Part of the SSP's Powers Transfer Covertly to the NSS: D. Ioannisyan

Daniel Ioannisyan, founder of the 'Civil Society Employees Union' NGO and member of the Public Council, wrote on his Facebook page: "Part of the powers of the SSP have been transferred covertly to the NSS. Recently, the National Assembly accepted the 'Law on the Anti-Corruption Committee' in the second reading and entirely, with an accompanying package, which, among other things, will also dissolve the Special Investigative Service (SIS). However, this process was initially planned and was proceeding in a completely different manner.

In 2019, the anti-corruption policy strategy adopted by the Government established that the SIS would maintain the function of conducting pre-investigations regarding torture, as well as officials' complicity in connection with their official duties (except for corrupt crimes). This means that the investigation of corrupt crimes was supposed to be transferred from the SIS to the Anti-Corruption Committee, while the investigation of other crimes committed by officials would remain under the jurisdiction of the SIS.

Moreover, the strategy also envisioned the dissolution of the investigative department of the NSS and the transfer of its positions and tools to the SIS, the Prosecutor's Office, and the Anti-Corruption Committee. Justice Minister Rustam Budasyan had reported the same at a meeting of the Anti-Corruption Policy Council held on August 30, 2019. The same logic was embedded in the draft law on the 'Anti-Corruption Committee', which had gone through public discussions, been placed on e-draft, and accepted in the first reading in parliament.

In the package presented at the Anti-Corruption Policy Council meeting held on February 16 of this year, there was no mention of the dissolution of the SIS. Such an idea was indeed raised (without the transfer of functions to the NSS), but after my objections, it was agreed to discuss this issue later.

However, on the way from the first to the second reading, contrary to the aforementioned agreements and the government's anti-corruption strategy, without public discussions, on March 18, Justice Minister Rustam Budasyan announced that the SIS would be dissolved, and its investigative authority concerning non-corrupt crimes committed by officials would be transferred to the NSS. The draft of the dissolution of the SIS was also not present on the National Assembly's Legal Affairs Committee page and was published later.

Thus, the transfer of the SIS's dissolution and its remaining functions to the NSS became known to the public just four working days before its final acceptance in the parliament. Such a covert approach significantly contradicts the logic of decision-making in a democratic society, the government's anti-corruption strategy, and the logic of the relationship between the authorities and the public. Moreover, in substantive terms, it seems that Nikol Pashinyan wants non-corrupt cases of senior officials to be investigated by the NSS, which operates outside civil oversight. A mechanism that is very convenient for controlling officials. Otherwise, the SIS's functions could have been at least transferred to the Anti-Corruption Committee, which would operate more transparently."