The courthouse overload is a significant problem in Armenia and a priority issue requiring solution on the government’s agenda, Minister of Justice Grigor Minasyan told ARMENPRESS. He said continuous reforms in various directions are underway in this regard.
“The overload of judges is a significant problem and a priority matter in our agenda. Continuous reforms are implemented in various directions in this regard. First, to give a comprehensive solution to the issue we are working in the direction of digitizing courts which would enable both the parties to the court proceeding and the courthouse to present judicial documents online, and as a result save time and other material resources,” Minasyan said.
He added that they are working to increase the number of judges: in 2021-2022 over 50 new positions were opened.
“I have to note that the number of judges compared to the number of the population is far lower in Armenia than the European average. We are reducing the overload of judges through legislative changes as well: the grounds of applying written procedures for examination of cases in the administrative court proceeding and bankruptcy proceedings were expanded, a possibility was envisaged for notaries to issue payment instructions, while active arbitration establishments were enabled to send the arbitration award to the bailiff service in certain cases without applying to court for the writ, and in addition the grounds for simplified proceedings were enhanced in civil proceedings, all aimed at reducing the overload of courts. At the same time, work is underway to develop the alternative dispute resolution methods in Armenia, a new arbitration center is being established and the grounds for applying mandatory binding arbitration are introduced,” Minasyan said.
