SOCIETY SHOULD ASSESS JUDICIAL SYSTEM

Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
19 Feb 05

On February 15 the meeting of the board of the NKR Office of Public
Prosecutor took place, which discussed the results of work done
in 2004 and the statements of the qualification committee. At the
meeting were present NKR President A. Ghukassian, Public Prosecutor
M. Ghukassian, other representatives of the judicial system. The
meeting discussed the work of the police in the previous year, the
necessity and means of improving the effectiveness of the work of the
police. It was mentioned that in the previous year the office of the
public prosecutor conducted checking 115 times and revealed 403 cases
of infractions. According to the statement, the recorded infractions
are typical of almost all the regions with slight differences. Although
numbers are for the good work of the police, there are still unsolved
problems. The public prosecutors of the regions said, they do not
have necessary conditions for better work. For example, the regions of
Shahumian and Kashatagh do not have means of communication, telephone
and transport. Another important question is the problem of training
and qualifying specialists. In 2004 96 suits for protection of state
interests were filed with total claims of 61 million 787 thousand
drams, which were mainly satisfied by the court. The analysis of the
juvenile delinquency rates for 2003 and 2004 showed that in 2004
the rate of juvenile crime grew considerably. To compare, in 2003
17 adolescents committed 13 crimes, whereas in 2004 48 adolescents
committed 34 crimes. On the whole, 518 crimes were committed in NKR
in 2004 (decreasing by 87 against 2003, of these 391 are defined by
criminal law). The majority of delinquencies are connected with rental
of land, government loans. According to the statement of the public
prosecutor of the region of Martuni, the growth of the crime rate
is also determined by the social conditions of people. The majority
of people who committed theft are married men under 40 (who have
to supply their families). Promising to settle the problems which
directly depend on the government, the president of NKR mentioned the
importance of cooperation between the police, courts and the office
of the public prosecutor.

SRBUHI VANIAN.
19-02-2005