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Yesterday President of Armenia Serzh Sarsgyan, while attending a ceremonious event dedicated to the Prosecutor’s Day the General Prosecutor’s Office, made the following statement: “I have already had the opportunity to say that injustice is our number one enemy and we have declared war on injustice. In that war, we must defeat, neutralize any manifestation of indifference and eliminate any phenomenon of corruption.”
If Serzh Sargsyan had really declared a war against injustice, he would first and foremost initiate actions to provide the independence of judicial system in Armenia. The independence of judiciary has fundamental importance for any country, as far as it allows to impose the rule of law on all citizens without any exception, to leave the representatives of the ruling system without opportunity to escape legal punishment and hence create the fundament for fighting against injustice.
As an example, in USA prosecutors of a number of states are initiating lawsuits against president Trump. In Armenia, unfortunately, an independence like this is out of the question. According to the “Armenia 2016 Human Rights Reports” by the United States Department of State, Armenian judicial system does not have the required level of independence.
Moreover, according to the Freedom House, a non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights, since 2008 Armenian judiciary and its independence has declined. According to Freedom House “Nations in Transit” annual report, in 2007 the Judicial Framework and Independence rating of Armenia was 5 (in a 7 point rating system, where 1 is positive and 7 is negative), meanwhile in 2016 the same rating was 5,50, recording a negative shift.
Therefore, the “war” of Armenian authorities against injustice under the rule of Serzh Sargsyan has not recorded any significant “military” achievement… On the contrary, in this “war” the authorities are recording constant defeats.
