On April 17 and 18, the Government-Civil Society International Expert Conference: “RA Anti-Corruption Strategy under International Experience” was held in Yerevan. The Conference was organised jointly by the Armenian Lawyers’ Association, the CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia and the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia, in the framework of the “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” project supported by the European Union, and in collaboration with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Centre for International Private Enterprises (CIPE).

Sona Ayvazyan, Executive Director, Khachik Harutyunyan, Anticorruption Expert and Hayk Martirosyan, Legal Expert of Transparency International Antiցorruption Center were among panelists of the Conference (watch the video from minute 1։19։27). Sona Ayvazyan pointed out the priorities of the anticorruption strategy. She mentioned that the revolution which took place in the previous year was the culmination of the people’s dissatisfaction resulting from the corrupt system. “It shows that the three strategy documents and their implementation since 2013 did not make any positive changes and the seizing state power, tolerance towards corruption, impunity, and social injustice at some point was just the last straw for the public and they took this step. The revolution itself gives an assessment of the efforts of the Armenian government in the fight against corruption, which, in essence, was the absence of political will,” Sona Ayvazyan said.

Khachik Harutyunyan presented the challenges for selecting and implementing the institutional anti-corruption model in Armenia (watch the video from minute 3:19:10) .“Armenia today has a total of 4 challenges in the fight against corruption. First of all, it is the return of assets, second – the implementation of criminal justice against former corrupt officials, and third – the introduction of such mechanisms in the current political context to mitigate, control, and minimize corruption to possible extent. And fourth, to create a culture of intolerance towards corruption,” Khachik Harutyunyan said.

Hayk Martirosyan presented the challenges of asset recovery in Armenia (watch the video from minute 5։57։19). He noted that the public expectations and perceptions associated with the institute of asset recovery do not necessarily lead to the return of assets. The expectations of the society lead to the fact that this process is transparent and does not lead to additional corruption risks, and doubts among the public. “It must be observed that the institute of asset recovery is not just a legal institution, it also has an economic and political component that requires a deeper study and should be addressed in this respect from each aspect. Diminution or neglect of the role of each component in the whole process can lead to failure of the case,” Hayk Martirosyan said.

Original source, the website of the Armenian Lawyers Association