Ara Zohrabian comments on Armenian ombudsman’s report

Chairman of the Chamber of Advocates of Armenia Ara Zohrabian has commented to Armenian Ombudsman Karen Andreasian’s recent special report on the right to a fair trial.

Zohrabian said that the ombudsman’s report can be divided into two parts: the first part is related to corruption mechanisms in the court system and the amount of bribes, while the second part examines the violations committed by the Council of Justice and the Court of Cassation of Armenia and the use of a policy of double standards by them.

According to Ara Zohrabian, the first part is not well-founded since it does not present any concrete facts and evidence of concrete persons.
“The publication by an official of such information about criminal acts received from anonymous sources is not only inefficient, but it also deepens society’s disappointment in the justice system,” the head of Chamber of Advocates said.

As for the second part, Zohrabian stressed that the ombudsman presented concrete facts and an analysis, which should be a signal for the three branches of power in Armenia. “It is noteworthy that the important part didn’t become a subject of discussion by general public,’” he noted.

“As regards the report’s anonymous sources concerning corrupt advocates who can be indirectly perceived by the public as mediators, I want to say: the Chamber of Advocates announced the start of a fight against advocates-mediators and will be grateful to the ombudsman or private persons who will help reveal such advocates and exclude them from the ranks of advocates,” Zohrabian said in a statement.

Let us remind you that earlier the Council of the Union of Judges of Armenia issued a statement, in which it severely criticized the ombudsman’s recent report as an ‘anti-state, illegal report that does not correspond to reality and degrades the mission of judicial power and judges’.

On the eve of Human Rights Day on December 10, the Armenian Ombudsman Office released a special report, which in particular said that the Cassation Court uses double standards, when making a decision about acceptance or rejection of a complaint. As for corruption mechanisms, the report said that according to studies and surveys, the amount of bribes in courts of first instance are lower than in higher courts.