the role of the current Penitentiary Code in the legal system of our country, the Minister meanwhile stated that under modern conditions it is objectively no longer able to sufficiently fulfil the democratic achievements of the rule-of-law state. The need for making amendments to the Code has become more substantial in the light of assessments of international organisations with participation of the Republic of Armenia, such as the CPT, the UN Human Rights Committee, and other organisations.

Rustam Badasyan noted that the new draft Penitentiary Code contains core and new solutions aimed at resolution of many issues, at the same time stating that the contribution of State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice of Lower Saxony Genrman State Dr. Stefan von der Beck in identification of those solutions was great.

Summarising his speech, the Minister wished a productive discussion to the participants of the discussion.

Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Republic of Armenia Michael Banzhaf extended his welcoming speech to the participants as well. The Ambassador attached importance to the long-term and effective co-operation with the Ministry of Justice and stated that these meetings serve as basis for intensification of the Armenian-German co-operation. According to the Ambassador, adoption of the new Penitentiary Code would contribute to the establishment of the Republic of Armenia as a rule-of-law state.

Head of South Caucasus and Southeastern Europe Division of German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation (IRZ) Frank Hupfeld, Dean of the Law faculty of Yerevan State University Gagik Ghazinyan and State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice of Lower Saxony German States Dr. Stefan von der Beck also delivered welcoming speeches.

During the meeting, the participants discussed a number of issues related to the purposes of punishment, the principles of execution of punishment, re-socialisation of convicts and the main means thereof, judicial oversight over execution of punishment, short-term imprisonment and the conditions for serving the punishment.