The Council of Justice Will Respond If There Is Any Pressure on Judges: Grigor Bekmezian

I believe discussions around vetting will always be present. For us, it's a topic that remains relevant; I don't know for how long, but it will always be there. This was stated by Grigor Bekmezian, a member of the Council of Justice, in an interview with ArmDaily.am while commenting on the initiative by Stepan Safaryan, a member of the Public Council, to develop a vetting project for the judiciary.

He emphasized that he does not interpret or discuss any actions of public political figures. “When there is any legal document, we will express our opinion then. In any case, the Council of Justice is not involved in the project’s development; this is the first time I have heard about it. At the same time, the Council of Justice will respond if any attempt is made to pressure judges that violates their independence.”

Bekmezian also reminded that the law clearly states that any initiative related to the judicial authority must have the opinion of the Council of Justice. “In other words, whatever they do, whatever project they develop, we must provide our opinion on that project. I have always said that for efficiency, it is desirable for us to be involved in the project development phase, as happened last year when the project to increase the number of judges was initiated. This one is a public initiative; I cannot say anything about it since I have not seen any substantive matter. At the same time, there are many such public initiatives, and I am personally not against cooperating and discussing with everyone, but how suitable that is and how much it may distract us from our main work, I cannot say. So until there is something substantive, I cannot comment on the project. In any case, a judge who is fair and objective should not have anything to fear.”