I Am Sorry That My Salary Is Higher Than a Doctor's: Karen Andreasian

The Ministry of Justice has presented a draft for public discussion, proposing a salary increase of 90-120 percent for the Prosecutor General and his four deputies. The ministry justifies this draft by the need to implement anti-corruption policies.

Justice Minister Karen Andreasian, in an interview with Hrparak.am, addressed this issue by stating: "So we are creating an anti-corruption system — an anti-corruption committee, an anti-corruption court. The central link will be the prosecutor's office administration, which will coordinate the anti-corruption chain. An investigator from the committee and a judge are expected to earn more than the investigators and judges in their own system. This is also reflected in international expert opinions, indicating that this area is more dangerous, more complex, and riskier; employees here should be compensated better."

He further added that even the Constitutional Court has debated this matter, as they were reluctant to sign off on the creation of anti-corruption courts, and the Court concluded that anti-corruption judges should earn more than other judges. “And within this system, whether we like it or not, we are proceeding with this reasoning. This has been given to me as a systemic solution, also prompted by many of our international experts. Now, in this solution, it appeared that the prosecutor must also work on the same principle as the judge and investigator. When we did this analysis, it turned out that the head of the prosecutor's administration and the prosecutor earn more than the Prosecutor General and his deputies. We attempted to raise this question before the public: should we lower the pay for all bodies or raise it for these four individuals. The public's response suggests that most would prefer to delay the anti-corruption system for at least four more years if it means not raising the salaries of these four individuals,” expressed the concerned minister regarding prosecutor salaries.

- Who is the public?
- The public comprises journalists; your colleague Narek, for instance, told me that he speaks on behalf of civil society and the public. And Narek said that civil society believes these four individuals should not receive high salaries.
- I agree; it is better to decrease the salaries of others because, when we see, for instance, that the salaries of ambulance drivers and doctors are very low, it is morally unfathomable.

- I am also very sorry about that; I even feel sorry that my salary is higher than that of a doctor.

- But the average 'Paul' will not understand this.
- Do not call me 'average Paul'; to me, there are no average or exceptional Pauls or Peters, but all people. I am very pained that my salary could be higher than that of a doctor or a teacher. However, it is also very hard to find a deputy minister who can be persuaded or begged to come work as a deputy minister while earning five times more.

- Has the budget of the Ministry of Justice increased or decreased for 2022, and by how much?
- Very little, it has barely increased, and in some places, it has decreased. If you see it numerically, you would say, ‘Wow, it has increased,’ but it hasn’t really. We simply have EU grants dedicated solely to reforms in the justice sector.

- Regarding the closure of two penal institutions, "Kosh" and "Hrazdan" prisons, will there be financial savings here?
- We will save funds there; part of the funds will be returned to the budget, while another part will be used for our other needs.

- Where will the inmates and staff of these prisons be transferred?
- The prisoners and detainees will be transferred to other penal institutions; we have many vacant places, hence there will be no issues in this regard. Some of the staff will be transferred to "Armvair" penitentiary, while others might have the opportunity to work in probation because a portion of those positions will go into probation, and some will remain in reserve until we see.

- Is the probation institution functioning well now?
- It is one of our best institutions, but there is still much to be done.

- Currently, how many beneficiaries are there?
- There are many beneficiaries; I believe it is around 3,000 people, if I am not mistaken, and it is one of our best structures because it is doing the most positive work.