Measures to protect the Right to a Fair Trial in Armenia

The right to a fair trial is the guarantee of human legal security in any democratic society. This right applies to the examination of all types of cases within the framework of civil, administrative and criminal relations. The “National Strategy for the Protection of Human Rights and its Implementation Action Plan for 2020-2022” approved by the RA Government on 26 December 2019, mostly target the measures aimed at improving the preliminary investigation of criminal cases in the Republic of Armenia. These measures aim to strengthen the legal basis for investigative and judicial action directly related to human rights, to improve the practice of gathering evidence, to encourage the principle of competition in pre-trial proceedings, to strengthen the professional capacity of key litigants, which will reduce the number of human rights violations against the accused and complaints, as well as decrease the number of complaints submitted to the ECHR with the alleged violation of the right to a fair trial.

In order to achieve these goals, it is planned to carry out the following actions in 2020-2022:

  1. Ensure the videotaping of investigative-judicial actions, as a result of which the violations of the rights of the participants in the pre-trial proceedings of criminal cases will be reduced, the cases of acquiring evidence in violation of the procedure of investigative-judicial actions will be reduced.
  2. To equip investigative departments for conducting inquiries and confrontations in order to ensure the absence of visual perception of each other by participants in this process, as a result, the number of cases of violation of the rights of the identifier and the recognized one who is interrogated will be reduced during the identification and confrontation.
  3. Legislatively establish clear criteria for using pledge as an alternative preventive measure, as a result, the number of cases of discretionary use of detention as a measure of restraint will decrease.
  4. Legislatively define the procedure for taking testimony, as a result the number of human rights violations within the framework of taking testimony will decrease.
  5. Review legal procedures for bringing to court, as a result of which the number of human rights violations within the framework of bringing to court will decrease
  6. Legislatively fix the concept of “reporting crime” by clarifying the requirements for the content of the report, as a result, the number of decisions on the violation of the rights of victims of crime and the refusal to initiate a criminal case according to international standards will be reduced.
  7. Legislatively strengthen the guarantees of criminal procedural protection of human rights activists, as a result, the number of violations of the rights of human rights activists will decrease.
  8. Conduct trainings on the right to a fair trial in accordance with international standards, including for police, military police, investigators, prosecutors, judges, as a result, the number of cases of violation of the right to a fair trial by the RA Police and the RA Military Police during the pre-trial investigation of the criminal case will be reduced; cases of violation of the right to a fair trial by the RA Investigative Bodies and the RA Prosecutor’s Office during the preliminary investigation of the criminal case, and also cases of violation of the right to a fair trial by the courts in criminal, civil and administrative cases will reduce. 
  9. Improve the legislative regulations on notification of the person to appear before the body conducting the proceedings, as a result, the number of human rights violations related to the notification by the body conducting the criminal proceedings will decrease.
  10. Improve criminal procedure legislation on imposing arrest on property, as a result of which the number of human rights violations as a result of the imposing arrest on property will decrease.
  11. Improve the legislative bases and criteria for the implementation of operative-investigative measures, the use of acquired data and standards in accordance with international standards, as a result the cases of violation of human rights within the framework of operative-investigative activities will decrease.
  12. Improve personal data protection mechanisms, as a result the state of personal data protection will increase.

The right to a fair trial as a matter of priority, and the actions envisaged under it, are directed at achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goal No. 16, which is, “to promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all.”

This publication has been produced in the scope of the “Promoting Direct Democracy for Strengthening Human Rights in Armenia” project implemented in the framework of the “Eastern Partnership Civil Society Facility” project funded by the European Union

The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the fellow for the “Promoting Direct Democracy for Strengthening of Human Rights in Armenia” project and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Union.