YEREVAN, OCTOBER 20, ARMENPRESS. According to Justice Minister Arpine Hovhannisyan, the word “justice” doesn’t always create positive expectations among Armenian citizens.

During parliamentary discussions on the government program, Minister Hovhannisyan said in her speech she wants to formulate the problems of the justice sector, which she sees as minister.

“I am convinced that often lower courts deliver verdicts based on instructions of judges from superior courts. Ensuring the independence of judiciary member judges is also an issue. As much as we ensure external independence, we have problems of internal independence in the justice system”, the minister said.

According to her evaluation, the fact that proceedings are protracted in courts is also a problem.

“For this matter we are set to examine the workload of judges, identify standards and solve the problem by proposing specific tools. We will succeed if every issue has its addressee, if our expectations are addressed to the right recipient. In this context I want to clearly underscore that the Justice Ministry and the government have absolutely no function to interfere in judiciary authority. But they have tools to improve issues which the citizens are facing through legislative initiatives”, she said.

Speaking about the correctional system, the minister mentioned that she is also convinced that the primary issue is improving the parole release system.