YEREVAN, MAY 20, ARMENPRESS. Armenia must have a judiciary that is really independent, objective, is based on the rule of law and is in accordance with the leading criteria of the civilized world, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in his remarks today on the judicial system.

He outlined several points in the process of conducting surgical interventions in the judicial system.

“The first point: all judges in Armenia without an exception should be subject to the so-called “vetting”, in other words, the people should have complete information about the judge’s political ties and origins, property condition, individual and professional characteristics both in the status of a judge and in the previous activities. Secondly, all judges, who are the authors of verdicts with gross violations of the citizens’ rights, which are approved by the ECHR decisions, should resign, leave or be dismissed. Thirdly, all those judges who know that they cannot be impartial and objective, should resign, thus by this providing service to Armenia and its people”, Pashinyan said.

As a fourth point, the PM said currently the introduction of mechanisms of transitional justice is an urgent necessity for Armenia. According to him, the Parliament must carry out a respective legislative work to implement this agenda vital for the country and have a really guaranteed independent judiciary in Armenia.

“If this will require constitutional changes, we must also take that action. If it will be needed to do this through a pan-national referendum, we will also take such solutions. All this work should be done in partnership with leading international organizations, within the frames of the best international practice and Armenia’s international commitments. It’s a long time we are discussing this entire agenda with the representatives of the UN, Council of Europe, EU, OSCE, IMF and World Bank. I hope all our international partners will stand together with Armenia because we want to have a really independent, really objective judiciary that is really based on the rule of law and is in accordance with the leading standards of the civilized world”, Nikol Pashinyan said.

He said it’s time for institutional solutions to the anti-corruption fight.

“This is the reason that I considered necessary to make a statement on these points because due to my legal and political status I ought to do everything for the people’s best expectations to turn into reality without any shocks”, the Armenian PM added.

On May 19 Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan called on citizens to block the courthouses across the country starting from May 20 early morning. The PM also announced that he will address the nation at 12:00 in a live broadcast.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan