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The executive body proposes amendments and addenda to the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Law on Prosecutor’s Office. The regulations were debated at the NA sitting on February 9 in the first reading procedure. RA Deputy Minister of Justice Levon Balyan mentioned that the Criminal Procedure Code proposes regulations regarding the establishment of the prosecutor’s group, the powers of the group leader and members. The need for amendments derives from the fact that both the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Law on Prosecutor’s Office design the opportunity of creating a prosecutor group, but in practice do not regulate the activities of the group.

In the Law on Prosecutor’s Office it is proposed to review the classification of positions of the Prosecutor's office, the articles related to the service promotion lists of prosecutors and the order of appointment of prosecutors.

The next amendment refers to the initiation of a lawsuit for the protection of community interests by the prosecutor's office in an exceptional case, in particular, it is proposed to add the word “community” after the word “state” in the term “state interests.”

It is proposed to clarify the requirements for the person who claims to be included in the list of candidates for prosecutors. In practice, there are situations when a person who will turn 22 in two months submits an application to participate in the competition held to replenish the list of candidates for prosecutors. In the given situation, the law does not contain clear regulations whether this person can participate in the competition or not. By law, turning 22 refers to the general requirements for the appointment of a prosecutor, not to the opportunity to participate in the competition.

It is also proposed to make certain changes in the Qualification Commission adjunct to the Prosecutor General, including four lawyer-scientists in the Commission instead of the previous three and removing the President of the Academy of Justice from the Commission. It was taken into consideration that the Qualification Commission has a key role in the process of making the list of candidates and the certification of prosecutors, and the Academy of Justice carries out the professional training of the persons included in the list of candidates for prosecutors and the training of prosecutors. According to the Deputy Minister, situations of conflict of interests may arise in such conditions. It is also designed to define the procedure for premature termination of the commission members' powers.

It is proposed to remove from the list of restrictions on appointing a prosecutor, the provision of grounds for dismissal that the criminal prosecution was not carried out on unjustified factors, leaving only the ground that the criminal prosecution was terminated on unjustified factors.

The RA NA Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs presented an endorsement: the Chair Vladimir Vardanyan stated about this. The draft was debated in the Committee in detail, appropriate revisions will be made during the first to the second reading. According to Vladimir Vardanyan, the amendments refer to the clarification of existing regulations and elimination of internal contradictions.

During the Q&A session and speeches, the MPs touched upon the removal of the President of the Academy of Justice from the Qualification Commission, the ratio of the terms public and state interest, the promotion lists of prosecutors, grounds for dismissal, disputing judicial acts and other issues.

Artsvik Minasyan, delivering a speech on behalf of the NA Armenia Faction, expressed the opinion that the community interest is a part of the public interest and is outside of the state interest. He also expressed concern about the possibility of the prosecutor disputing judicial acts. According to the faction's Secretary, there are many cases when the Prosecutor's Office unnecessarily intervenes.

Vladimir Vardanyan, expressing the viewpoint of the NA Civil Contract faction, mentioned that there are many abuses in local government bodies, and citizens' complaints often come from these bodies. “Local bodies are independent from central bodies, but are they also independent from the state? Why do we object to the population of the community having an additional lever to demand the prosecutor's office to take certain measures?” the MP asked, addressing some concerns.

In the final speech, the RA Deputy Minister of Justice Levon Balyan addressed the questions raised and expressed his willingness to cooperate in the period from the first to the second reading.