YEREVAN, DECEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. Justice Minister of Armenia Rustam Badasyan delivered remarks at the 8th session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the ministry told Armenpress.

The minister thanked for the invitation and the warm welcome and informed that after the 7th session, in the past 2 years, Armenia has transitioned to democracy both from political and institutional terms, especially in fighting and preventing corruption at various levels. In this context the minister stated that the activity of the new government is dedicated to fighting corruption, strengthening the rule of law, building stable society and added that the 2018 snap parliamentary elections were assessed by international and local observer organizations as really free, fair, transparent and democratic.

Introducing the ongoing works for fighting corruption, the Armenian minister presented the statistics of criminal cases launched over corruption crimes in 2018 compared to 2017, according to which it increased by 60%.

In the anti-corruption fight the minister also highlighted the importance of ensuring public engagement and implementing educational, awareness-raising actions in the development process of the respective legal acts.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan