Investigation Speed of Criminal Cases to Increase: Badassyan Discusses New Bill

The Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia, Rustam Badassyan, assures that the speed of criminal case investigations will increase in the near future, and the effectiveness of specialized investigations into corruption cases will improve. Badassyan made this statement on his Facebook page, commenting on the bill that has been accepted in the National Assembly in the first reading.

“The legislative package on the establishment of anti-corruption and appellate anti-corruption courts was accepted by the National Assembly today in the first reading. The specialized anti-corruption court will have at least 25 judges, of which 20 will review cases related to corruption crimes, and 5 will also handle civil cases of property confiscation based on the 'Law on the Confiscation of Property of Illegal Origin,'” the minister wrote.

The appellate anti-corruption court will have at least ten judges. Badassyan informs that these numbers are not final. According to him, all appointed judges will undergo an integrity check, or as it is commonly referred to in public, vetting.

It should be noted that the government has approved the constitutional law on amendments and additions to the “Judicial Code of the Republic of Armenia” and a package of related laws. According to this, a specialized judicial institute will be created to exercise judicial control over pre-trial proceedings (detention, search), and specialization of judges conducting investigations of corruption crimes is to be implemented.