Parliamentary committee approves making pickpocketing public offense

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 3, ARMENPRESS. The Committee of State-Legal Affairs of the Armenian Parliament approved the bill which if passed will make pick-pocketing a public offense instead of the current civil (private) offense.

Deputy Minister of Justice Anna Vardapetyan briefed the lawmakers on the bill. She said that now criminal proceedings are initiated for pickpocketing cases exclusively on the basis of the victim’s complaint. But if the offense is shifted into the criminal offense dimension proceedings can be launched even without such complaints.

The adoption of the bill is expected to raise the efficiency of fighting different types of robberies with adequate punishments and the atmosphere of impunity will be eliminated, she said.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan