JUSTICE MINISTER SAYS HIGHER SALARIES OF JUDGES NOT A PANACEA FOR CORRUPTION

Armenpress
Oct 19 2006

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 19, ARMENPRESS: Justice minister David Harutunian
warned yesterday that an expected rise of salaries of court judges
should not be reviewed in the context of an anti-corruption struggle,
saying judges must have high salaries so that to enjoy the trust of
the society.

"It is not a secret that the weight of any position is decided by the
amount of salary set for it and the rise of court judges’ salaries
supposes a higher degree of their independence," he argued.

The minister said one of the ways to fight corruption in the system
was to introduce innovations such as providing by judges detailed
explanations of their verdicts. Besides, he said, all court acts and
rulings will become accessible to all through Internet.

He said one of the innovations is that parties in the court trial will
be allowed to cite previous rulings on similar cases as precedents.