Chairman of Anti-Corruption Committee to be authorized to reward not  only the Committee`s employees, but also individuals who provide  assistance in agency`s activities

ArmInfo. The Chairman of Armenia's Anti-Corruption Committee will be authorized to reward not only Committee employees but also individuals who assist in the  agency's activities. At its February 26 meeting, the RA National  Assembly Committee on State and Legal Affairs approved the amendments  to the Law "On the Anti-Corruption Committee" submitted by the RA  government.

According to RA Deputy Minister of Justice Gevorg Kocharyan, the  country's current legislation stipulates that the Chairman of the  Anti-Corruption Committee may reward and discipline its employees, as  well as award individuals who assist in the Anti-Corruption  Committee's activities. Furthermore, the Chairman of the Committee  may award individuals who assist in the agency's activities with a  letter of thanks, a commemorative souvenir, or a cash bonus. Medals  and insignia will now be added to this list. Moreover, this involves  rewarding not only Committee employees but also individuals providing  services to the agency.

The rationale for the draft law notes that the fight against  corruption is a process that requires joint efforts involving broad  segments of society to achieve effective results in this complex  undertaking. Moreover, the fight against corruption is not a one-time  event, but an ongoing process that requires the joint efforts of  everyone to reduce corruption risks and build a just society. The  opportunity to reward them with the aforementioned incentives serves  to properly evaluate the results of joint cooperation with the  aforementioned circle of individuals who have actively provided  assistance, support, services, or otherwise contributed to resolving  problems, identifying suspected corruption-related crimes, and to  increase their personal interest and motivation. A similar practice  is successfully applied by another agency-the Investigative  Committee.

Another amendment concerns weapons and special equipment. On November  14, 2023, amendments to the Law "On the Anti-Corruption Committee"  were adopted. These amendments introduced legislative provisions  regarding the use of physical force, special equipment, and weapons  by Anti-Corruption Committee employees. However, the legislation does  not specify the procedure for Committee employees to obtain weapons  or special equipment, transport them, store them, and surrender them.  With the adoption of the law, this issue will be resolved. Until now,  Committee employees have not had the right to use special equipment.