YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 15, ARMENPRESS. Acting justice minister of Armenia Artak Zeynalyan on November 15 received UN Special Rapporteur on Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, the justice ministry told Armenpress.

During the meeting the acting minister highly appreciated the current level of cooperation with the UN and attached importance to the Rapporteur’s visit to Armenia in the context of getting acquainted with the ongoing developments in Armenia and discussing the opportunities to deepen the cooperation.

In his turn the UN Special Rapporteur thanked for the reception and presented their structure’s issues of interest which mainly related to the independence of judiciary, the citizens’ exercise of right to peaceful assemblies and etc.

In response the acting minister said ensuring fundamental, guaranteed human rights by the Constitution is one of the goals of the Armenian government, and highlighted as an example the high tolerance of the authorities towards a number of recent peaceful rallies.

As for the independence of judiciary, Artak Zeynalyan stated that the former government had a great impact on the judiciary. “Our government since its first day in office announced that no judge will receive any order. The judges are free from the duty to receive instructions from the prime minister and the justice minister”, the acting minister said.

Touching upon the issue of the participation of civil society to the decision-making stage, the acting minister said the state has introduced a number of online tools to ensure the civil society’s participation in the development process of legal acts.

The UN Special Rapporteur highly valued the Armenian government’s position on ensuring the independence of judges, stating that by this the government guarantees the rule of law in the country.

At the end of the meeting the officials also discussed the ongoing anti-corruption actions and expressed readiness to deepen the cooperation.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan