Speaker of the Parliament of Armenia Ara Babloyan on August 29 had a meeting with Ombudsman Arman Tatoyan.

During the meeting Speaker Babloyan told the Ombudsman that during his recent meetings with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and President Armen Sarkissian the sides attached importance to the imperative of the role of the Constitution and stated that all actions aimed at solving the issues should be made in accordance with democratic standards, in an atmosphere of dialogue, negotiations and discussion.

In his turn Ombudsman Arman Tatoyan introduced his positions on the issues raised by the Speaker:

• Any process in the country should be based on the rule of law. Any initiative should be based on the human rights.
• The freedom of speech is one of main indicators for the country’s democratic development: the protection of this high value is the duty of all of us. The promotion of pluralism is directly linked with this as Armenia really needs this now.
• As for the possible formation of transitional justice bodies, the Human Rights Defender plans to completely study the international experience and standards. It will be summed up by taking into account the concrete proposals of the government. One thing is clear: the activity of any new body should be in line with Armenia’s international commitments and based on the Constitution and laws.
• Coming to courts, it should be noted that the state power is being carried out based on the separation and balance of legislative, executive and judicial powers. This in its turn supposes independence of judiciary from both the legislative and executive, and from any other body or individual. The issues in the judicial system should be solved by consistent, also tough, but exclusively legal means.
• It is necessary to ensure constant development of the system of protection of rights ruling out regressive achievements. The Ombudsman will continue making maximum efforts on this direction, as well as will support the government’s initiatives directed for that purpose.
• Any issues should be discussed and solved in the conditions of solidarity and dialogue.