COE VENICE COMMISSION INSISTS ON MAINTAINING STATUS OF IMMUNITY OF EMPLOYEES OF ARMENIAN OMBUDSMAN’S ADMINISTRATION
ArmInfo
2008-10-23 18:35:00
ArmInfo. The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe insists on
maintaining of the status of immunity of employees of the Armenian
ombudsman’s administration.
According to the Venice Commission experts’ conclusion on the draft
amendments to the law on ombudsman sent to ArmInfo by the Office of
the Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) of Armenia, the principle of
maintenance of immunity of the ombudsman’s administration is the main
guarantee of his work’s independence which allows the ombudsman to
carry out his exclusive mission in the democratic society. To recall,
the justice ministry of Armenia took into account the suggestion
of the GRECO international anti-corruption organization and came
out with draft amendments to the law on ombudsman which stipulated
deprivation of the ombudsman’s administration of immunity. At the
Oct 17-18 plenary session, the Venice Commission made a conclusion on
these amendments. According to the document, if the Armenian society
has inviolable establishments, the ombudsman’s administration must
be one of such establishments. As one of the ombudsman’s tasks is
to hold a special kind of investigation which often causes criticism
against authorities, the ombudsman’s institute is becoming a political
institute turning into a possible target of various attacks, the
Venice Commission’s statement says.