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On January 21, the RA National Assembly debated the issue of the election of the Human Rights Defender. The Civil Contract Faction nominated Kristinne Grigoryan as a candidate for the post of the RA Human Rights Defender.

The Chair of the Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs Vladimir Vardanyan presented the candidate’s biographical data and the passed path. He has noted that Kristinne Grigoryan has higher education with two specialties: Oriental Studies and Law. She has more than 12 years of professional work experience, mainly in the state bodies, in the NA staff, in the Ministry of Justice, in the staff of the First Deputy Prime Minster. She was appointed the Deputy Minister of Justice in July 2019, and the RA First Deputy Minister of Justice from April 2021. On January 20, 2022, Grigoryan was relieved of the post of the First Deputy Minister.

Kritinne Grigoryan thanked the Civil Contract Faction for nominating her as a candidate for the post. She has underlined that the institute of the Human Rights Defender has passed an impressive way of development in our country: “Today, the Ombudsman institution is one of the established institutions, which carries out its mission for the protection of human rights and counterbalance to democracy.”

The candidate emphasized that in case of being elected, she will not withdraw the applications of the Human Rights Defender submitted to the Constitutional Court, and it has a logical explanation of not overshadowing the authority of the institution by the next defender. Kristinne Grigoryan has added that in case of being elected, the annual report and the budget debates should not become the few occasions when the Defender will report to parliament about things and the situation.

The candidate answered to the deputies’ questions.