WHO MUST PAY FOR THE MISTAKES OF OFFICIALS?

KarabakhOpen
27-06-2008 11:55:08

The Heritage Party of Armenia proposes amendments by which the
government should not pay for the mistakes of government officials. The
party sent the letter to the government of Armenia proposing amendments
to the law by which charges will be brought against officials for
damage to taxpayers and the public budget. According to the amendments,
damages must be compensated out of the pocket of those officials who
inflict damage on the public budget.

It seems to be logical. Who else but the wrongdoer should be
responsible for their mistakes? But it turns out that in Armenia,
like in Karabakh, there are no laws which set down that a government
official must compensate pecuniary damages to the citizens and
the state.

There are thousands of examples, from the president to ordinary
servants.

For instance, there are no provisions in our legislation by which
the wrongdoer must compensate if the judge, notary or another public
official inflicts pecuniary damage on a citizen. Even if the court
judges that the public official is guilty, he or she will undergo an
administrative punishment, and at best they will be fired. And this
is what is offered to a citizen in compensation.

Or who must compensate the damage to hundreds of thousands
of citizens for the artificial reduction of the exchange rate of
foreign currencies? Even if the court rules that a major financial
machination was put up, the only comfort for the citizens will be
"justice which prevailed".

Or the "wholesale" sale of public property. Who was punished for
wasting the public property? At best, a "political evaluation" was
made that "privatization was marred by a great number of breaches".

How about loans which have not been repaid yet? The banks cannot
collect loans issued in 1996. It has been said that loans were issued
without any collateral. Who was brought to justice for lending a
major part of public funds to a group of people and depriving others
of assistance?

It is natural that the government would not offer a bill to the
parliament by which public officials would be brought to justice for
intentional mistakes. But why does the parliament fail to bring up
this issue? After all, as a result of the absence of responsibility
the consciousness that they will not be punished is established,
which leads to new crimes.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress