European Union disburses € 9 million in grants to support justice reforms in Armenia

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. The European Union (EU) informed the Government of Armenia about the disbursement of € 9 million in grants to support Justice Reforms in Armenia, the EU Delegation in Armenia told Armenpress.

The EU's decision follows a positive assessment on progress in the implementation of the Judicial & Anticorruption Strategies, macroeconomic stability, public financial management and state budget transparency.

In line with the EU-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement CEPA standards and associated EU-Armenia Strategic Policy Dialogue on Justice Reform, this assistance package will contribute to strengthening the integrity and accountability in the justice system, improving access to modern and quality judicial services and establishing a specialized Anticorruption Court in Armenia.

This direct financial contribution recognizes and supports the Government commendable efforts to advance important, comprehensive legislative and institutional reforms in the judiciary and therefore also improve the overall business environment. This EU assistance announced today is complementary to other instruments of technical assistance and capacity building support such as with the German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation IRZ, as well as in the Eastern Partnership region with the EU-Council of Europe Partnership for Good Governance and various EU4Integrity projects.

H.E. Andrea Wiktorin, EU Head of Delegation, said: “I welcome today’s announcement on this very important budget support disbursement for Armenia. Once again, both EU and Armenia peoples and institutions come together to deliver on good governance and rule of law reforms. The European Union and its Member States are contributing to increase accountability of the judiciary and prosecutorial bodies and push for zero tolerance towards corruption in Armenia. We share the challenge and we can only succeed together”.

Rustam Badasyan Minister of Justice, said: “First, I want to highlight that this disbursement of 9 MEUR is the first tranche of the Justice reforms budget support program with overall amount of 30 MEUR. It is important to reaffirm that theJudicial and Anti-Corruption Reforms remain the priority directions for our Government and we are happy to state that the good progress achieved during this one year has also gained appreciation of our European partners. Weare thankful to the European Union for continuoussupport and effective cooperation in Justice sector.”