ArmInfo. The Ministry of Internal Affairs will be reestablished in Armenia. As reported by the press service of the National Assembly, The issue will be discussed at the parliamentary hearings to be held on July 12.
Topic of the hearings: <Establishment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Importance of Civil Control>. Minister of Justice Karen Andreasyan and Chairman of the NA Commission on Defense and Security Andranik Kocharyan will make keynote speeches. As part of the hearings, the model of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the fundamental principles and functional and structural directions of its activities will be considered, as well as foreign experience will be presented.
Earlier, at the April 23 meeting, the Government of the Republic of Armenia approved a reform strategy and an action program for 2020-2022. One of the reform areas will be the establishment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which will develop policies and bear political responsibility for the reform process. The initiative proposes to maintain the position of chief of police, provided that he will be appointed by the Prime Minister at the proposal of the Minister. It is envisaged to distinguish between civil service in the police and military, for example, the administration of visas and passports and the registration center of investigations. It is also planned to create a Patrol Service and a single operational management center. This will happen as a result of the merger of the Traffic Police and the Patrol Service. It is also proposed to include the Central Bank's Financial Monitoring Center in the structure of the ministry, as well as to include the functions of the Migration Service in the new organizational and legal structure of the police. As part of the reforms, it is envisaged to reorganize internal troops into the National Guard. The National Guard may, in appropriate cases, participate in maintaining public order and ensure the protection of strategic facilities (the functions of the Main Directorate of State Guard are transferred to the National Guard). It is envisaged that the National Guard will participate in the prevention and suppression of mass riots, in the implementation of anti-terrorism measures, in ensuring the legal regime of martial law and in emergency situations, in assisting with search and rescue operations in the event of natural or man-made disasters, and in ensuring the safety of transportation special cargo.
It should be noted that as part of the reform program, a new Patrol Service and a single operational control center are already operating in the country. This happened as a result of the unification of the traffic police unit and the patrol service. Earlier it was reported that the goal of the reform was to transform the police into modern, specialized and technically equipped, respected and trustworthy law enforcement forces, to create the image of a policeman inherent in a democratic law and order. To achieve this goal, it is proposed to solve a number of issues, in particular, to review and reform the system of training and advanced training of police officers in terms of both the content of the program and the training method, to create an executive body with mechanisms for the development and implementation of policies, accountability and civilian oversight, and also conduct a structural and functional analysis of the police service in accordance with changes in the main directions of reform.